Villas With Hot Tubs In The South West

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• James - Verified booking

  My wife and I stayed at the Old Kennels Cottage Accommodation for 6 nights at the end of July 2023.

  We payed over £1300 for our stay. One of the main reasons we chose this cottage, was because it had a washing machine. We had traveled from Switzerland via France and had already been on the road for 9 days. Upon our arrival, and to our surprise, there was no washing machine. The booklet in the cottage said it had a washing machine as well as on the Website of Sykes Cottages, who we booked through. After contacting the Site Manager, we were informed that the washing machine was broken. The Site Manager said that they would return the next day to discuss the matter. We never saw that person again for the duration of our stay and no message was left for us to say that they had stopped by and that we should contact them. Had we had not contacted the Site Manager, no one would have told us that there was no washing machine available. There was ZERO communication prior to our arrival that the washing machine was broken and not available at the property. This was a huge inconvenience to us and certainly was not the nicest experience to start our holiday with. We were offered to have our washing done by the site manger at the farm. Which was a nice gesture. But after seeing how dirty (particular the bed sheets and towels) the cottage was when we arrived, we did not accept this offer. Also, this was certainly not a sufficient solution to having no washing machine at the property. We certainly did not pay £1300 for a stranger to do our washing on another property. On our departure day, we asked the owner that we be refunded accordingly as they did not provide us with a washing machine that we could use, at our own convenience, in the cottage. The owner refused to refund us. In addition, upon our arrival, the property was not cleaned properly, not even to a minimal standard of cleanliness. In the Kitchen all the door handles and appliances were sticky and dirty to touch. The drawers where the cutlery and toaster were kept had not been cleaned. There were still ALOT of left over crumbs in the toaster from the previous week. The tea towel provided had a huge stain on it, and the dish sponge was black and smelly. It certainly didn’t give us much confidence that the rest of the utensils and kitchen were cleaned properly?! In the Bathroom the bath mat had stains on it and didn’t look clean. There were a number (more than should be tolerated) of hairs around the toilet, sink, floor and shower area. In the main double bedroom the sheets had a stain in the middle of the bed, and the mattress protector was covered in stains, and looked liked it hadn’t been washed in a long time. It was disgusting! There were cobwebs everywhere and no sign that any had tried to be cleaned. Dog hairs were also evident on the sofa and floor of the lounge area. There were left over pieces of litter in the small bin of the main bedroom. The bin had not been emptied. The Hoover (a Dyson) had not been emptied, it was full and we had to empty it our selves to use it the first night, because there were dead insects everywhere. Therefore, I would highly recommend that you DO NOT BOOK AND STAY HERE. For the price you pay, it does not equate to the the service and quality you expect to receive. You will find much better accommodations and hotels with a much higher level of cleanliness and standard of service in the nearby area. Lastly, there are similar feedback comments on the Sykes website dating from Oct 2022. Therefore, the owner has not dealt with these issues sufficiently and the management of this property has some serious problems.

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• Frances-Mary - Verified booking

  We felt that there should have been a choice of either a king size bed or twin beds which could be put together to make one king size bed.

  The headboard could be fixed to the wall to accommodate this, although we would have preferred a more solid one, as the bars were rather uncomfortable to lean back on. Not ideal for someone like myself who suffers back and leg trouble on a permanent basis. The bedside tables could have been bigger too. We felt that more crockery and cutlery would have been an asset too. To have the crockery available all the time, we would have had to run the dishwasher every night, which my husband was loath to do. The kitchen table was rather small too. Outside, I think the steps by the Hot Tub could have been more stable, perhaps fixed to the outside of the Hot Tub to make it easier for people to get in and out, which would benefit those with mobility difficulties (as already mentioned), but on the positive side, it was lovely using the Hot Tub to relax after a busy day. On the credit side, the owners Frank and Kay Chapman were very helpful, and grateful for the feedback given above. They were very good about it when we had to contact them quite late in the evening to advise of our arrival time.The cottage itself was in a very good location, once we got the hang of where to turn off from the A39 (St. Kew Highway) and we found it extremely easy to get to the places where the rest of our family were staying. We particularly liked the spacious bathroom and lounge. However, if we were to book Swallow Barn again, with all due respect, we would prefer to book directly with Frank Chapman, rather than go through Helpful Holidays. This is because we did not approve of the way the money was taken from our account and the extra Administration Fee etc that became payable to the agency. The E-Mails implied the money would be taken whether we liked it or not. We know Helpful Holidays meant well, but we did feel that the restrictions due to COVID-19 that were 'clapped' on us were a bit excessive. For instance, not allowing us to have visitors - the places the rest of the family were staying at, didn't have these restrictions, perhaps because they are independently run, but still taking the necessary precautions in relation to COVID-19. So we could visit them with no problem, but they were forbidden to visit us, which we felt was unfair, just because it would mean them going through the house to get to the garden. I understand that this was part of the Guidelines Helpful Holidays had issued to owners of properties under their management and consequently those staying at the properties. Of course, if we returned to Swallow Barn next year, it is likely that the visitor ban would no longer apply. These things caused a lot of worry and upset to me, considering that I am Autistic, and do not cope well with pressure or change to routine (as I have been forced to do, thanks to the mask Law, even though I am exempt.) When I spoke to a lady at the agency, they were very understanding of my circumstances and said there was no reason why people couldn't visit us. It was only because the garden is enclosed, hence visitors having to go through the house, that we were not allowed to have any visitors, but I didn't know that until I spoke to Kay Chapman and it was mentioned in an E-Mail from her husband.

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• Sue - Verified booking

  The setting was lovely but spoilt by a few niggles.

  The keycode safe was very fiddly and hard to open. The listed fridge/freezer was anything but as was only a very small fridge with an ice box that wouldnt even hold a small tub of icecream. The village shop was closed each day just after lunch due to staff shortages and had hardly any stock so we had to travel to the larger stores further away and then had no space to store items so had to do a limited shop each time. The salad box was only big enough for 2 items! We tried to use the dishwasher on day 3 when we had built up enough crockery to make it worthwhile using but unfortunately it did not work due to no salt and there was none in the cupboard! There was no control on the hot tub to turn the water temperature down as it was too hot for us to use. The area around the building needed a good tidy up, lots of weeds growing and a very dirty door mat to greet you. The TV only worked on a few of the days holiday as it kept saying no signal and as we dont subscribe to NETFLIX it was a little disappointing. The area around the house was lovely and we enjoyed going for long walks each day. All in all we enjoyed our holiday but a shame it was spoilt by a few small niggles.

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• Taylor - Verified booking

  Gorgeous little cottage (which in fact was not actually so little!

  ) The rooms were very open and spacious yet felt so homely and warm especially when you light the log burner in the living area. Had absolutely everything we needed which was delightfully unexpected. Even the kitchen was very well stocked we didn't need to bring half of the stuff that we did with us! Even equipment such as rolling pins, weighing scales and a food processor provided, which goes above and beyond what we were expecting (and was very exciting for two chefs haha). The bed was so comfortable, had a great nights sleep every night after venturing out into some of the beautiful places Cornwall has to offer in the surrounding area. We even purchased some birdseed to fill up the birdfeeder in the garden as there were so many birds that came over; robins, blue tits, sparrows - they were such a joy to look at while sat in the living room, and also when in the hot tub. Huge thankyou to the owners you have created such a wonderful space, we would definitely return in the future and recommend this stay to friends and family.

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• Emma - Verified booking

  We stayed at the Old Kennels in August 2023 as a family group of 4 adults and our dog and couldn’t have had a better holiday.

  Accurate listing, very clean, beautiful setting and really well equipped holiday home. Having stayed in a few holiday cottages like this over the years we were really impressed by the range of kitchen equipment available, enough to cook a big roast and multiple barbecues for a group of 4. Tea and coffee also provided, which was not expected and above and beyond. Lots of parking. Fast, friendly responses from owners when needed - really lovely people. The hot tub and garden furniture were brilliant as we happened to be lucky with the weather after a very wet July! Location was beautiful and secluded which was wonderful, lots of space for the dog to safely run around, walking distance from the byes, lovely pubs and sidmouth - perfect for a relaxed and pooch-friendly holiday. Would 100% recommend to anyone and my partner and I are coming back in November with the pooch for another week! Couldn’t have asked for any more. Had a really lovely week of quality time with family.

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