Large Dog Friendly Cottages in Norwich

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Ian - Verified booking

  There's an old saying that says you get what you pay for, and we certainly got it.

  We knew from previous reviews that the property was basic, but the overall condition of it was pretty poor. Furniture and decor need a major update, as does the very small fridge that is supposed to support 8 people but in no way shape or form is big enough for that. There was a broken light in the upstairs bathroom and water in the same room leaked onto the floor after taking a shower (despite shower curtain drawn fully across). The vacuum cleaner was next to useless, blowing out more dust than cleaned up. No double glazing but secondary glass panels are fitted throughout. The space between window and panels were not cleaned. There were weeks of dead insects in the space. The curtains in the living room fell of the wall (twice) because the fixings were so old. The boiler packed up as well, and had to have someone come out to us to reset it. On the 3rd week a lady came to change our bed linen, appearing unannounced in the garden where we were all sitting. We knew she was coming, but to appear like that, walking through the property with all our belongings inside, without ringing the doorbell to let us know and let her in, was unacceptable. The only real saving grace for this property was the garden, but even the patio area looked like it had not been maintained in quite a while. This is no reflection on Sykes but the owners (who seem reluctant to to put their hands in their pockets and properly upgrade this property) need to get a grip. They are asking for nearly £1000 a week more for the same period next year (on one website), and that quite frankly is a MASSIVE mickey take, and is just pure greed. I cannot recommend this property to anyone, and we certainly will NOT be back.

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• Paul - Verified booking

  Although the property was accurately described as "Tired" this does not excuse the filthy and poorly presented nature of the house.

  We accept that facilities are dated and found exactly what we had booked. However the property had the following dirt issues.. 1. The pa oramic windows were too dirty to look through to enjoy the garden and waters edge. With mosquitos present from 4pm these windows had to be locked shut. 2. The outside patio has never been brushed 3. There were large dusty cobwebs behind the main bedroom headboard and also throughout the house such as on wall hung pictures. 4. The crockery and cutlery were dirty. 5. The pans are to disgusting to use. Along with this there were other issues. The property is advertised as "sleeps 8". However. A. The wobbly dining table only seats 6 B. There were only 5 soup breakfast bowls. Impossible to have a meal together C. There were only a handful of odd glasses. Two flutes, 4 wine, 3 tumblers and 4 mismatched plastic beakers. D. Upstairs shower has been removed. E. There was a washing machine (bearings sound as though they are worn out) but nowhere to dry laundry... no washing line or tumble dryer. F. Fridge was far too small to cater for 8 people. With the 6 of us we really struggled. In all were are far from happy with the facilities in the house, this spoilt our holiday and from comments in tehgurst book it was obvious no one was listening. We did not want our holiday to be interrupted by vague attempts to remedy the situation nor did we want to spend our holiday stressing over these issues. A full refund is due. Please arrange. I suspect all guests should be offered a full refund as well. Very cross at being ripped off. Take this property off your books and save your reputation. Paul Mercer

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• Catherine - Verified booking

  Very disappointing.

  Started with a very rude greeting from the cleaner. Check-in was from 4pm. We arrived at 3:40 as we had shopping being delivered between 4-5 so wanted to be sure we were there. The Tesco van was actually there when we arrived. We saw the cleaner was still there (car on drive, house doors open etc), so we had no intention of entering the house until 4pm. She came out very aggressively and said “you’re not due here until 4pm”. She proceeded to tell my husband that she was running late because the last people checked out late, and then thought it was important to tell my husband that “they were coloured”. Shocking!! Problems in the home: Dishwasher didn’t work. It switched on but nothing came out clean. Dispenser didn’t release tablet So we washed up by hand. Upstairs toilet almost impossible to flush. The 2 problems above have been repeatedly mentioned in reviews but neither Sykes or owner have done anything about this. No shower upstairs although the property description says there is. Curtains particularly in upstairs bedrooms do not hang properly or meet in the middle. Problematic when there are young children trying to go to sleep. Patio table and chairs unusable due to being covered in pigeon excrement. Property is spacious but needs a lot of work to be suitable for a holiday home. I guess the owner is responsible for this but Sykes as the agent should be checking the property and insisting that the owner gets it up to scratch. I would not book this property again.

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• Robert - Verified booking

  This cottage is in severe need of update.

  last up date seems to be early 1980's The inside was very clean but very dark and dismal , outside, the garden was well maintained. 1 Advertised 4 slice toaster = Very small 2 slice one that did not take a normal slice of bread 2 Advertised open log fire = we were supplied 2 small pieces of kindling and a couple of firelighters, no logs 3 Fridge and a tiny freezer compartment is totaly inadequate for 8 people 4 Not enought glasses only 3 large tumblers 5 Could not find a frying pan 6 Lighting in lounge abismal 7 1 x 3 seater and a 2 seater sofa for eight people ? 8 Upstairs Shower in need of repair. 9. Beds were clean and comfortable I know these are small points but all add up to a bad experience. But the worst part was the owners visit who turned up on Monday evening, asked me how the cottage was, then immediately spoke on phone, wandering in circles in the car park for 10 mins, whilst I stood at the door totaly ignoring me, then announced he was so busy and had to go,that is no way to treat an customer! I have never felt so humiliated in my life. As a retired procurement officer for a multi-national company, had any of my suppliers did that, they would be looking for a new customer! He then left without my feed back, leaving a buiness card . I will never recomend any of his properties! Please publish this & share this with Owner I look forward to his feedback Kind regards Mr Robert Douglas

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• Nicola - Verified booking

  The location of the property is great.

  Very close to Wroxham for hiring a boat/exploring the Broads but also only about an hour from Wells-next-the -Sea/Holkham on the North Norfolk Coast. Horning itself has a useful shop/postoffice and a few nice eateries on the edge of the water only a couple of minutes walk from the house. This house itself is incredibly basic and needs a lot of work/TLC to justify even half the high price we paid for a week in August. (The price, I notice, is slightly more realistic for Sept/Oct weeks). Some practical points to note for future visitors - there is no freezer (only a tiny compartment in the (not-very-large) fridge) so we ended up throwing a lot away from the Tesco delivery as, in the amazing weather we had, the stuff had melted very soon after it arrived on our first evening. There is only one shower for 6 people. Also, it's over the bath in the upstairs bathroom which has a plain glass window so you need to put the blind down to avoid people seeing in. This dishwasher is pretty useless and we gave up with it after the first day and washed-up by hand. There is no barbecue - the listing particulars didn't say there was but it would be a useful (and welcome) addition. The house has the potential to be a great place but there is a lot of work to do.

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