Last Minute Cottages in the West Midlands

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Martin - Verified booking

  This review is written as England is slowly coming out of a third lockdown in April 2021.

  My wife and I had to cancel a week in Scotland as their lock down exit plan was too late for our booking. We booked The Hideout at shortish notice and have no regrets that we did. The cottage is pinned on Google maps so there should be no problem in finding it, but the road is single track and narrow so if you drive a Range Rover that has never been outside of Chelsea then be prepared. We were met by Ian the owner who gave us a covid safe hand over and explained all that we needed to know about the cottage. There is a bedroom with a double bed and enough storage space for two people for a couple of weeks. The bathroom is large enough, with a large shower cubicle that is big enough for two people if you like that sort of thing. The main room is a lounge/kitchen with large patio doors opening on to the balcony and offering a wide view of the valley. The kitchen has all you will need [there is an undercounter fridge but no freezer'] and a dishwasher. All untensils/pans/dishes are provided. Under normal conditions my wife and I would be eating out when on holiday but due to the Covid restrictions we did eat at the cottage more than we normally would. There is a two seater sofa in the living area, my wife and I are used to a sofa each at home but we soon got used to it. There is a log burning stove in the living area but we found the cottage warm enough that we did not need to light it. Sadly, although the weather/temperatures were great for our time there, it was not quite warm enough to make use of the pool on the decking area. The cottage is a ten minute drive from Whitchurch and the A40 dual carriageway, so ideally located for touring the local area. Whitchurch is the nearest store for groceries etc, but the pub in Llangrove [The Royal Arms ] does Sunday lunches and evening meals. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here and would recommend it to friends and family.

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• Christine - Verified booking

  What a place, lovely views from the large window, then out onto balcony to sit and enjoy our afternoon tea!

  Our dog loved it here, he enjoyed all the nice walks, the freedom of running round in the fields belonging to the property and got on well with Ben and Zak the owners dogs, as we got on well with Ian the owner. Sally his wife was away, looking forward to meeting her next time we go. We always go self catering, The Hideout and The Lookout are at the very top of our list now. There was cake for us when we arrived, there were no end of towels and toilet rolls for the bathroom, towels for the pool as well as everything you’ll need for the kitchen while you’re there including tea, coffee, salt and pepper. I mention all this because so many places have been stripped of everything when you arrive. Ian and Sally have tried to think of everything to make your stay more welcoming and comfortable. There’s a pub just a few minutes walk away in the village and lots of places to visit, we like Symonds Yat for walks along the river and into the forest but must admit because we were lucky with the weather we really enjoyed relaxing round the pool and our walks out from the property. Brilliant place to go, will be back soon unless everyone else beats us to it! Ray, Chris and Benson x

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• Samantha - Verified booking

  We booked the Hideout as a last minute getaway.

  We didn't know much about the area. I just did a search for properties that were pet friendly and within a reasonable driving distance for us. The Hideout looked amazing so we just went for it. The property is amazing, really cute with a lovely terrace that you can sit on and look over the countryside with a cup of tea (or glass of wine). We were blessed with the weather too so took advantage of the swimming pool. My 2 spaniels had never seen a swimming pool before and seemed a bit concerned about me and my husband splashing about in it :-) The property is well situated for walks in the Forest of Dean (or any other adventurous activity you may wish to do). Our favourite was Symonds Yat which has spectacular walks along the River Wye. We only got back yesterday and the dogs are still worn out. If you don't have dogs, there are lots of other things in the area you can do. The local pub (also dog friendly) is only a few minutes walk away and does really good and reasonably priced food. The owners are extremely pleasant too. I can't recommend this place enough!!

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• Bethan - Verified booking

  The cottage was lovely, the park was spotless and the staff were so happy, friendly and helpful.

  We were provided with towels, slippers and dressing gowns which was a delightful surprise and made the hot tub experience even better. Unfortunately, Sykes Cottages do need to take a look at their listing for this cottage. It is only in the (very) small print does it tell you it is on a park - we took this to be like a national park and had no idea it was on a caravan park until we received a pre-visit call from the site. The listing also advised a pub within a mile - again it did not say that the "pub" (club house) was directly outside the front door of this cottage. Due to this misleading advertising from Sykes Cottages we were not looking forward to our holiday, but luckily it did turn out to be lovely and the park was very quiet. This misleading of information is in no way a representation of the park but Sykes Cottages themselves. Luckily for us it all turned out well. I will be very cautious in using Sykes in the future and would advise the park to review Sykes listing and information just for accuracy

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• Alan - Verified booking

  We booked this holiday as the cottage had a swimming pool as advertised by Sykes.

  The owner was a really nice guy who informed us on arrival we could not use the pool as it was covered and had not been cleaned. The track to the hideout is very precarious and not easy to locate. The views are fantastic, but then we spoke to another couple who were staying just above us and they informed us that they were there for 7 days, whereas we were there for 6, we paid more than they did. We contacted Sykes when we got back, we spoke to a lady who was quite rude and informed us that the pool is only open in the summer, Is May Spring??? Midsomer's day is the 21st of June is it not. When we came off the phone, we checked the reviews and taken a year earlier in May was a nice open pool and a lady stood there next to it. We have been with Sykes for quite a few years but will no be going back to them again. All they want is your money and this holiday booked was falsely represented by Sykes not by the owner.

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