Big Cottages & Group Accommodation in Gloucester

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Peter - Verified booking

  Not what we expected from description.

  It’s a lovely location, and the property looks nice, walking in it looked great. However, it lacked a lot when looking closer. It is advertised as no pets, great, as we have a pet fur allergy in the family, and that point made us pick it over another property. On arrival we were pestered by a cat, that was very familiar to the place, trying to get in as we were. It didn’t stop. Every-tine we came and went it tried to get in. As others have stated there are annex doors, locked, in the kitchen area. This was not mentioned in description. The owners reply acknowledged these doors. However we were aware somebody was in there, could hear them, lights on and off, as well as their rubbish in the bins, so clearly being lived in. It was very uncomfortable to know someone was just a door away, we wouldn’t have booked if we had known this. There is also an exterior door in the children’s bedroom, hidden behind the curtains. With our son being autistic with issues of doors being locked, security, he was not happy and didn’t sleep because of all of this. I would consider the property in breach of contract, it’s not what we thought we had booked. We were out for a couples of days so didn’t spend time sitting on the sofa, until Christmas Day. We noticed the removable sofas covers were very dirty. We also noticed after our daughter started with streaming eyes, itching skin and sneezing that there was cat fur on the arms of the chair and sofas. This for her made Christmas awful. The kitchen looked good until you looked closer. The kettle had a fur coat inside, desperately needs descaling. We couldn’t make a hot drink as the fur came out with the water. The toaster was pretty burned out and rusty inside, so not even a slice of toast could be done. The pots and pans in the drawers, what little there was of them, were mouldy. The fridge has issues as it is frosting up. We had planned to cook a good size roast for Christmas dinner, but we couldn’t as kitchen was poorly equipped. Christmas Day ruined. The washer dryer has an error, it wouldn’t allow anytime over 12 minutes drying time, so was useless to us. The property was generally unclean, not hoovered, dusted, questionable if bedding was changed as there were marks on them. Dirt and hair in the bath, dead bugs in the shower, conkers in with the 2 toilet rolls. Very poor. The description states fuel provided, which as the only fuel user is the fire,that should be logs etc, there was only 2 that were damp and small. Empty fire lighter packets. The property was cold as heating didn’t warm it at all. As others have said, there were no instructions for anything. The welcome pack lacked anything required. There was no means to contact owners, which could have helped ease some issues. The issues of cat fur on sofas, needed the change over clean to be much better, incase a guest let it in, as some from reviews suggest. Perhaps state the cat is not to be let in. Too late for us. our Christmas was cut short as we left on Boxing Day after trying to contact Sykes to report issues and try to resolve, but Sykes didn’t answer or respond, even to the emergency contact. We had no choice but to leave as our daughter’s allergy was getting worse. Since leaving Sykes has been useless, infact they are making it worse and pushing us to take legal action to resolve as they have been unreasonable. The property has great potential as it’s a nice location and building, but needs extra work to maintain it as a whole and concentrate on the details of being fully cleaned and providing full information, a welcome pack of maybe milk, bread, biscuits etc etc would have be nice.

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• Cara - Verified booking

  The views are breath taking.

  The owner is not intrusive and she's lovely. The pool is big and warm when the sun is out. Perfect for walks with the dog and large garden (bear in mind it is open). It is only a few miles from Gloucester so not too out of the way. Supermarkets and Gloucester Quay within 10 minutes. The rooms are spacious. A chest of drawers would be really helpful in the second double. We really did live out of the suitcase. The property description states there is a bath. There isn't. Not a major biggie but we only have a walk-in shower and was looking forward to it. The place does feel like it could do with a really good clean. Downstairs toilet seat is loose. The small fridge in the kitchen doesn't close properly as the seal has worn. I did advise the owner. But other people have mentioned it in the comments as well some time ago. The internet and phone signals are poor. Would I go back? Yes, but not in the high season, I don't feel the property reflects the price. However, if you don't care about the said issues, it is a beautiful area and the owner's friendliness really did make the holiday.

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• Gale - Verified booking

  Absolutely lovely cottage.

  On a working farm, but you would never know. We did not go prepared for swimming, but wish we had done so. The enclosed swimming pool was clean and relatively private. Mattress not to our liking, but still slept well. A cottage with character....including the squeaky floorboards up stairs. Extremely well kitted out. TWO fridges was a welcome bonus. Did not try the open log fire on this visit, however we did need the heating on for a short time in the evening(s). WIFI/internet great. Welcome tray with homemade wine & bickies, plus fresh milk in the kitchen fridge (big thank you). Whilst September did not bring the best of weather, it did not detract from a brilliant stay. A minor disappointment was the inability to benefit from the extensive views from the downstairs windows due to shrubs being overgrown plus the patio area was not prepared for use (although weather was terrible in any case). THANKS MRS REEVE (?) , you have a wonderful retreat and we recommend it to any one who wants a comfy secluded holiday.

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• Clair - Verified booking

  While we had a good holiday at The Cart arms we were disappointed with quite a few things.

  - no heating on when we arrived so it took the large barn most of the evening to warm up. - the corkscrew broke when we tried to open a bottle of wine. We messaged and called the number left to see if they had a spare so we could enjoy a glass of wine on the first night of our holidays. Nobody ever replied to our message or voicemail. So unless we messaged the wrong number this is very disappointing. - the sofa was in a very poor condition with a lot of stains and really needs replacing. - the plates had been put away filthy and all had to be re washed. I also had to clean the filter in the dishwasher as this was really slimy. - the WiFi is also awful and I think it would be good to know this as with no 4G it made researching places to go very frustrating. - on a positive note the upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms were nice and the kitchen was well equipped. - Because of the above issues we would not return or recommend to others. Many thanks Clair

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• Bernadette - Verified booking

  Spotlessly clean everywhere.

  Very well equipped kitchen with lots of crockery, would have been useful to have instructions for appliances. Beautiful setting with undisturbed views. There are two locked doors to a separate annex which is not listed as being part of the building. It was very disconcerting to hear people moving about so close. Would not have booked if it had been mentioned. Heating, no instructions, it was cold at times and we needed to increase the temperature. No tools for log burner, we needed to use it though to supplement the heating. Bunk beds in the second very small bedroom are not suitable for adults. The barn should be listed as suitable for two adults and two children. This second room was very cold during the entire stay, perhaps the underfloor heating didn’t extend to this room? Welcome pack, lack of. Perhaps the owner doesn’t realise what others provide. One Nespresso pod and two gingers biscuits each is not a welcome pack.

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