“The cottage was absolutely filthy when we arrived.”
My sister-in-law and I spent a long time cleaning the downstairs so that we could be comfortable for our stay.
There were slug trails all over the lounge rug, the fireplace was thick with dust and the hearth had an old spillage on it. The TV stand, again, thick with dust.
We had to pull the sofa out as my little boy dropped something behind it, it was full of dust, fluff, and some strange black feathers.
Our dog would not leave one of the sofas alone, eventually, he found a large dog chew down the cushion which did not belong to us! Can you imagine if a toddler had discovered that?
The kitchen was disgusting. We had to place all the pots in the dishwasher before we could use them. There were chipped glasses that we placed on the top shelf.
The floor has clearly not been mopped and the appliances were dirty, including a squashed fly on the washing machine.
When you went upstairs, it was like a different cottage, bright and clean.
The outside of the property was also a shock. The lawned area was lovely but to the side of the cottage, it was a different matter.
There was a rusty old bbq, full of rainwater with a cigarette butt end in it. Some random pieces of wood on the top of a garden storage box and a (we presumed) a broken vacuum cleaner.
The following morning, Sykes Cottages rang to see if all was ok. I said the cottage was nice but it was absolutely filthy. Also that we were annoyed that there was a note in the cottage to say that we were required to be out of the property for 9am on the day of departure (not 10am) as expected as the caretaker had to do a thorough covid clean. Seriously????
The member of staff from Sykes Cottages asked if we would like the cleaner to return. I refused as we had done the cleaning ourselves as it was so bad.
I then emailed Sykes Cottages with our disappointment of the standard of the cottage along with photos. That was on the Saturday. A week later, I still have not had a reply.
For the price of the accommodation, we were expecting a much higher standard. Very, very disappointed.