Big Cottages & Group Accommodation in Bakewell

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Danielle - Verified booking

  The location is brilliant and the kitchen fantastically equipped.

  The twin beds, especially, were really comfy. But there was quite a few issues with our stay, which would have been more acceptable if the property had been priced lower, but for the money we paid we were disappointed. We did contact the owners a couple of time to help resolve issues, and they responded in a timely fashion, but it didn’t resolve the internet issue: -upstairs toilet incredibly loud with a prelonged flush- meant we didn’t flush it at night so didn’t wake the baby and kids but but the morning with no ventilation and upto 6 uses is stunk! -only 4 toilet rolls provided- we ran out on the last morning. On leaving we mentioned this to a member of staff who quite rudely told us it’s self catered accommodation so there are 4 complimentary rolls. I understand the sentiment, but having stayed at a number of holiday homes, basic amenities like this, at a home of this cost, are a basic expectation. Just put a few extra in a cupboard? - internet doesn’t work. The network “Haddon” that the users said we should use, on response to us contacting them, appears at odd moments fleetingly then disappears. There are 2 other internet options available that appear (MikroTik-6A13CC) which I imagine are the boosters? Have no internet access once you connect. We were unable to use the internet during our stay. - insufficient towels for the whole party. No towels in one of the twin rooms so the children had to share our bath towels. - kitchen table had a table cloth on which got grubby after the first day (we were eating all our meals at the house with 3 children) so we removed it and the table underneath was sticky- we cleaned it several times but couldn’t get it to a acceptable state. It’s a beautiful table but need some TLC to sort the stickiness. -lights all flickered, on the Sunday evening it was so bad in the kitchen we could barely see to cook! Again contacted the owners as concerned it was linked to the rain and there was a fault. They reassured us it wasn’t. If this info had been included, in a welcome pack, for example we would have considered it and interesting quirk! - living room is a little uninviting, some shelves or a few pictures on the wall would really soften it. - piles of dog poo in the grass out the back. Difficult for owners to monitor this during stays but wanted to make you aware. On another note just to make the owners aware during the heavy rainfall on Sunday the walls at the back of the house, upstairs and down became visibly damp and damp to touch.

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• Susan - Verified booking

  Despite reassurance from Sykes that issues raised in Dec by another customer would have been resolved they have not.

  1 Dinning chairs are still not fixed and dangerous. Not ideal when we were trying to eat together. 2 Heating element in cooker is missing a clip and hangs down dangerously resting on the rails. Cooker is dirty and smells when heated up. I'm cross that it was dirty and dangerous as we had planned to enjoy the house and eat in each day as we are all foodies and love to cook. 3 The right hand front gas ring control knob is faulty meaning that it does not always completely switch off but feels like you have turned it off when in fact it is still on very low. This happened twice on our stay. Had the gas blown out (and it is close to a door and window so the breeze from either could have blown it out) on either occasion we could have been gassed or caused an explosion. (We were a party of four home economists and retired head of the Technical dept a cooker manufacturer - so hardly idiots when it comes to cookers but experts when it comes to safety!). 4 Coffee machine was disgusting, mouldy and certainly a health hazard - despite bringing beans we all decided our holiday was not for cleaning out and disinfecting the coffee machine, we did however clean out the dishwasher filter! So again could not enjoy the facility of the coffee machine either. Because of the chairs, cooker and coffee machine issue we ate out rather than cooking at the house as planned. I am cross that this was the case and that these issues had not be dealt with despite being raised 6 months ago and a reassurance from Sykes. Additional annoyance was 2 wobbly toilet seats, lack of lock on downstairs loo and presence of a mouse (coming in and out of a now blocked hole by radiator pipes in kitchen and presumably helping himself from the bin as the lid does not shut. House was beautifully furnished and otherwise clean but lack of maintenance renders the kitchen dangerous and useless.

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• Lorna - Verified booking

  V lovely couple who run the farm.

  They are obviously working very hard on their farm. However, they weren't very happy with me contacting them as regularly as I needed to for help with the problems we had. The farm smell was overwhelming as we're very close to the cow sheds. We needed help immediately because if the wind blows the wrong way the smell of the sess pit comes into the bathrooms. 1 table cloth made eating at the table difficult for 4 days as it couldn't be wiped down. The actual table is incredibly sticky, needs sanding and re varnishing. I asked for some spare table cloths and got 1 extra, so I ended up washing them and eventually went and bought my own. One of the farm dogs paid visits to our back door and barked at our dog, driving her crazy inside the cottage. Another night, she also barked at us outside, off lead. This meant I called the owners again and was reminded they get up early to milk and we'd awaken them. A different farm dog poo'd right outside our front door. One of the chairs at the dining table collapsed with me on it. I fell onto the floor and called asking for new chairs. I was simply asked if I could wait until morning. No one asked if I was OK. 2 chairs were dropped outside in the morning. I don't think that's ok. I don't think you work closely with the owners to resolve issues do you? Most of these issues are already published... some of these issues can just be resolved. It is a shame because they seem super nice, have a beautiful spot to share with guests and have a gorgeous working farm.

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• Nigel - Verified booking

  We first visited this property 2.

  5 years ago, and apart from a loose toilet seat in the family bathroom, it was in very good condition. The location is brilliant, in easy walking distance of Bakewell. It has high quality fixtures and fittings in the bathrooms and kitchen, and the beds are comfortable. Accommodation is spacious. Unfortunately, it is now suffering from a serious lack of maintenance, resulting in the following problems: The side door was not locked on arrival. None of the females in my party were strong enough to lift it and lock it. The kitchen tap dripped constantly. A sign said it was due to be remedied in June, but, clearly nothing had been done. The electricity tripped many times a day. One of the light switches in the living room had a notice (June) saying do not use, and that it would be fixed the following week. Power was off when we arrived and the freezer was full of water. Downstairs toilet door would not shut and toilet seat was loose. Family bathroom seat still loose. This toilet was also flushing slightly, all the time. Master bedroom window wouldn't shut, and held in place by card. Several pieces of crockery chipped. Many windows dirty with cobwebs as well. Paint on skirtings in en-suite and downstairs toilet flaking (presumably through previous water damage. WE would consider renting again, but only if the faults were rectified.

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• Danny - Verified booking

  The property itself was lovely, with very comfortable beds and great bathrooms.

  The kitchen was very well equipped and generally we had a pleasant stay. However, there was a considerable number of maintenance issues that were very surprising, given the emphasis on quality and luxury in the write-up on the website: 1. The built in Miele coffee machine had not been cleaned or maintained for a long time - some of the interior parts were filthy 2. The door of one of the kitchen cupboards was hanging off only one hinge and could not be properly closed. 3. Several light bulbs were not working 4. The downstairs toilet door could not be shut or locked 5. Exterior light above the outdoor area was not working 6. Two of the dining chairs were broken - one dangerously so 7. There were no instructions on how to turn on the towel rails in the bathrooms. One afternoon, the owner of the property turned up and knocked on the door. He had not called or messaged to say that he was going to call round. He did not say hello, or introduce himself. He walked in, saying that his cleaners had told him that there were some bulbs needing replacement, but he had not brought the right bulbs to replace all of the missing ones. This all seemed rather strange and intrusive - it felt like he was checking up on us. He never returned to replace the other bulbs.

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