Last Minute Cottages in East Midlands

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Leighann - Verified booking

  We've used Sykes for years now and have to say this property is one of the best we have stayed in.

  Very clean and tidy upon arrival. It was nice to find a stairgate already set up so that the dog couldn't get upstairs, without us having to find something to block the stairs off. The kitchen is lovely and very well equipped, nice to have some essentials already there like salt and pepper. If I had to mention one thing, it would be that we would've liked some small glasses or even plastic cups for the children to drink from but this is certainly not a complaint. Everyone loved the property, all the bedrooms were excellent, comfy beds and nice and warm. The location was great for us as we visited the Space Centre in Leicester, went bike riding at Rutland Water, walked the dog every morning from the doorstep and daughter went on a riding hack at Somerby Equestrian Centre before we headed to Melton Mowbray. The garden was excellent for the dog being so enclosed (Rottweiler). On the way home we visited Foxton Locks. Nothing was too far away. The shop over the road was an added bonus. Very well stocked and a wonderful welcome. We didn't use the pub next door as they don't have a children's menu but did eat out in Oakham and also in Melton Mowbray at the Anne of Cleves, which was very dog friendly and excellent value for money. All in all, an excellent property and I feel we will be back next time we visit Rutland. We didn't have any communication at all from the owner, but neither did we need it. On leaving the property we had some trouble with the exterior key box as the door on it wouldn't lock into place for us to scramble the numbers. We do know how to use one as have one ourselves and was getting quite concerned that we'd have to leave it open - which we didn't want to do. Eventually, after a bit of stress, it finally shut into place so we could lock it and leave. This might need looking at. During our stay we used the kitchen door and rear garden to come and go so hadn't had to use the key safe. A wonderful property and well looked after.

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• Gaynor - Verified booking

  A well appointed house with easy access to having a good look round.

  We did think it had 3 bathrooms but it was just 2 and one separate toilet and bit smaller than we thought it was going to be. It was quite a dark house as there were shutters at the windows which we did open to try and let more light in. We should have been a party of 6 but ended up as 4 which due to the seating in the lounge worked well as it would have been a squeeze. The grass hadn't been cut and was very long which isn't great when you have dogs. Unfortunately when we arrived the heating wasn't on and it was cold on arrival and there was no welcome pack which is the first time we haven't been left anything. We're usually greeted with milk and a cake which is always very much appreciated. Most of the house was cleaned well but the floor hadn't been swept and the rug not hoovered. I swept myself and when trying to use the hoover it appeared the filter needed cleaning - hence no hoovering the rug I presume. Saying all of the above, we wouldn't hesitate to make a return visit. The kitchen was perfect with everything you could wish for. Once we worked out the heating it was lovely and warm. It was very good having a well enclosed garden especially as one of the dogs is a Houdini! It was great being next door to the pub which was lovely It was also a very quiet place to stay.

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• David - Verified booking

  The poperty is lovely and the location is superb, the cottage is really well equiped with everything you could want.

  However the cleanliness of the cottage was extremly poor, we spent the first few hours physically cleaning the propoerty before we felt comfortable to even unpack. The kitchen was the worst, a lot of the utensil were dirty there were crumbs all on the work surfaces, in the cutlery tray, on the floor and under the applicances, I appreciate that some of this may be caused by the previous renter, however its obvious that no one is quality checking prior to the next letting. Our dog also managed to find a bag of someone elses underware that was pushed into a drawer in the lounge!! Albeit not to our standard the cottage is still lovely but my advise to the owner is to change the cleaning company. The feel you get in the cottage is one of "that will do" a lot of the furtniture seemed of the cheaper grade and was'nt that comfortable, the mattress on our bed sank to the middle and two of the bedrooms didn't have wardrobes! Albeit well equiped the facilities were not good, for example each of the 2 and a half bathrooms only had half a toilet roll in each, no washing up liquid for the kitchen, no bin bags etc.!

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• Emma - Verified booking

  We had a lovely family stay in the quiet village of TILTON ON THE HILL.

  Residents were welcoming and friendly. Beautiful, well equipped house suited for all ages- Playground and PlayStation was a big hit for the kids and the pub nextdoor for parents and dogs- excellent food, would recommend Wednesday steak night. Lots of places to visit- Rutland Lakes was a good activity day out for all- boat cruise(dog friendly), aqua park, beach., mini golf, bug zoo and dog walks. A few issues with unwelcome flies and cleanliness. Dyson hoover full of dust not been emptied on arrival. Clean on the surface but needs some TLC- dirty oven trays and serving dishes ( all sorted after an hour of Nana cleaning), chewed coasters, used tissues down the side of the sofa and dog hair on blankets. Recommend a new stair gate, present net gate is ripped and pointless. We had a relaxing family stay and despite the few issues on arrival, which can be rectified, it hasn’t stopped us looking to book for next year.

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• Joanne - Verified booking

  Pro’s - the cottage is lovely, excellent vibe, fab layout with a great garden.

  Perfect parking with easy road access and simple to travel around. The Rose and Crown next door is also great, lovely food and atmosphere and still really quiet at night. Con’s - needs a good clean. Cigarette butts in the garden, fingerprints on light switches, dusty skirting boards but the worst are the ovens. Neither cleaned with dirty trays (so we had to clean one oven and the trays ourselves) and the door on the bottom oven doesn’t close properly (potential health and safety issue?). The other problem is the linen provided, towels too small, no hand towel in the upstairs bathroom and the bed linen was quite tatty. For example, the sheet on the bed in the room next to the bathroom didn’t fit and kept rising up. We did love the cottage and enjoyed staying there. If both the cleanliness and linen were sorted, the cottage would be superb rather than pretty nice.

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