Holiday Cottages In Port Isaac

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Jim - Verified booking

  Starting positively, the cottage was lovely, a little quirky which we liked but everything we kind of expected from a typical seaside cottage.

  It was clean, the beds were comfy and everything we needed was supplied. Location is perfect and the fact that you get a parking space was a bonus. We arrived on the Saturday in torrential rain but on Sunday morning the weather had improved so we could go and have breakfast on the decking, it was lovely. I had received a phone call on the Friday telling me about the scaffolding next door and they were hoping it would be taken down during the week, I said as long as it doesn’t spoil the view then it’s not a problem, it most certainly did but as it turned out it would be the last time we used it. The sun comes over lovely in the morning, perfect for breakfast alfresco unless you’ve got builders within 10 feet of you banging and drilling from 8.30. We felt confined in our property looking out at the nice weather rather than being able to make the most of it. There were a couple of times after that we could have used it as the builders weren’t there, unfortunately the reason they weren’t there was because it was absolutely chucking it down with rain. We feel disappointed that we weren’t informed earlier about this when we booked and the impact it would have. The scaffolding is going to be up for a good few weeks looking at how the work is going so people need to be told beforehand that the decking will potentially be out of bounds during the day unless you like sharing your tea and toast or afternoon tea with a couple or so workmen! My son was in the attic room and was woken up most mornings by the noise which he wasn’t happy about (he is 18 and isn’t happy about a lot of things to be fair!!). I visited your office to mention our concern and report the fact that the carbon monoxide detector went off at 4am, it seems this probably should have been swapped in the last few years for a new one as it hadn’t been changed since being fitted in 2013. We were told maintenance would come out that day to fit new batteries, by 4.45 no one had been so my wife popped back to the office to inform them, they were literally just closing the door. Obviously carbon monoxide is the secret killer so felt more comfortable with a working alarm and eventually a man turned up to put new batteries in and confirm my view that indeed it did need a new one fitted which he did the following day. As I said at the office, I don’t honestly know what you can do about the building work and the scaffolding but it does have a massive impact on peoples holiday stopping at April Cottage which is a shame as everything else was great. I would be interested to hear if anyone else shares our views whilst staying there in the last few weeks or coming weeks.

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• Penelope - Verified booking

  Sorry for the apparent inconsistency in the rating but here goes.

  We stayed in the off-season, the first week in December and had a very good stay for our 9 nights even though the power in Port Issac went out for 30 hours and we struggled in 7degree weather and high winds reaching 70mph. Furniture was very comfortable, plenty of kitchen utensils, cutlery and glassware and excellent heating (when the power was on!) Beds were comfortable but the double bed a bit small for us who are used to king beds so we split up. WIFI excellent. Price was very attractive for 9 nights. We're in our late 70's but very fit but still found the bathroom on the ground floor and bedrooms upstairs with some 12-15 steps a bit of an inconvenience particularly at night. Now, to the main issues: this place is fine in the off-season but it is situated in a courtyard with a curio shop, wine bar and restaurant not more than 20 paces directly across from the cottage. (All of these were closed during our stay.) Pictures in the ad didn't show this for obvious reasons since I can't imagine how "unquiet" it would be in peak season. Because the pictures didn't really spell this out we spent more than 30 minutes trying to find the place in the rain and it being Sunday it was impossible to get help at John Bray or the owner.. Fortunately, one of the locals pointed it out to us. Free street parking readily available for us 100 yards or so away but not on-site and certainly not available in peak season with the public lot near-by not all that large. So, conclusion: If it's off-season and you're very mobile this is the place for you. If you've got mobility issues and/or you're in peak season and don't like a lot of activity around the cottage probably not for you.

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• Helen - Verified booking

  Unfortunately, we felt very disappointed with the stay and left after 5 nights in the property, having paid for 7.

  We drove 7hours to get to the property and having stayed in many local self-catering homes within Port Issac, found it a shame that a welcome package was not offered, as all of the other properties we had stayed in offered one, that were also self-catering. On arrival, we were shocked to find that the cul-de-sac, the property dwelled within, was not as aesthetically pleasing, as we'd been led to believe and realised now, this is why you cannot see pictures of the front of the property. For us, it felt like a set of caravan esc homes than many other homes listed within the area. For the extremely high cost to rent the property for a week (July), we were not informed that this particular cul-de-sac housed a large collection of seagulls, which are protected animals. Thus realising during our stay that they housed themselves on the roof of the property. The noise of the constant squawk (day and night) along with the movement on the roof meant we managed very little sleep and therefore decided to vacate the property earlier than we had planned. Not forgetting, your car will be destroyed by the seagulls excrement. Positives for this property are that it has been done up well inside by the owner and was mostly clean throughout. The car parking space was small and directly outside the property, meaning that you saw your car outside the front windows but this did not bother us as much as the seagulls did. We therefore would not recommend this property and would not stay ourselves in this property again.

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• Michael - Verified booking

  "We are very disappointed that we were not informed of the night road works that are happening outside our accommodation.

  We are staying in Sea Glimpses in Port Isaac and were unable to sleep until the early hours this morning due to the constant jackhammering and vehicle noise just outside our windows. Our holiday plans were flexible and had we known of this we would have booked the following week. The pea Pod shop owner who owns Sea Glimpses Studio informed us this morning that she notified her tenants that they could change plans if they wished due to the impending night time noise. We were not given that opportunity. On Monday the roadworks messed up our plans as the bus could not come into the village. We are told that the work will continue again tonight which means the last 2 nights of our stay are anything but relaxing. We stayed in the same place back in March and had a fantastic stay. I’m sure you would have been aware of the roadwork as all of the residents told us they were well informed.' The road works also continued the following night until the early hours of the morning. It was even tricky/dangerous to cross the road to get into the village. We have videos and photos of the roadworks taken from the cottage and the road. We also sent this email to John Bray estate agents who said they would forward this to you but we still haven't received a reply apart from this generic feedback form which is insulting. We would like a response from you to explain why you ignored us before during and after this experience.

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• Peter - Verified booking

  The cottage is very well fitted out and has good facilities - especially if it is for two people visiting.

  It is decorated to a very high standard. Its position makes access to the centre of Port Isaac very easy. Parking is not that easy unless you have a very small car. Some thoughts for improvements: a recycling bin in the kitchen - There is only one bin, which means that everything goes into it. Whilst there is a recycling bin outside, it makes life too difficult to separate and keep piles of rubbish in the kitchen ; Despite there being comments on the listing previously about the lack of information with regards the heating and water heating, there is still no information available. When we were on our break, it was cold and we needed to turn heating on and up. This proved very frustrating. Also, the hot water tank is quite small, especially if there were four people staying in the cottage ; No Cafetière - This would be a useful addition ; The time of access and departure does make it quite frustrating. Only being allowed into the cottage at 4 o’clock on the day of booking means that you cannot make best use of the facilities and area. And having to leave at 9 am makes it a very rushed departure. Given that these conditions were probably brought in during Covid, as a holiday management team, you should look at these timings. We would not book a cottage again with such restrictive access. Thank you.

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