Leveret Cottage

Reviews (7)

• Elizabeth

  However we were not pleased that the maintenance issues raised in various recent reviews had not been dealt with - in particular, there was still no blind in the bathroom, despite the owner responding to a review in July and saying they would do it immediately. The decor was very up-to-date and fashionable, but not enough thought had gone into the way in which people would actually live in the cottage during their holiday stays. The kitchen is obviously very small, though well equipped, but there was nowhere to store our own food - even a shelf on the wall above the microwave would help with this. The space between the bathroom wall and the outside wall is about 7ft - 7ft 6", but the ceiling slopes steeply on the outside wall side. A 5ft bed has been pushed into this area, making it difficult to access the bed from either side. My husband banged his head on the beams of the sloping ceiling and I ended up with bruised knees and feet, from getting out into a space that was so small I had to shuffle in and out sideways. Neither of us is tall, nor are we particularly fat, so I think most guests would have the same problem. There was also no bedside table or lamp on the bathroom side of the bed. A standard 4ft 6" double bed would at least allow a tiny bit more space for access and for a small bedside table. The dining table was not practical, as it was high up, with wobbly bar stools, which were not comfortable to climb up to and kept swinging round. In order to sit close to the table, one had to risk bruised knees from swivelling the chair and banging into the table legs. The house details mentioned the electric fuse box on the kitchen wall and said that, should the power trip, we should flip the switch back on and notify the owner about the trip. However, the fuse box was so high up that we would have been unable to reach it. There was no safe method to climb up to it (ref. wobbly bar stools mentioned above). A man came round while we were there, to read the meter. He had to leave without doing so, as the electric meter was above the fuse box and totally unreachable. Even a folding step-stool would have helped. We did like the water heaters attached to the kitchen and bathroom taps, though they didn't supply very much hot water, before it went cold and we had to wait for it to re-heat - which made washing dishes a bit of a challenge. Overall, although the house is pretty, it isn't very practical and we wouldn't want to stay there again. Lastly, there was a shower of rain on our first afternoon. Water poured through the ventilation fan in the kitchen ceiling, making a large puddle. We had nothing to clear it up with and my husband had to run to the shop and buy kitchen roll to soak up the water. We then had to leave a casserole dish with paper in to catch more water. We had a lot of problems getting hold of Sykes to report this, as there was a patchy mobile phone signal, when calls were answered there was a long queue and we were cut off, then our chat messages from the Sykes website were not answered. We ended up going into the Sykes Estate Agent in Fakenham, on the Wednesday. The gentleman was very polite and kind and promised to get a message to the Sykes office in Burnham Market. Even so, we heard nothing from Sykes until the Friday morning, when we were out for the day.

• Carole

  Thank you for the biscuits and local wine. Both went down very well. We were very impressed with the thought that had gone into furnishing the cottage, all on the theme of turquoise (sea) and sand. Even down to the little coasters, very clever of you to find those. The furniture and equipment were of very high quality, love the mugs in the kitchen and the bathroom mirror. Thank you for introducing us to Keith Nash. We so loved the painting in the sitting room that we tracked him down and bought one for ourselves. The heavy rain did throw up one significant problem which was a flood in the kitchen - all over the floor and into the cupboard under the sink. We dried it all out but the cupboard smells very damp. We put a bowl down on the floor to catch the drips and as we had a fair amount of rain, the bowl had to stay there. The water comes in through the extractor fan. I have taken a photo to show how the pantiles are badly fitted around the extractor fan, the root of the problem. There are also laths of wood lying in the guttering over the kitchen extension and roofing felt is sticking up. I don’t know if those were intentional but we don’t have them in our gutters at home. I shall try to send the photos to Sykes The lack of a blind in the bathroom is a real problem. I am seventy-seven and at my stage of life, you can appreciate that my ‘charms’ are not for public display. The lack of markings on the oven was no problem, we googled the handbook and found where the dials should be set. Perhaps a copy of the relevant page in your most excellent ‘Welcome’ pack would help other guests. We chatted to some delightful neighbours – very welcoming. We did enjoy our stay, thank you for our few days in Docking

• Robert

  Has real potential but I feel there a few things that let it down. We struggled with the front door, difficult to open and stiff. As other people have mentioned a blind on the bathroom window is a must. Hand wash in the kitchen and bathroom is needed. A tea towel needs to be left in the kitchen, drying pots was difficult without one. We noticed ants on the windowsill. The cottage next door is being renovated so there was quite a lot of noise, I understand this is beyond Skye Cottages control but it is something that will be going on for a while so thought it was worth mentioning. Other than that a lovely cottage in a quiet village. Great having a well stocked shop a few yards down the road. I know other people have mentioned traffic noise, it didn’t bother us but it is to be expected when stopping on a main road. No problem not having a garden for the dogs, just a case of popping a lead on them and taking them for a wee. Nice place to explore North Norfolk