Christmas Cottages In Essex

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Elaine - Verified booking

  Beautifully appointed property, tastefully decorated and very comfortable.

  We all found our beds really soft and comfortable - although a sheet had been placed between the duvet and bottom sheet, which on 3 of the beds was very crumpled up and twisted and meant having to re-make the bed. The dining chairs were the most comfortable I've ever known and meant sitting over long luxurious meals was a dream. We felt the kitchen could have been better stocked with essential equipment - there was no whisk, so whipping cream and eggs with just a fork was rather laborious! There was no ice cube making tray/container so we just filled up plastic boxes with water and once frozen, had to smash it up! There were only 6 mugs, no cups so meant having to run bowls of washing up water or putting the dishwasher on every time we had hot drinks was a bit of a waste of water! Ideally I'd recommend at least 12 to 18 mugs to allow for enough hot drinks throughout the day! When we arrived and began hunting for mugs, we found them in the dishwasher along with some other crockery, which hadn't been emptied! On the whole, we had a wonderful weekend and the weather enabled us to enjoy sitting out in the lovely garden - although, it would have been nice to have some seat cushions as the wooden chairs were very hard and a bit worn/mossy and a parasol would have been useful. The only entrance to the property had a very high step, which a couple of us less fit ladies found quite a struggle to climb up - a smaller step outside the door would make it safer and easier. Having ground floor bedroom and shower room and being so spacious inside, makes the property ideal for a wheelchair user, if only the entrance could be re-jigged - just a thought for the future as it is so difficult to find suitable properties for the physically challenged! A lovely holiday cottage and we would go back if the entrance was easier!

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• Katie - Verified booking

  Absolutely perfect setting amongst the vines and a stunning farmhouse.

  Such a nice place to stay with friends. It is very spacious, well maintained and has a lovely grand but cosy feel. There are a couple of niggles. Don’t want to moan but quite useful for the owners to know how to improve. The wifi is very bad. It doesn’t work in wvery room and most of us couldn’t use it. I know it’s nice to be a le to switch your phones off but we brought speakers that connect to wifi so that was a real pain. The dining room light flickers so you can’t have it on. It’s quite a dark room anyway so you can’t eat in there in the evening unless you want to eat in the dark. The kitchen is stocked in quite an odd way. 12 egg cups but then no sharp knives. It has a weird mix of things and not enough of what you need e.g. good knives and pans. Not sure if it’s possible but it would be lovely if some of the plants were trimmed bacl that block the pond. When sitting outside it would be lovely to be able to look at the pond but you can’t see it. The TV doesn’t work, it might be because of the wifi issue but we couldn’t get freeview to work which was a shame. The place really is lovely but if those things were fixed it would be perfect!

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• Sanya - Verified booking

  The bedrooms, bedding and towels were excellent.

  Lots of toothpaste and toothbrushes However the kitchen is poorly equipped. We had to buy spoons, frying pan roasting trays and wine glasses. The saucepans available have been scratched and rusting. The washing machine has been left fully loaded with wet linen and towels. The insides of the cupboards was dirty covered with stains and crumbs. We had no cutlery on the first night of our arrival and no instructions have been left about the hidden draw compartment. When we telephoned the agency on Sunday night, there was no reply. We had telephoned back on Monday morning and once we have stated the issues, Kevin promised us he would contact the local team and update us. That did not happen at all. Just by the pure luck, one of the workers on the camp side told us about the hidden cutlery drawer but alas - still no spoons. No washing up liquid and no basics. We had to buy tea towels , sponges, ect. The The property is lacking in basic kitchen utensils. Never book this property. Our stay has been spoiled by the lack of care and some genuine hospitality.

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• Susan - Verified booking

  Basic but adequate.

  Downstairs lino needs replacing particularly in the kitchen by fridge - looks dirty.As stated the stairs are very steep - hand rails on both sides but not lined up equally - could be adjusted. Patio slabs uneven. Pond is so overgrown with plants that it is not obviously seen so it could be a danger to small children. Found I had to wash some saucepans as not clean & big sticky mark on base of saucepan cupboard I cleaned. Good location for walk down (couple of mins) to boats,pontoon,restaurants etc. Rubbish collection is an issue. It says in info book it is collected on Weds, to double bag it & put bag out -not the wheelie bin. This we did late Tues night as we were not sure what time the bin men came & woke to rubbish all out the front where foxes had got into it. Cleaned it all up & re-bagged to put in wheelie bin. On driving off Thurs morning saw neighbours up the road had put bags out. Needs clarifying what day it's collected & also if there's time to put it out in the morning rather than the night before.

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• Mr Sharpe - Verified booking

  When we holiday in the UK we always take extra things with us, like a sharp knife, a large frying pan extra tea towels....that sort of thing. When reading up on The Hatchery, others had stated everything had been thought of. We were sceptical, but we needn't have been! Literally anything you could want from a 'Home from Home' holiday property has been thought of and catered for! Inside the property first impressions were not just how impeccable it was but how clean it was and how beautiful it smelled and the 'Welcome Pack' wow!! this was gratefully received. So many little extras have been thought of, which all mounted up to a stress free holiday. Seriously if you needed something, it was there!! Outside is just as stunning and with plenty of room for everyone. The hot tub was a big hit and was used regularly. We had a truly wonderful week at The Hatchery and would not hesitate to come back and to recommend to everyone. The Sharpe's

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