Villas In Norwich

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Edward - Verified booking

  The location of the property was ideal.

  We were looking for somewhere close to the coast so near to the Broads was a bonus. Before we moved in, we parked close by and walked into Stalham eating a light lunch at The Swan. We found that Tesco, Boots, the Health Centre and many shops were close by. The Museum of the Broads was also very close and well worth a visit. We also went on the boat trip which is extra. (Check opening days/times.) Parking at the property was easy on the exclusive drive. Inside the property was clean and well-equipped with plenty of information about local facilities. Unfortunately most of this had not been up-dated since 2019 so couldn't be relied on for opening times/prices. Clearly the kitchen was one cupboard short of the ideal. One was intended for food but with little space beside the china and glasses. We used the small table for cereal boxes, jar of coffee, squash bottle etc. but if six were staying would not be adequate. A small point, but do you have matching china and cutlery at home? Yes, so do we, so it is a shame to find something different in a holiday property. Owners, I expect you started off with everything matching but then some broke and others went missing and replacements were hard to find. Can I suggest you start again? Buy 12 of everything, put 6 in the property and replace from the reserve as and when required. Now for a couple of points of accuracy in the description. The main bedroom was said to have a king-sized bed (i.e. 5ft). The photo shows that, but the bed was in fact a standard double (i.e. 4ft 6in). There is an outside eating area and the photo shows a lovely glass-topped table and chairs standing on bright, multi-coloured slabs. Unfortunately the table and chairs had been replaced with a wooden picnic table and chairs and the slabs had lost most of their colour. The whole area had not been cleaned prior to our arrival and with trees overhead as well as general dust, bird droppings were much in evidence. We decided that we hadn't come on holiday to spend time cleaning, so gave the facility a miss; a pity, as we like dining al fresco when on holiday. A final point to those who might be put off by the possibility of traffic noise from the busy road behind the property. Do not be. We could hardly hear a thing inside with closed windows.

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• Carol - Verified booking

  This was our 3rd stay in different cottages in Norfolk and our favourite so far.

  It was clean and tidy when we arrived and appreciated the welcome gifts of tea, coffee, milk and a box of chocolates. We were a 9 minute walk from the beach and were fortunate to have great weather so spent most of our time there. My husband and daughter had a surfing lesson, which was the highlight of my daughter’s week, whilst my son preferred heading to the amusement arcade, and the dog learnt her way to the beach very quickly insisting on walks there at every opportunity. At the end of the road there’s a lovely butchers and deli, a Post Office, greengrocer, gift shop and clothes shop just around the corner. Fish and chips from The Ship Inn were delicious but we were disappointed by the slowness of the table service when we ate in the restaurant. We also ate at The View Restaurant, which had both lovely food and excellent service. The property has a downstairs bedroom and bathroom. My disabled father in law came with us and I only provide this as a comment not a criticism as the property does not profess to be set up for disabled access. Both the front and rear entrances have a couple of steps so you can’t wheel a chair into the property. Also, the downstairs bathroom and shower are quite small making it difficult for a disabled person to move around and shower successfully. My father in law still enjoyed his stay despite this. The only negative comments we would make about the property are that slightly better cooking facilities would be appreciated such as sharp knives (they were all blunt making cutting veg difficult), a large frying pan/wok, a couple of ovenproof dishes (I had brought ingredients for lasagne but then had nothing to cook it in) and a proper chopping board. Also we couldn’t find instructions for the tv/DVD etc and had to give up using them by the final evening. However I’m just being fussy. Overall we had an amazing stay and didn’t want to leave. We have already booked to go back next summer.

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• Nigel - Verified booking

  The house was basically grubby.

  There was: a filthy kitchen floor with a filthy mop left to clean it, many chips in the floor tiles; dirty oven, shelves and grill pan; dirty towel rails (splashed); ill-fitting toilet seats (loose) and one that was the wrong size so that you were sitting on the porcelain; dusty skirtings; grubby settee with lots of fluff and dust at the back of the cushions. There was also one piece of furniture in the living room with missing handles, no clothes hanging space AT ALL in the main bedroom, and holes of long standing in the quilt cover of the main bedroom. Although the kitchen cupboards were stuffed full of bits of equipment, there was no larder cupboard to store cereal boxes, tins and jars. The fridge had a thick layer of frost at the back of the cabinet, though the fridge itself appeared to have been cleaned. On the bright side, the beds were clean and comfortable and the TV was a good one. The gifts of wine and biscuits etc were appreciated, but they were no substitute for a clean house. We have stayed in Sykes Holiday Cottages before without issue and we have another booked for later this year, but you are on notice. N.B. the shower in the en-suite didn't drain properly, indicating a partial blockage, which the owners would not have known about, unless the fault had been reported, but it needs attending to. The general consensus was that this property needed a good clean from top to bottom, some general maintenance and then needed to be kept on top of.

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• Michael - Verified booking

  A fundamentally ok property, but with a multitude of maintenance issues.

  We experienced many issues during our stay; despite being reported early to Sykes, nothing was fixed while we were there and we had to spend a good deal of time corresponding to get any recompense. The advertised king-size main bed was not. This seriously marred our stay and we would not have booked had we known. Thank you for having now corrected the listing. Dead plants and peeling paint outside. Coffee mahine broken, leaking and unusable. Washing machine full of stangant water that stank in the most fetid way when we arrived. Kitchen kettle crusty with scale and had rust - replacement needed. No wardrobes anywhere… and a broken leaning over hanging rail in main bedroom. Someone else’s trousers left for us in main bathroom. Numerous lights not working, including above main bathroom mirror. Very sketchy wifi. Garden noise (which is made clear in listing) is worse than expected makes sitting out on the bird-poo encrusted chairs untenable. On a positive side: Guest welcome pack was nice and much appreciated. Loads of loo rolls provided. Beds had good comfy mattresses. General cleanliness inside was good. We had a sense the owners might live far away and not know about maintenance issues that had built up and not been fixed. But, for the money we paid, the volume of issues really were quite unforgivable.

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• Anne - Verified booking

  We arrived to a clean house and lots of room for 4!

  It was incredibly well stocked (lots of loo rolls and hand-wash in all the toilets, washing-up liquid, cleaning spray, dishwasher tabs - thank you for providing all this and more!) Plenty of all things kitcheny - could even have done some baking as this was catered for too! Enough bedding and towels were left for us for a 2 week rental. The welcome gifts were a lovely touch, thank you! As stated in the description, the house backs on to a busy road which you can hear when the windows are open...especially early morning as rush-hour starts! A couple of pointers.... 1) being a light sleeper, the curtains in the master bedroom are very thin and with early sunrises the light was streaming in ...maybe a thicker lining/black out lining on the curtains (we pegging a spare duvet cover up to block out some light!) 2) the bunkbeds, although comfortable, creaked quite a bit as they are a metal frame. This bedroom could do with a set of drawers in the corner at the foot of the bunks as there is nowhere to put socks & underwear in that room. Hanging facilities are provided. 3) the additional dry storage trolley in the kitchen is a bit flimsy-something a bit more robust on wheels perhaps. These pointers certainly didn't take away from our stay and we thoroughly enjoyed our time @ 26 Burtons Mill.

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