Last Minute Cottages in Swanage

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Ms Catherine Cooper - Verified booking

  The property itself is excellent - very good location, sitting room views, neutral decor, good bathrooms. Website description was very accurate apart from the extra futon in Bed 2 which was in the way. BUT, the property needs some maintenance and TLC: Bed 1's loo streams after flushing; Bed 2's bed needs the bedframe screws tightening; kitchen tap drips (though the low pressure was fixed - thanks); kettle badly needs descaling; 3 out of 5 wall light bulbs needed changing (done, thanks); salt grinder broken. Grubby table mats, washing up bowl, cutlery, info folder. No dishwasher tabs, bin bags, ovengloves, kitchen foil. On departure we were asked to strip the beds 'to protect the cleaners' - from what? Covid? The WHO has declared Covid over! Could do with some simple instructions for the TV - there are three boxes and remotes and it's not clear how to get normal terrestrial TV. The property was poor value last week because of the scaffolding obscuring the view from every window - I can send photos is you wish. Had you warned me in advance I could have rebooked for a later date. The lack of private parking due to the scaffolding turned out not to be a problem because there are 8 visitor spaces between 32 properties and it's early in the season. When I arrived I noticed the kitchen water pressure was very low and rang 0800 0487197 and it didn't connect at 6:15 on Friday evening. I tried to email you but your email turns out to be 'no reply' so I had to go to your office in High Street, Swanage on Saturday morning. A premium priced property without premium maintenance and service, and unfortunate scaffolding in our week. You seem to wait until a customer complains before doing anything about issues that the cleaners must be aware of ... but by that time you've lost the customer.

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• Anthony - Verified booking

  This was not the quiet idyll that we wanted for our holiday.

  Let's start with the positives. The cottage was well equipped and just right for what we needed for 2 people and our dog. The cottage is perfectly situated for those who want a walking holiday. It is about a mile to the South West Coastal path and inland footpaths as well. It was a nice surprise to find a welcome afternoon tea as a gift from our hosts, thank you. Unfortunately...... the view from the cottage garden was of a large mound of crushed concrete measuring approx 20 foot high, 50 foot across and 40 foot deep. This rubble was obviously from a recent demolition of buildings that were nearby and was certainly not expected by us. This obliterated our view of the Purbeck Hills. The property directly next door is virtually derelict and due renovation which has started. The south face of the property had scaffold erected during our stay. This together with the mound of crushed concrete was not pleasant and certainly not what we expected from our holiday cottage. The cottage is actually situated on a main road and traffic passes within a few feet of the indoor seating area and bedroom. The traffic includes double decker buses, cars , lorries and the usual farm traffic. At times it felt that vehicles were coming through the wall! The positioning of the cottage also meant that persons walking past on the road footpath could be heard word for word. This was even the case well into the night (3am) with persons chatting loudly on their way home from the pub together with the smell of cannabis permeating through the window frame cracks. We do realise that all of the above is not the fault of the owners. We should have had knowledge of this so we could cancel. We wont return.

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• Jennifer - Verified booking

  A lovely property BUT: - the property sits within and is directly severely impacted by the building site and the access arrangement to the property via a derelict, dirty other building that adjoins.

  This fully detracts from the property experience. -the access building is not secure as it is open to the public as both doors are not lockable - anyone can enter - how safe is this? - what are the fire safety arrangements as there is no other way out as the derelict buildings are attached and the building site adjoins? - keeping long lawn grass for wildlife is applauded but what about recycling- only one bin provided - but we must recycle into 3 bins - as you state in the information pack and as we all should? not environmentally friendly sadly. We tried our best with sorting in our own bags in the living room - not ideal. - the TV didn't work - only on our netflix account and we reported this but heard nothing - Wi Fi kept dropping out - it is clear parking is an issue being distant and with the unpleasant access through the derelict building not easy/nice. Clearly all concerned with the letting know that the access and parking arrangement won't work until the new development is complete and bays for the rental properties delivered next to them. Years away? In the meantime the arrangement is not acceptable as others have said previously. I have a video and I am happy to share with future bookees so that they really know what awaits them and informs their decision to book this property. When all of the adjacent building work is complete and access and parking sorted out this will be a fabulous property to rent but not til then. Happy for you to discuss the return of some of our monies as we feel this would be reasonable.

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• Keith - Verified booking

  We booked Sea Pink as a last minute get away.

  We booked on the day of arrival and were pleasantly surprised that even with the quickest of turn arounds we still arrived to a lovely clean cottage with a nice welcome hamper including a treat for our dog. We can agree with other reviews that the cottage is a little difficult to find and the instructions could be a little clearer and they seem to only detail from one direction. We came up from Swanage. We were fully aware that the area was being developed as this was clear on the website but this didn’t affect our stay. Noise was minimal while we were there and we hardly noticed it. The area is beautiful with walks suitable for all abilities. The Kings Arms is a lovely pub just a few minutes walk down the hill with a great selection of drinks and food. The village does lack a shop for any bits and pieces. Yes the pub does serve this but only during the day but we didn’t see any evidence of this. All in all Sea Pink was perfect for us. Both ourselves and the dog found it comfortable and had everything we needed. The local butter was a nice touch!! We would have left a message in the visitors book but the pen had run out

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• Mrs Huckle - Verified booking

  A lovely old cottage, perfect for walkers. Close to footpaths to Swanage and Durlston, an excellent local shop, Indian restaurant and a fish & chip shop. Bus stop only 5 mins walk away. The cottage has a tiny courtyard garden which is pleasant to sit in, although is shady for much of the day. Definitely not for less mobile people - the steep, narrow, curving staircase is a challenge. Beware the low beam at the entrance of the stairs - it caught me out twice! The lounge is very dark - lights needed switching on during daylight hours. I imagine it would be cosy in the winter - the logburner would soon warm the place up. The main bedroom is large and light. Comfortable bed and plenty of storage. The single bedroom is cosy. The bathroom has a bath with handheld shower - this is fine however there is no shower curtain so we found it easier to sit in the bath to hair wash. It's a good 20-25 mins walk into the town and the beach - a little longer on the return as there are some uphill slopes. Overall, it is an ideal and comfortable place to stay, especially for people who enjoy walking.

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