Large Holiday Homes on the Isle of Wight

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Jason - Verified booking

  On arrival the house is impressive.

  It’s obviously spacious and well designed. However, the initial impression didn’t last long. Our excitement at arriving was massively tempered when we saw there were dead plants in plant pots in several of the bathrooms and the garden the planters were all dead. Plus the garden area was really dirty - there were cobwebs and plant waste around the garden and the patio had stains across it as well as there being food waste left on the grass. Obviously we are aware there was a drought in place but leaving entire planters with dead and dusty planters added to the unloved and shabby look of the garden area. And then there was no welcome pack at all. Not even a packet of biscuits or pint of milk. The kitchen is impressive looking, however there weren’t enough plates, cups and crockery settings for all of us, given that with a dishwasher you should have a minimum of 2 per person. Because whole drawers were given over to the owners spices and sauces and etc it felt very much as if we were in an Airbnb rather than a dedicated holiday home. All the things above made the place feel much less special and to be honest we were all pretty disappointed. However the biggest issue was the ‘fourth bedroom’. This was not actually a bedroom. It was an office with a pull out double bed which was like sleeping on a rock. The room was not furnished to be a bedroom - there was no bedroom chair, no dressing table or mirror and nowhere to put a suitcase. You couldn’t even pull the blinds down without standing on the rock hard bed. My daughter had to sleep there and even sleeping with three duvets under her we had to go and buy a mattress topper to make it a comfortable room. This is not a proper bedroom and she slept badly all week. My mother in law, who had paid for this trip as an 80th birthday treat to her family, was bitterly disappointed and felt like we’d been let down. To add insult to injury on the last three days the neighbour was having work done and the fence/gate was taken down so that our dog had to be guarded when in the garden and the noise and dust from power tools meant it was impossible to sit in the garden during the day. We loved the location and the size of the house but we did come away feeling very ripped off. When we communicated with your company initially about this booking, we were told that the owner sets the price, but I do feel that your job as agents is to mediate and to check that the house is good value. For around £600 a night for a three bed with ‘add on’ bedroom, I can tell you that this is not good value. For that rate we expected it to be slick and luxurious rather than a basic level. The fundamental principle of a good’s night sleep should be met as a minimum. When you are stretching yourself to afford something this special it is so disappointing to walk into a home that felt like it had been uninhabited and unloved for months. To then be unable to guarantee a proper bedroom for one of the party was really unacceptable.

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• Nicholas - Verified booking

  Alarm bells should have been ringing due to the lack of reviews about this property.

  It just wasn't very clean. The lamp shades were dusty. There were food stains on the crockery. There was a privacy issue as we could look directly into the upstairs windows of the houses opposite and they into ours. Downstairs, passers-by could look in as they walked along the pavement, hence the profusion of net curtains, which made the property decidedly claustrophobic. The ceilings are so high that all cosiness was lost upstairs. The colour scheme of blues and wood grain makes the house seem cold. From the kitchen area you have to cross the entrance hall to reach the dining room, which was a rather narrow, dark room. The games hamper was a bit of a mess with pieces of games spilling out of the boxes. It needed a good sort out. The pub nearby was noisy and we heard late night drunken swearing and arguments. I knew when booking that the property had no outside space, but the close proximity to the neighbours windows and their outside space was uncomfortable; the house was an island. Every morning we didn't enjoy the revving of the neighbour's motorbike. We could never park in the street near the property. We had to park in a public car park in the next street. The owner did give us a free pass for this but nevertheless it was an inconvenient walk. The area of Sandown was really run down. The abandoned and derelict hotels on the nearby seafront were so depressing and the pier was horrible. I have to say it was the worst town and cottage I've ever stayed at. It just doesn't work as a holiday cottage, in my opinion.

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• Lesley - Verified booking

  The worst disaster possible with a rental cottage!

  We were able to get in initially but not easily, unpacked all our belongings into the cottage then went out, only to come back and be unable to gain entry. Neither key worked. We phoned the owner twice and left messages, tried to phone Sykes for help but your phone number isn't evident on the website!! Please put it somewhere easy to find. After 40 minutes of persistence with both keys we finally managed to gain entry. Phoned owner again and left another message. She rang back later and arranged for the door fitter to call the next day. He arrived and oiled the mechanism and told us the opening instructions given to us by the owner would result in the door lock mechanism jamming. I passed this information onto the owner together with the correct instructions for opening of the door by email. The situation was resolved but our holiday was spoilt as our nerves were shattered and we no longer had any confidence in our ability to re enter the property. We certainly would never return this property or its neighbour with similar locks.

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• Ron - Verified booking

  The brochure stated that the garden was fully enclosed, which it wasn't.

  We chose this property because we were taking our son, daughter in law and to energetic grandsons ages 3 years and 17 months with us. The enclosed garden was one of the deciding factors. The property itself had been lovingly restored and was positioned close to the beach and playground. The problem was that the owner was in the process of having various work done resulting in the garden resembling a bit of a building site. The furniture and fittings were of good quality but the dining room chairs were too low, there were no hooks in the shower room or the bedrooms so we were unable to hang up towels, coats etc in the rooms. the patio was lovely but there was only enough seating for two people when the cottage was for 6. Overall we enjoyed the cottage and the location. I have informed the owner and he is going to change and add things so it will be interesting to find out what changes have been made.

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• David - Verified booking

  Cannot understand that when a washing machine, iron, clothes line and pegs are provided an ironing board is not.

  An information file ( which has been available in every other property I have used ) is necessary. No information on washing machine, dishwasher, recycling, bin days, Wi-Fi code, what to do with bedding and towels, emergencies etc. was available. Both my contacts with Sykes would have been unnecessary had the information been available. I find it difficult to understand that Sykes have not advised the owner of this requirement prior to marketing and I see it as a Sykes problem, not necessarily the owner. On the day we were leaving the next clients turned up at 9.15 in the morning wanting to “put some stuff in the house”. I refused as we had possession until 10.00 and stated the cleaners had not been in and they should not arrive before 15.00. They drove away after waiting a short while but I am not aware if they came back before their allocated time.

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