“There are lovely views from this cottage.”
Walk up on a nice day to take in the panorama (public footpath goes very close) but DON’T STAY HERE. The cottage is shabby, neglected and in dire need of some maintenance, sprucing up, replacement of many internal items and a deep clean. Some of contents appear to have come from a skip – you could get better on freegle or from a jumble sale/pound shop. Coupled with an apparent absence of even superficial cleaning before my arrival was the fact that much of the dirt was ingrained, not just recent. The utility/porch, in particular, was in an appallingly filthy state. (& light bulb didn’t work).
The kitchen sink was dirty brown, embedded grime in kitchen caddy and washing up bowl. Empty soap container in kitchen. Food debris in kitchen cupboards. Filthy stained lampshades. Mould on bathroom ceiling, bathroom blind and a snail on the bathroom wall. Hairs on basin and on bath. Toilet brush bristles and holder had excrement in. Bedroom blind covered in mould. Dirty stained bedroom stool upholstery. Tatty threadbare ‘decorative’ cushions on bed.
Accumulation of dirt along edges and in corners. Mass cobwebs throughout (not just an odd wispy recent one, clearly not been attended to in weeks/months). Sweet wrappers & other debris down side of sofa cushion.
Of the three remotes for TV/DVD/VCR, one had no batteries, one had dead batteries, the other took a different size. No spare batteries in cottage. (unable to use TV until owner brought some batteries - he declined to leave any spares in the property). Told him there were corroded batteries in kitchen cupboard & queried why hadn’t cleaner removed them. Also relayed poor cleaning standard to him. He said you would know better than me what’s in here and said he’d ‘have a word’. He moaned about contract cleaners, difficulty getting seasonal staff. Made no apology and seemed pretty indifferent despite being told about various issues, including the snail in bathroom (which the cleaner could not have failed to see if they’d even gone in there).
Other oddities/omissions/small gripes: No dustpan and brush. No bleach. “Bath” towels were small, thin & rough. Just 3 teaspoons yet over 30 side plates?! Provision of foil/cling film would have been useful, and has been in previous s/c I have stayed in.
Apart from the dirt & neglect of the place, there was the issue of vehicles from the 4 adjoining lets; one a large building divided in 3 cottages, the other a large house taking around 16 people (that I counted). There was a minimum of 10 cars/vans during my entire stay, which turned round on, passed across and sometimes parked on, the area of tarmac directly in front of the cottage, meaning there was limited privacy and frequent engine noise/fumes. The cottage is anything but the idyllic, peaceful retreat it is made out to be.
Having paid around £1,300 I made the best of my stay, but I was disgusted with it & to say it was disappointing is understatement of the century. I don’t think this property should even be let out again until cleanliness issues addressed & certain items replaced.
