Sandown Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Mike - Verified booking

  We have been visiting the Isle of Wight for more than twenty years, and most years, we try to stop somewhere different.

  Consequently, we have stopped in a great many properties all over the island so far. Unfortunately, I must say that this particular property is, by far, the worst that we have ever used. Firstly, the booking page needs to clearly indicate acceptable arrival or departure times. For many properties, the arrival time is 3 pm, so we arrived on Saturday at around 2:50 pm. However, the so-called "cleaners" were still on site and informed us that the arrival time was, in fact, 4 pm. They did offer to allow us to leave our belongings, but we declined and came back an hour later. I say "so-called cleaners" because the property was far from acceptable when we finally arrived. The kitchen table had a vinyl tablecloth with bits of food stuck to it in several places, and the toilet was in a deplorable state, with a dirty seat and unmentionable substances stuck to the tiles just next to the toilet cleaning brush. The TV screen and kitchen windows were filthy. We rented the property for two weeks, but to our surprise, there was only one hand towel and two bath towels for the entire period to supposedly serve two people. There was also no tea towel at all, so we had to go out and buy our own. On Saturday morning, at the end of the first week of our stay, the cleaners turned up at 10 am on the dot. We answered the door and asked them what they wanted, and they said that they had come to do the changeover. They were utterly oblivious to the fact that we were renting the property for two weeks. Additionally, there were no spare bin bags or floor mats in the bathroom, and the shower screen leaked so badly when we took a shower that we had to mop the floor every time we used it. The paint around the bathroom window is peeling off. In addition to all of the above, the property itself is generally very shabby and seriously needs a makeover. We shall not return to this property and certainly would not recommend it to others.

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• Chris - Verified booking

  An excellent new house, in an ideal location that is let down by the equipment and bedding.

  The house furnishings have an unfinished feel. We had a feeling that the property was rushed onto the market with little thought given to the needs of the guests. There was a significant shortage of cutlery for example and that which was provided was of poor quality. There was only one small sharp knife so there was no means to cut a loaf or carve a joint. There were no baking trays. In fact kitchen utensils were in very short supply. In fact we have stayed in many self catering properties over the years and this was the most inadequately equipped that we have experienced. A washing machine was fitted in the kitchen, but there was only one small collapsable airer, no dryer and no line outside, so a family would have found drying washing impossible. The furniture and bedding in the bedroom definitely need attention. The pillows were very poor quality and uncomfortable. The bedding was also pretty poor. When we stripped the bed, the duvet stuck to the cover, so either the cleaners had spilt liquid on it or it had not been changed after the previous guests, ugh! My wife struggled to find anywhere to satisfactorily store jewellery and there was no practical place to apply make up because there was no appropriate shelving in the bathrooms or the bedrooms. When we came to clean before we left we found a sweeping brush and a vacuum cleaner, but no dustpan. We had to sweep and then vacuum up the bits. In concluding we had an excellent holiday which was marred not by the property, which could have been lovely, but by the owners lack of attention to the needs of their guests.

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• Malcolm - Verified booking

  The Shingles is in a nice location just a few yards from the coastal path with lovely views of Sandown.

  However the property wasn't as we had hoped for. Positive points were the comfortable bed, good wifi signal and plenty of hot water but the overall cleanliness of the cottage left a lot to be desired and it could also do with some modernisation. The main issue though was the fact that we were unaware that we were not hiring the entire property and we were quite alarmed on the first night when we heard footsteps in the roof space above. The next day we noticed the skylights in the roof which confirmed this and it would appear that the owners live in the adjoining property and the roof space of the Shingles is part of their living space. Other potential guests need to be made aware of this as it isn't made clear in the property description. Also, although 'Things to do' booklets were provided there was a complete lack of any personal welcome pack from the owners, a guest book and something simple like a pint of milk left in the fridge would've been nice. All of these things are usual practice with such cottages that we have stayed in before. The metal patio chairs were starting to rust and could do with painting and / or the provision of cushions, and another thing that I would like to draw potential guests attention to, especially those with children is the deep uncovered open well in the garden. Despite the issues with the property we had a nice week on the Isle of Wight. We would like to recommend the Ocean Deck bar & restaurant on Sandown esplanade for an excellent Sunday carvery. This was our go to place for enjoying a drink after a day exploring the island.

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• Nicholas - Verified booking

  Alarm bells should have been ringing due to the lack of reviews about this property.

  It just wasn't very clean. The lamp shades were dusty. There were food stains on the crockery. There was a privacy issue as we could look directly into the upstairs windows of the houses opposite and they into ours. Downstairs, passers-by could look in as they walked along the pavement, hence the profusion of net curtains, which made the property decidedly claustrophobic. The ceilings are so high that all cosiness was lost upstairs. The colour scheme of blues and wood grain makes the house seem cold. From the kitchen area you have to cross the entrance hall to reach the dining room, which was a rather narrow, dark room. The games hamper was a bit of a mess with pieces of games spilling out of the boxes. It needed a good sort out. The pub nearby was noisy and we heard late night drunken swearing and arguments. I knew when booking that the property had no outside space, but the close proximity to the neighbours windows and their outside space was uncomfortable; the house was an island. Every morning we didn't enjoy the revving of the neighbour's motorbike. We could never park in the street near the property. We had to park in a public car park in the next street. The owner did give us a free pass for this but nevertheless it was an inconvenient walk. The area of Sandown was really run down. The abandoned and derelict hotels on the nearby seafront were so depressing and the pier was horrible. I have to say it was the worst town and cottage I've ever stayed at. It just doesn't work as a holiday cottage, in my opinion.

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• Michael - Verified booking

  Property was very clean and tidy on arrival and all amenities were provided, including toilet rolls and hand wash in all toilets / bathrooms.

  Good location in terms of proximity to beach and kids play facilities being in easy walking distance of Sandham Gardens, Dinosaur Isle and the IOW Animal Sanctuary. Around a 10 minute walk to the pier. Earlier reviews had commented on the evening noise from nearby Hotels etc. We didn't find it to be particularly loud or disruptive, no more than you would expect when the property is located centrally in a seaside resort. The early morning sea gulls made more noise !! Currently there is building work going on just 20 yards or so from the property. Doesn't make for a great view but not a major issue. Work started each weekday morning around 7:30 finishing about 16:30. There was some low level noise but since we had young children in our party we were up and about before the workers started so no real issue to us. The property comes with one reserved parking space. There are a number of visitor's spaces. We had 2 cars in our party. Having been out for the day and returning before 16:30 all visitor's spaces were taken up by the construction workers. Fortunately the property is directly opposite to Fort Street long stay car park which has plenty of spaces available, so we would park there and then move the car when the construction workers had left for the day. So no big deal. I felt that the towels provided weren't of a great quality and that perhaps the bathrooms could have benefitted from some shelving to hold toiletries etc.. Other than that a nice property in a convenient location overall. Thanks.

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