Villas In The Isle Of Wight

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Barbara - Verified booking

  Roebuck Retreat is a nice bungalow with a lovely modern kitchen and a range of comfy chairs in lounge area.

  There is an enormous patio with good views over the countryside. However, it was let down by the fact that the combi boiler hadn't been checked, it had lost working pressure( the gauge was showing zero pressure) and needed repressurising (a 5 minute job). Sykes only give a landline phone number for contact with their emergency team, not much good if you are deaf like we are but we texted my son at home to contact them but apart from saying they would contact the owner and providing a mobile number for the housekeeper ( which we sent a text to but no reply from her) NO ACTION or prompt help was done. In the end as we have a combi boiler ourselves and know how to set the pressure we did it ourselves so we could have hot water. We are home now and its eight days since we texted the housekeeper and still waiting a reply. If we had not known how to reset it we would have been without hot water for the whole weeks holiday. We were initially reluctant to reset boiler as it is not ours and did think of asking my son to call out an emergency plumber as we had not heard back and still haven't from the housekeeper. The lack of WiFi and the very small tv are unusual as most holiday lets we have stayed in in the past provide a full sized TV and WiFi. The arrangement of the way one bedroom and bathroom doors open into hall while the other two open into the rooms takes getting used to. The bathroom has a shower over the bath running off a mixer tap, the taps were difficult to operate to get the shower running at the right temperature, in fact all the bathroom taps could do with replacement washers if not outright replacement. The external door locks could do with a shot of WD40 so they operate smoothly while the front door handles look ready to pull out of their housing. There is an infestation of ants under the patio doors. The duvet on the double bed was winter weight and that on top of the memory foam mattress made for hot uncomfortable nights. The bedroom curtains could do with black out linings as the sunrises early and floods the bedrooms with light The roads leading to the property are unmade and make for a bumpy ride especially over the speed humps. The property is also quite remote and there are no local shops within walking distance, not even a general store on the site. Finally, there is a lack of storage for suitcases, not a problem if only 2 people staying as they can use the second bedroom. The owner has stored large bags on top of cupboard in hall and bedding on the top of the "open" wardrobes in the bedrooms. To sum up, Sykes need to get their act together regarding emergency repairs, the owner needs to leave a mobile contact number for the same reason. It does not help that currently check in times are after 5pm ( a hangover from Covid, in theory properties needed to be cleaned, disinfected and aired ), a check in time of 3pm would give more time to fix any problems found upon arrival.

  Read more less >

• Mike - Verified booking

  We have been visiting the Isle of Wight for more than twenty years, and most years, we try to stop somewhere different.

  Consequently, we have stopped in a great many properties all over the island so far. Unfortunately, I must say that this particular property is, by far, the worst that we have ever used. Firstly, the booking page needs to clearly indicate acceptable arrival or departure times. For many properties, the arrival time is 3 pm, so we arrived on Saturday at around 2:50 pm. However, the so-called "cleaners" were still on site and informed us that the arrival time was, in fact, 4 pm. They did offer to allow us to leave our belongings, but we declined and came back an hour later. I say "so-called cleaners" because the property was far from acceptable when we finally arrived. The kitchen table had a vinyl tablecloth with bits of food stuck to it in several places, and the toilet was in a deplorable state, with a dirty seat and unmentionable substances stuck to the tiles just next to the toilet cleaning brush. The TV screen and kitchen windows were filthy. We rented the property for two weeks, but to our surprise, there was only one hand towel and two bath towels for the entire period to supposedly serve two people. There was also no tea towel at all, so we had to go out and buy our own. On Saturday morning, at the end of the first week of our stay, the cleaners turned up at 10 am on the dot. We answered the door and asked them what they wanted, and they said that they had come to do the changeover. They were utterly oblivious to the fact that we were renting the property for two weeks. Additionally, there were no spare bin bags or floor mats in the bathroom, and the shower screen leaked so badly when we took a shower that we had to mop the floor every time we used it. The paint around the bathroom window is peeling off. In addition to all of the above, the property itself is generally very shabby and seriously needs a makeover. We shall not return to this property and certainly would not recommend it to others.

  Read more less >

• Linda - Verified booking

  The property itself has all you need for self catering holiday.

  If you like a hard mattress then the beds are fine but myself & sister take our own thick bed toppers to help make the mattress more comfortable. The kitchen has all the usual equipment so meals can be prepared & cooked. The main downfalls which we encountered last year & this year also is there is no lighting in the car park which is just a rough earth surface & is pitch dark in the evening when coming back from a night out & no lighting in the area where Drakes cottage along with all the others in that complex are, which are set out in a quadrangle around a grassed patch in front of the cottages, the lights on the cottages occupied by owners & holiday makers are the only available outside lights on the cottages so you can see your way back to your holiday home & only if the people in them leave the light on ( most don’t) & they are on timers.. we asked the owner could he do the timer to go off at 12pm which he did as he was in the island at the time. Holiday makers don’t have access to the timer or Lx outside lights, I recommend taking a good torch. Also the smell that smells like rotten eggs permeates the area & it’s vile, windows had to be kept shut both times we were there in September last year & this. Some say it’s the pond causing the smell which does appear more strongly when you’re near the pond and the pond is near the cottages. Also evidently there is a sewage plant adjacent to the car park and the cottages, some think it comes from there, tbh you can’t fully tell where it comes from is vile and very offputting. After experiencing it two years running. I don’t know if myself and my sister would go back again I really couldn’t stand it. It made me gag and heave. Other than that the cottage is very nice apart from the beds being too firm and that awful smell that’s constantly there.

  Read more less >

• Malcolm - Verified booking

  The Shingles is in a nice location just a few yards from the coastal path with lovely views of Sandown.

  However the property wasn't as we had hoped for. Positive points were the comfortable bed, good wifi signal and plenty of hot water but the overall cleanliness of the cottage left a lot to be desired and it could also do with some modernisation. The main issue though was the fact that we were unaware that we were not hiring the entire property and we were quite alarmed on the first night when we heard footsteps in the roof space above. The next day we noticed the skylights in the roof which confirmed this and it would appear that the owners live in the adjoining property and the roof space of the Shingles is part of their living space. Other potential guests need to be made aware of this as it isn't made clear in the property description. Also, although 'Things to do' booklets were provided there was a complete lack of any personal welcome pack from the owners, a guest book and something simple like a pint of milk left in the fridge would've been nice. All of these things are usual practice with such cottages that we have stayed in before. The metal patio chairs were starting to rust and could do with painting and / or the provision of cushions, and another thing that I would like to draw potential guests attention to, especially those with children is the deep uncovered open well in the garden. Despite the issues with the property we had a nice week on the Isle of Wight. We would like to recommend the Ocean Deck bar & restaurant on Sandown esplanade for an excellent Sunday carvery. This was our go to place for enjoying a drink after a day exploring the island.

  Read more less >

• Emma - Verified booking

  We loved the chalet!

  Very nostalgic of the chalets back in the 90’s! It did smell a bit of a damp like it used to 30 years ago! Bearing in mind the price per night, the property needs both a dehumidifier and a fan as the property isn’t easy to ventilate and was uncomfortably hot on arrival. Due to the proximity of the property to the shrubbery to the rear, when we opened the windows, we were visited by the local wildlife. The views of the green are sadly hampered by the condensation which has developed now that the double glazing is no longer doing its job. Lovely touches with the basket in the kitchen, milk and water in the fridge, and loo rolls and miniature toiletries in the bathroom. The beds are suitable for young children but are too springy for adults and could really do with replacing. We would consider coming back as Westfield is a special place but it would be even better if minor adjustments e.g. a fan, could be provided.

  Read more less >