Villas In Malmesbury

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Patrick - Verified booking

  Where to start… We were due to check in from 3pm on 31/05 for 3 nights.

  At 2.30pm whilst we were on our way (3 hour drive) we were told we couldn’t enter the property until 6pm because it had not been cleaned. Quite frankly giving 30 minutes notice is a complete joke. We had our 5 month old daughter with us who needed to go to sleep ant 6pm and we also had to try and fill time because of this. Which meant more money spent. We eventually got into the property at around 7pm. Our first morning at the property was dreadful. No hot water running from the shower. We had luke warm water for 30 seconds then ice cold. I ran the shower for 40 minutes on full hot and it was ice cold. We informed the cleaner who said she would come round and check when we were out. So we were unable to shower and had to head out. The cleaner then informed me that she had been round and everything was fine… Obviously it was not fine and when we returned I went to turn the shower on again and low and behold the same problem. I informed the cleaner at 3.30pm. I heard nothing until 6.30pm, by which this time we had had enough and I called Sykes to complain and ask for a full refund as we would be leaving as soon as we could the following morning. Within minutes the cleaner is calling me! What a coincidence! I spoke again with the cleaner who said she would have to come round to check again or she would have to inform the owner I had refused to let her come in…I could see what was happening here already. Our daughter was asleep and we were reluctant to let the cleaner back in because of this. However she said she would bring a ‘plumber’. Somehow within 15 minutes the cleaner was at our door with the ‘plumber’ (definitely was not a plumber). Checked the shower and boiler and guess what…it wasn’t working! We were advised not to use the shower and that they would be calling British Gas to have the boiler checked as it was dangerous. Still no contact from the owners! I informed Sykes again that we wanted a full refund as this was not acceptable and we were unable to shower or bath our 5 month old daughter. The following morning, still no word from anyone so I again had to call Sykes who said they would contact the owner again about the refund. The owner offered 50%…50% refund after the absolute shambles that we had been through… I think it’s clear we will not be staying here again. We love Malmesbury and visit almost every year. Luckily we have stayed in other cottages in the village, with more competent and personable owners so have no need to come back here. Thankfully

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• Stephen - Verified booking

  We had booked a week, but left after 4 nights as we had 2 days when the Hot water wouldn’t work.

  Coming back wet and cold from a cycle ride to no hot water was the final straw. The property is owner-run so Sykes only take bookings and are not liable, the owner by his own admission said it ‘probably needs a service!’. He takes no responsibility for the shortcomings and refused to pay any compensation. The best he offered was “You can walk across in the rain to another outbuilding and shower there!” Definitely not what we paid for. The building is a ‘prefab’ , glass all along the front , no opening windows in the bedroom, lounge or kitchen. Bit of a goldfish bowl as walkers on the road can look in, stuffy at night as only option was to leave door completely open and then the local dog walks in. The outlying property ‘walks’ have a neglected air about them as well as being a Scrapyard of old vans and tractors, broken machinery and glass. The ‘tennis court ‘ needs a good clear up - extension leads to the ‘Box’ running across it. Also the trainline passes 100 yards away, not mentioned in the information. The outside ‘Bar’ is a derelict shed and the ‘Swimming lake’ is a pond! It has potential to be a lot better but needs more investment and maintenance to bring it up to standard.

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• Cathy - Verified booking

  Quiet and peaceful.

  The bed is very comfortable. There were some nice welcoming touches for our dog. The TV is very large! We enjoyed our stay but felt frustrated by a few things which stopped it being five stars. The extract fan above the cooker doesn't work and the induction hob worked erratically. The kettle looked unused and when we tried it, it tripped the fuse each time we did so. We ended up heating water in the microwave or in a pan. There were two wine glasses, one of which was yellow plastic; it shouldn't be difficult to have a couple of matching glasses! Ditto there only being one large bath towel between the two of us - plenty of medium ones. The bathroom and shower were great. The heating was noisy and we had to turn it off overnight in the bedroom which made it very cold. This would only be an issue in winter, we did arrive on a very cold night, it was absolutely fine whilst we were awake and it was quite comfortable then. I did try and contact the owner about the kettle but on checking the morning we left I had had a fat finger moment and sent it to the wrong number! I think if the kitchen issues were sorted the cottage would have been five star

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• Sue - Verified booking

  The House was amazing and defo had the wow factor when we arrived.

  The owners have literally thought of everything that you could possibly need and then left a lovely welcome basket of goodies and some milk. The beds were amazingly comfortable and we wanted to take up squatters rights. The facilities are brilliant with games room and gym. I had a couple of questions to start and the housekeeper came out straight away and was really helpful. Having an annexe was a real bonus as it meant the family had the house and I could have my granny annexe. The slight downside for us was some of the maintenance. The outside front door didn’t close properly which we felt was a security issue with kids in the house. The banister in the annexe was loose and a few other niggles. Also thought an extra £150 to use hot tub on top of holiday cost was a lot. Would it stop us going again? Absolutely not. Would I recommend it? In a heartbeat. Thank you for helping us make family memories!

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• Jill - Verified booking

  The Little Paddock was a holiday home that felt like a real home.

  It was very comfortable, very clean and very well furnished and was ideal for our 3 generation family celebration holiday. The games room, snooker table, gym and hot tub were well used and the tub very well maintained by Dion. Any problems we had were soon sorted by Rob and Dion who were always at the end of the phone. A few minor quibbles were the size of the dishwasher which wasn’t really big enough for 8 and that it and the fridge were in the utility room rather than the kitchen. The dining room table only seated 6 not 8 and an extra settee would have been useful in the sitting room when we all wanted to be together. As said these are minor quibbles and we would definitely recommend The Little Paddock which was also in a good location for getting out and about. In better weather the garden too would be lovely. A big thank you to Rob & Dion for an excellent base for our holiday.

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