“The property had been refurbished and redecorated to a seemingly very high standard, but unfortunately within a couple of days we noticed water appearing in one corner of the kitchen.”
We eventually deduced that the leak was in some way connected with the usage of the ensuite situated above.
Then, to our disgust, we discovered that the source of the leak was the toilet waste pipe, to which all other ensuite waste pipes (shower, wash basin) were connected.
By this time food stored in the kitchen cabinets and on the worktops below had been contaminated and was thrown away.
When we informed Dream Cottages about this, we decided that the best option was for us to cease using the leaky ensuite altogether, as any attempt at a full repair would have involved removal of the built-in kitchen cabinets in order to gain access to the toilet waste pipe situated behind them. The result of this was that we only had one bathroom for seven people, which was very inconvenient, to say the least.
As if this wasn't enough, when it rained during our second week, we discovered that the newly glazed kitchen window was leaking badly in several places, so much, in fact, that we needed to position several pans and even sandcastle buckets to catch the drips.
We informed Dream Cottages about this, and a tradesman arrived next day to carry out a repair - this was not completely effective, but did reduce the number of drips from six down to one.
So, all in all, mixed feelings about the property - no doubt the owner has spent a fortune on the refurbishment, but has clearly been let down by the quality of work carried out.
I should point out that we have stayed at George's House before, and enjoyed it immensely.
It is a very comfortable house in a great position for accessing the delightful Old Harbour and also Nothe Gardens and Newton's Cove.
No doubt when the problems mentioned have been addressed it will once again be a superb holiday accommodation.
I would hope that we will be offered some compensation for the inconveniences detailed above, and for the fact that facilities for which we had paid handsomely were not available for much of the holiday.
