“As previously discussed with Rachael who manages the cottage, when we arrived on the Saturday the house smelt of damp, and we noticed the floor had puddles of water, and didn’t seem to have dried.”
Upon further inspection we noticed this water spanned the whole of the ground floor, and we weren’t certain whether there was a leak or whether there was damp in the cottage. As my elderly Mom has recently had surgery, we had concerns incase she should slip. We wiped the floor as best as we could, however when we wiped the floor with paper towel, the floor was filthy. After having a 5 hour drive in 31 degree heat, we didn’t consider ringing to get the cleaners back in, we wanted to get the house ready as the other half of our party were still on their way, and arrived after setting off several hours before. Upon having a look around the house, we noticed that some of the utensils, chopping boards and serving dishes and plates in the drawers are mouldy, along with a display chopping board on the side. You could clearly see that something wasn’t right with either damp or a leak in the property. The units in the kitchen didn’t close properly, as if the wood has warped due to damp. Additionally there is a chest of drawers in the twin room which is also mouldy. As we know, mould spores are a health hazard and as such needs to be treated in the right fashion. On both the Sunday and Monday mornings, we came down to further puddles in both the kitchen and the dining room, and had all the windows and doors open to try and dry these areas. We resulted in using fan’s that we’d bought with us as the weather was hot, to help dry the floors. The property has two bathrooms, one with a shower and one with a bath. We attempted to use both at the same time; to discover that only one bathroom could be in use at any one time, as using both pulls the water pressure off the other, which when there are 7 of us in the property, getting ready in time made things difficult. We noted that some of the windows we were unable to open, along with there being no key to open the back door of the property, and should we have needed to get out in a hurry or emergency, this could have been catastrophic. Furthermore, on the Sykes website, the property was shown as having off road parking, and that’s not the case, as you have to park on the road, outside the premises. It’s there we also noticed that the windows both inside and out were filthy, and could do with being cleaned, especially as the house is on a busy through road, which also isn’t mentioned on the listing. The downstairs toilet needs some attention, as the toilet seat is loose and needs fixing. One of the few plus points was that the property was lovely, the linens and towels were very clean and the styling did compliment the premises. We appreciate that the house is of a certain age and we fully understand the history of the house and its previous uses, but these issues we’ve raised we felt spoilt the weekend to a degree but it didn’t detract from the reason of our visit, which was to complete the Macmillan Jurassic Coast Mighty Hike in honour of my uncle who passed away earlier in the year. We have provided images and detailed feedback to the owner of the premises along with Rachael who manages the cleaning team, and hopefully they will have time to put these things right for their next guests.
Hello, as you can see from our other feedback, we work hard to keep our guests happy and are saddened by your ratings. Our housekeeper is available to support all of our guests with any concerns during their stay. Had you alerted her to any worries she could have responded swiftly. The water pressure, damp concerns and downstairs toilet seat have been resolved. Off road parking for 1 is available behind the property. Window and door keys are present. We wish you the very best for the future.
Property Owner
