Old Stable Cottage

Reviews (14)

• Robert

  No welcome pack -not even some milk after a long drive 2. Badly equipped kitchen (only three dessert spoons and one sauce pan)! 3. No DVD/Blu ray player as specified in description plus broken TV remote 4. No bulbs in some of the lamps 5. No details of bin days/ how to leave cottage on the last day 6. No warning that the downstairs shower was scalding, plumber appeared on Wednesday 7. Very little toilet roll Note- I also had to remove rotting prawns from the bottom of the bin as the bin bag had been placed on top. On the whole the cottage with its poor furniture and cleanliness issues did not feel very welcoming. Its only saving grace was its comfortable bed and good location. This is a three star property at best.

• Barbara

  The woodburner needs thoroughly cleaned as wood would not burn even with a number of firelighters (not supplied). As previously reported, there was no welcome pack, only 3 table spoons and only the remnants of toilet roll in each bathroom. As this is being reported for the 2nd time, perhaps the owner will take notice.

• Cliff

  It is a copy of an email sent to your Customer Relations email address. On the first attempt I had no response then the second generated a message saying that this was a no reply email address begging the question why is the email address still shown on the website? Provided we can reach a satisfactory settlement I'm content not to ask for my feedback to be published but I do not accept the terms of the Customer Review Policy at this time. Cliff Froggett Wed, Dec 13, 12:17 PM to customerrelations@sykescottages.co.uk In response to your request for feedback I have detailed the events of our stay in Northumberland last week. Canny Cottage - ref 1128972 The cottage was absolutely perfect for our holiday - small, all on one level, yards from the beach. On arrival we were thrilled that it more than lived up to expectations. Under different circumstances we would definitely book it again. The problems began on the Saturday morning when we awoke to find that there was no running water. I called the customer service number and alerted you to the problem. When I got an answer phone before 9am I used the WhatsApp contact and then spoke to Customer Relations at 9:30. By 11am we had walked on the beach and on our return called to see if there was any progress and to say that we were leaving keys in the key safe as we were going into Amble for coffee and to do some shopping. I received a call at 12;25 to say no-one had been to the cottage and that it was possible we might have to be moved. We had lunch and returned to the cottage. By 3pm we still had no water and in the absence of any contact from your team I again rang at 3:01. I believe in this call I made it clear that if we couldn't arrange satisfactory alternatives I would book hotel rooms and that I expected to be fully compensated. In an incoming call at 3:23 we discussed the available options and I made the suggestion that an alternative property was showing as available in Low Hauxley - close to Canny Cottage. We were called from your Chester office at 16:17 We were told that the Low Hauxley cottage wasn't available. We had been offered two cottages in the centre of Amble, but as I made clear neither of these fitted our initial requirements - open fire, close to the beach, out of town and ideally with a bedroom on the ground floor. I asked if we took one of the cottages overnight and weren't happy with the accommodation would we be refunded. We were told that no that would not be possible. The final call that day was made by me at 4:39. By now it was dark and no accommodation had been sorted. At that point I told your colleague that I would be booking a hotel room and that I expected Sykes to pay the costs.We packed up and left Canny Cottage, leaving a piece of fresh fish in the fridge as we would have nowhere to store it. We stayed in the Harbour Inn and ate at the Fish Shack - I had bought fresh fish for dinner but had been forced to leave it at the cottage as we had nowhere to store it. We spent the evening looking at alternative properties and found two that were relatively attractive in Alnmouth. On the Sunday morning I contacted your team and made arrangements to stay at Old Stable Cottage which required an additional payment which I felt was harsh given the inconvenience we had already encountered. The cottage proved broadly satisfactory, though clearly not in as good condition as Canny Cottage nor in as appealing a location. There were a couple of particular factors that disappointed us towards the end of the week. First the building work opposite the cottage. For the first two days it was just a couple of men preparing groundworks who were no inconvenience at all, but on Wednesday and particularly Thursday these works intensified considerably. On the Thursday there was a small digger, a dump truck, a concrete mixer blocking access to the cottage drive whilst it pumped into foundations. At the end of the afternoon a large truck with a digger attachment arrived and continued to dig out mud until at least 6:45pm when we had to ask the driver to move so that we could take the car out to go to a restaurant. The team working were unfailingly sympathetic and moved their vehicles when we needed to go out but on the Thursday afternoon when weather conditions were poor the noise from their work was a considerable annoyance. Second we returned from a walk on Wednesday afternoon to discover the landlord with a workman had let themselves in to the cottage unannounced and had turned the power off to change an outside light. We had to wait around 20 minutes before power was restored. I was disappointed that we didn't at least have the courtesy of a phone call or email to warn us. Third, later on the Thursday evening we returned from Amble to discover the sound of animal scraping in the roof void over the kitchen. It continued intermittently through the night. I left a note for the owner and spoke to the cleaner as we were departing so that they were aware of the potential vermin problem. Overall our experience was frustrating and disappointing. Whatever the reason for the loss of water to Canny Cottage - the weather had been cold - we were put to considerable inconvenience. We had to move, first to a hotel, then to a cottage that wasn't exactly what we had in mind. The start and end of the week were both disrupted in a different ways and I am considerably out of pocket compared to the original budget for our holiday. Your staff weren't unhelpful but to get responses to our problems I had to keep making calls to find out what was happening rather than relaxing and enjoying the break we had booked. Given I alerted you to the initial problem before 9am on the Saturday morning and had to make at least three calls chasing progress the feeling of a lack of urgency in your customer service team pervaded our dealings. In the circumstances I think I am more than entitled to ask for significant compensation - the cost of the hotel (£110), a goodwill contribution to the costs of dinner and around 66% of the total booking costs for the week. Given that we lost two days to the problems at Canny Cottage and the last two days of inconvenience at Old Stable Cottage I think this seems a reasonable request. I look forward to hearing from you Cliff Froggett Cliff Froggett Dec 22, 2023, 12:08 PM (5 days ago) to customerrelations Please see the following email sent on 13th December. To date I have not had a response, or even acknowledgement. Whilst I don't expect a full response in the lead up to Christmas an acknowledgement of receipt and confirmation that my concerns are being addressed would be appreciated. Yours faithfully