Ludlow Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Laura - Verified booking

  First the positives - Garden cottage is a lovely house with characterful features and a pretty garden.

  It’s in an excellent location on a peaceful but central street in Ludlow. Unfortunately I felt disappointed with some aspects of the cottage. It’s such a shame as it could easily be so much better with the replacement of the furniture and a little more attention to detail. The negatives - The biggest negative for me was the uncomfortable furniture. They had bought the cheapest available to man. The mattresses looked fairly new but had absolutely no substance to them and you could feel springs sticking into you. The first night in the double I had virtually no sleep. I’d had enough by 6am and had to get up. I ended up with back pain after one night and slept in one of the singles for the rest of the week which were only very slightly better. By the end of the week my partner had back pain which he never normally suffers from. The sofa and arm chairs were also incredibly uncomfortable and even the kids exclaimed at how uncomfortable the dining chairs were! You may as well have been sat on a wooden frame with no covering. So we had to forget curling up with our books as planned during our holiday as there was literally nowhere in the cottage you could be comfortable. Also... On arrival the bath towel on my bed was wet (therefore the bedding under it was damp) and my hand towel was dirty (see picture). The pillowcases hadn’t been put on properly and one was inside out. The double bed had thin dark hairs on the sheet and one of the singles had yellowish stains on the sheet and duvet (see picture). The bath was covered in a thick layer of white powder. The bathroom cabinet was messily filled with other peoples toiletries and toothbrushes etc (see picture) so there was nowhere to put our things. There was a big basket of half used toiletries that were all dusty and dirty (see picture). There were lots of surfaces around the cottage that were dusty and there were cobwebs in the alcoves and fireplace (see picture). I pulled one of the stools out from under the ‘breakfast bar’ and it was covered in dust and cobwebs and a dead spider. There were crumbs around the kitchen surfaces. There was no empty cupboard space whatsoever in the small kitchen to put your food as although the cottage only sleeps four there was strangely enough crockery and cutlery for about thirty people. When we arrived the dining table had bizarrely been dressed with a Christmas table setting including snowflake napkins (in August). The garden was very pretty but the lawn was even more narrow than it looks on the pictures so you couldn’t do anything with it other than look at it. It also looks quite private on the advertised photo but it’s actually directly overlooked by four houses (see picture). In the folder of information the recycling info was from 2006 and didn’t correlate with the bins provided. The parking information was also out of date which could have led to a parking fine had we followed it. You are given a carpark pass for a carpark near Tesco on the other side of the town which is very inconvenient. If you want to park outside the house you can only do so for a maximum of 3hrs and you pay at a machine. You are expected to take your recycling to the bins in the carpark across town even though you’ll need to pay to park and load it into your car. After the first night at Garden cottage I was so upset after no sleep I rang Sykes to complain. They said they would contact the owner to ask for clean towels and the possibility of a mattress topper or anything else that might make the stay more comfortable and that she would call me back. She didn’t call me back. The got the owner to call me directly and although she was polite she didn’t accept what I was saying and I felt her attitude was that me having back pain was my own problem and not directly related to the furniture which it most definitely was. She suggested that I sleep on the floor! And there was no offer to replace the towels. She said that they have run the cottage for twenty years and this was the first ever complaint. There was no further follow up from Sykes. This was the second week of our summer holiday and the first week was spent in a different cottage in the same price bracket which was perfectly clean and comfortable. I couldn’t have found one thing to complain about there. Garden Cottage has great potential but just isn’t currently up to standard.

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• Teresa - Verified booking

  Garden Cottage, Ludlow is in a very convenient spot in this lovely little town.

  Our experience was good right from the start, from the Sykes online assistant when booking to the welcome message I received from the owner a coupe of days before we arrived. On arrival we were not disappointed. It is a lovely, comfortable little cottage, well appointed with a pretty garden. My husband and I used to holiday in hotels, but changed to self-catering a few years ago and this is certainly our favourite cottage so far. The location is perfect for exploring the beautiful countryside in the area, and the centre of Ludlow just a 5 minute walk away. There are numerous pubs and restaurants to choose from but the kitchen was so well equipped, we cooked for ourselves a couple of times with ease. Although there is a permit for a car park in the town, we found no problem parking in Lower Broad Street every evening of our stay. We only used the permit when we were shopping in Ludlow and had the car with us. Unfortunately, on the Thursday morning we had a problem as the toilet wouldn't flush. I contacted Leif (the caretaker) who arranged to meet a plumber at the cottage while we were out for the day. I was later called by the owner who explained the plumber couldn't start the job until later on in the afternoon. We were planning on being back at around 5.00pm so we could pack up ready for the morning before going out to eat, so I said I was happy for the plumber to come then. He arrived promptly, repaired the toilet and was gone by 6.20pm so we were not inconvenienced at all. Despite this, David, the owner insisted on putting some money in to my account to compensate us. which he did immediately, We would recommend anyone looking to stay in Ludlow in a delightful accommodation to consider Garden Cottage. On a final note, on the Friday evening after we left, I was contacted by Leif to say that we had left an ipad charger behind and that he would post it to me. This is another example of the excellent customer service given by these lovely people. Thank you Leif, thank you David and thank you Garden Cottage. We will be back again soon.

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• Norman - Verified booking

  We could not find any information sheet showing - the nearest medical facilities, recycling facilities, ATM, Petrol, Vets, Church, Supermarket, Post Office, Park & Ride, etc.

  WE HAD NO VISIT BY THE OWNERS DURING OUR STAY. Early doors, we made contact with the owners, by mobile phone, about the appalling wi-fi but nothing was done. The situation of the property needs to be emphasised that access is by a single-lane, poorly maintained. road which is also used by farm vehicles, commercial vehicles as well as residents, dog walkers, and pedestrians. On property maintenance, the sugar caddy contained solidified contents, the tea container had 2 two Earl Grey tea bags and one teabag of doubtful origin. The coffee container had 3 coffee bags on top of some instant coffee granules, again of doubtful origin. Apart from a smart TV, there was no CD or DVD player. 'Attention to detail' would be my watchword. Oh, I couldn't find the carbon monoxide alarm recommended on the last 2023 central heating boiler service sheet, found in the kitchen. I am/ we are NOT mystery shoppers, just Jo Public with reasonably wide experience of using self-catering both here, and in the. USA, Canada, and Western Europe.

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• Alexia - Verified booking

  Nice, clean and comfortable cottage.

  I knew in advance that the cottage didn't have wifi or TV so no issue here. I took some DVDs to watch movies in the evenings. What I didn't expect was the practically lack of signal inside the cottage. I went to visit my daughter who lives in Ludlow and was planning to work from the cottage during the day using the hot spot on my mobile phone. It was impossible to connect which was very frustrating. I had to spend my whole stay working from coffee shops in Ludlow which was far from ideal and also added an unnecessary additional cost to my bill. Unless WIFI is installed I won't stay at 138D Old Star and Garter Mews again. I am sure the owner is losing business as a result. Apart from this, the cottage is cute, comfortable and has a great location (just 2min walk from Tesco which is useful for shopping)

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• Melanie - Verified booking

  The very newly refurbished property was clean and comfortable but we did have to put up our own washing line, buy a cheese grater, struggled with lack of kitchen utensils and baking trays etc.

  Mirrors were needed in the bedrooms and en suite. The garden needs some TLC as it was obviously cut back from being an over grown area with apple trees and large shrubs. It could be made really nice. A guide of where to find GP, emergency medical care, etc would have been really useful as our daughter incurred quite a bad leg injury in the river which required stitches and we had to travel some distance to get this sorted It will be a lovely place to stay when all the little things are sorted. Still would highly recommend the house and particularly Ludlow, our 4th family holiday to this area...love Shropshire!

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