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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• Paul - Verified booking

  The only thing we were not satisfied with was the fact that Sykes charged us a booking fee twice when we booked the cottage for 2 weeks.

  We do not agree with this policy. We challenged this when we booked and explained that we use Sykes a lot but were still told we had to pay a double booking fee. In the past we have booked with other companies for 2 weeks and only had to pay 1 booking fee. When you book for 2 weeks it is only 1 transaction so why should you have to pay twice? The cottage itself exceeded expectations. It was spacious, clean and well-equipped. The views were lovely and the whole complex well-maintained. Steve Harvey was there to meet us and explained everything when we arrived and also spoke to us before we left. The central situation of the cottage was an added bonus as it was never very far to anywhere we wanted to visit. The weather also contributed to the success of the holiday - only 1 wet day in two weeks. We would certainly return to the cottage again.

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• Colin - Verified booking

  The property was filthy on arrival.

  Exterior garden littered with old tissues/wipes and cigarette ash. The garden furniture had not been covered as requested and was covered with bird excrement. Inside was not very clean on floors and sills. Cooking utensils had not been cleaned since previoius occupation so we had to re wash them. Very poorly equipped so we could not cook meals for 10 people (our 3 families), not enough cooking bowls and not enough cups and glasses. This meant we had to eat out more than we expected to. Toilets had not been cleaned and still had brown stains and residue in them. We had to spend two half days of our holiday putting it right as the owner refused to accept it or to give us any compensation when Sykes took the problem to them with our photographs.

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• Nicholas - Verified booking

  An absolutely brilliant cottage, although its more like a bungalow.

  ideally situated centrally on the island about five minutes from Newport. Travelling to all the major coastal towns is so easy from here and only 20 minutes from the Cowes ferry terminal. The wildlife around us was fantastic and we had a great time just watching the red squirrels, pheasants and foxes running around and the buzzards flying overhead. The cottage is well appointed, very clean and well maintained. It has almost everything you could need, the only extra in the kitchen, would be a dishwasher as it has sleeping for six it would be a great addition. All in all a fantastic holiday.

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• Claire - Verified booking

  We had a lovely week at Aquanaut.

  Although pricey, the property was probably actually better than the online description and the stunning sunsets were incredible - could be seen from the garden, ground floor and upstairs sitting room. The kids had a great time in the hot tub and enjoyed the toys in the house. Bedroom space was good, though the ground floor double is not nearly as nice as the other bedrooms. We walked or cycled to the nearby beach in Gurnard (though it's a steep hill!), and had lovely cycles along the beach front into Cowes. Overall a very nice villa, though we felt it was probably over-priced.

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