Beach Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Mark - Verified booking

  We did very much enjoy our stay, it's a lovely property and so special to spend time in the heart of such a wonderful town.

  Visit the Electric Palace if you can and definitely go on the new tour up the lighthouse. But there were a few things we picked up on... - Cutlery, plates, bowls etc were not clean and had not been checked (lovely set though) - It felt uncomfortable not being able to open the sitting room window (painted shut) - both in terms of not being able to get some air flow without opening the front door (difficult when you have the dog) plus from an escape route point of view - Wheelie bin missing wheels, so very difficult to move - you just have to drag it (commented on by bin men) - No recycling facilities or dedicated bin - doesn't look good in this day and age - Lovely tiles in bathroom, but state of paintwork very poor - flaking off due to high humidity; it just loses the property that 'premium' feel - Fridge very unergonomic layout - Freezer still full of out of date food, plus it is in desperate need of defrosting - only 50% capacirty left due to icing - Broken pane of glass in dining room (acknowledged by owner) - Cooker clock and lounge clock not set correctly (attention to detail) - Very noisy sound coming from pub in rear bedroom resulting in poor sleep (possibly their cooling - outside of your control) - 24/7 bright light coming from sweet shop resulting in poor sleep - conflict between warm nights needing open curtains and bright light needing curtains closed (outside your control) - I'm afraid we found all the matresses to be rather uncomfortable - Missing set of towels and bath mat upon arrival (brought over after a day or so) - Something for the future perhaps? An external power socket (or even a charging point) for electric vehicles... - Our experience, not in anyway feedback or criticism - we were luckly enough to be able to park direclty outside the house for the week. Problem we had was that people still squeeze between the car and the picket fence, regardless of how much room you leave, resulting in a dented door and a deep scratch from a pushchair. Plus my black car was practically white by the end of week! And the seagull poo doesn't do your paintwork any good. My advice to anyone staying in Southwold is wash your car as soon as you can! But relish your time there, there's nowhere quite like it....

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• Caroline - Verified booking

  Very comfortable well equipped property, with fabulous views.

  The kitchen had great equipment for cooking, the only thing missing was some mugs to drink from. Perhaps I drink a cup of tea quicker than some people - but for me a cup is not big enough :-) We heard strange noises a couple of nights and thought someone was upstairs, but after reading the guest book we saw that someone else had worked out it was the chairs on the uneven balcony surface rocking back and forth in the wind! It honestly sounded like someone was bouncing a ball on the ceiling. It didn't keep me awake but I did wonder what it was until I read the guest book. Might be worth putting something under the chair legs to even them out, or at least warn people of this in the notes so they can move the chairs at night if it bothers them (only happens when it is windy). Some of the instructions in the folder seemed out of date - there was reference to a separate parking area which I can only imagine used to be where the next door property now sits - the description just didn't make sense - we spent quite a lot of time looking for this as we had 2 cars and the turning area in front of the property is very tight. Leaving instructions were also a bit confusing - the folder info said a padded envelope would be provided and to put this in a letterbox by the gate, but I couldn't see where that was, and the email instructions seemed to indicate the key should go back where we got it from (in the key safe), so I just did that. The hot tub was brilliant and we used it a lot - my only comment there is that it would have been nice to have a robe for everyone in the property, rather than just 4 - it is supposed to sleep 7 and we were 6 adults so all using the hot tub, and in March the robes were much appreciated for those who had them! All in all, this is a lovely property in a great location, and we would return. My comments are just small points for improvement to make it even better.

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• Joseph - Verified booking

  The property generally was quite good but with a few problems.

  1. The wooden slats under the mattress were damaged causing the mattress to fall though them the first time I used it. I managed to patch them up temporarily. 2. The bedding was awful. All polyester- causing my wife and I to sweat profusely, made worse by the warm weather. We ended up buying a new cotton duvet cover, sheet and pillowcases. 3. The shower was excellent (one of the best I have ever used) but the shallowness of the shower tray meant I had to keep checking to see if it was overflowing. 4. Wi-Fi. Couldn't get it to work on any of our devices. Maybe it was my ineptitude. Maybe it was the complicated password which had been written with amendments added to it. Very frustrating. I gave up with it. 5. The Ninja had not been washed/cleaned prior to our arrival. There was a significant amount of oil and food residue left in it. I cleaned the inside containers myself but they were pretty grubby and needed soaking, suggesting to me they had not been cleaned properly for some time. 6. The house itself was good apart from the above niggles. The location was fantastic with easy walking access to the beach, Whitstable and Tankerton. The bus stopping outside was a real bonus allowing us to travel to Canterbury and Herne Bay. 7. Sykes. I didn't like doing business with the rental company. I thought the tone of their emails to be abrupt bordering on threatening. I was surprised by the booking fee. They charged me for a pet which I did not request. I won't book through them again.

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• Testimonial - Verified booking

  "We had a wonderful time at Carbis Bay, The house was truly amazing, everything we expected and more.

  The hot tub was definitely a bonus, we all enjoyed it. Fernhill Lodge was lovely and clean, very light and airy, and very well equipped, the views from the balcony were stunning. We enjoyed breakfast on the patio every morning , listening to the birds singing and taking in the lovely views across Carbis Bay. We found a lovely little pub the Cornish Arms about 10min walk from house, the food was tasty and very good value, the owners were very pleasant made us all welcome. we would recommended it highly. The local Tesco up the road was very handy for any essentials we needed. We enjoyed the lovely walk down to Carbis beach, and had a nice coffee and ice cream at the beach cafe with views to die for. The train ride into St Ives was lovely, very relaxing and again stunning views , only 4 mins journey for £1.00. In St Ives we can recommend the Alba Restaurant for something a little bit special, and the Life boat pub/restaurant for lovely food at reasonable prices. I must mention the Taxis services we used on a couple of occasions, Ace Cars in st Ives very reasonably priced, friendly. and prompt. Overall we had a wonderful holiday, and we will definitely consider staying at Fernhill Lodge again "Pure Luxury"." K. Claire

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• Jane - Verified booking

  Lyme Regis Cottage was a real pleasure to stay in.

  We particularly loved the sitting room and having the sun room right next door was a great bonus. We felt it was someone's home and we had the privilege of being allowed to stay there. I loved the books on the shelves everywhere and was grateful to find some inspiring art books. The good sized garden with two sitting areas was a very pleasant surprise. We had a small issue with the extractor fan not working and the smoke alarm going off. A man came round and fixed it within half an hour! He said he happened to be passing but even so, that was remarkably efficient. I think maybe a little more could have been said about the cottage being on a pretty steep slope. We are in our 70s and were a bit aghast when we arrived! But we treated it as our gym and after 5 days left feeling a whole lot healthier. Altogether it is a lovely property, quite close to all the Lyme Regis action but also quiet and peaceful. Obviously thoughtfully and carefully furnished and looked after by the owner. We loved her taste!

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