“Things did not start out well.”
Firstly, we couldn’t actually find the property. After driving up and down past the ‘L’ shaped cottages, we eventually discovered Clematis through a very tight gap and entered a small courtyard. It became apparent that we couldn’t leave the car outside the cottage as we would block the entrance to the courtyard. The instructions state “Park up in the off-road parking spot”? What parking spot? So reluctantly we called the owner to ask where we could park and was told, on the road by the grass bank or on the hotel car park. Neither was really a good option as I had a broken ankle and was on crutches. So, after unloading, we parked on the paved area outside the kitchen window by the road. We did find instructions when we were in the cottage, but again they were not very helpful.
We then decided to have a drink and put the TV on, after thirty minutes of trying to find ITV and scrolling through channels that kept saying there was no signal? I once again reluctantly decided to phone the owner. He, very helpfully, arranged for a lovely lady, Catherine to call round. She couldn’t get any channels either but after turning it off and back on some did appear. We then spent another thirty minutes scrolling through the menu and noting the numbers of the main channels. I have left my list in the hope it will be of some help to future occupants. There are TV’s in all the rooms but as you can’t actually watch much on them, they are a bit pointless. We asked her about where we had parked, and she said she thought it would be fine.
The cottage itself proved delightful, very clean, comfortable and spacious. The lounge and bedrooms were quite large and nicely decorated. The bed was huge and one of the best and most comfortable I have slept in. The kitchen was really well equipped. There were some minor scuffs on the walls which were immaterial and in no way detracted from the overall appearance of the cottage. It was dog friendly which is always a bonus. The biscuits, tea, coffee and milk were a nice touch too.
To conclude, I feel there needs to be a sign on the ‘rear’ or roadside indicating which building was clematis. Also, there is no allocated parking, the description included the statement ‘off road parking spot’ as some of the other cottages had allocated parking, could the block paved area be allocated to Clematis? This would be helpful, as I imagine if all the cottages were in use, parking would be an issue. Also, the TV really needs sorting out, scrolling through over one thousand channels, most of which didn’t work is not ideal. On the 29th May I had also contacted Sykes about the TV and parking, as previous reviews mentioned this situation. I was told the TV does have an aerial and there was off road parking. Clearly this is not the case.
To his credit, the owner Paul, was very helpful in helping us resolve the issues with the TV, as was Catherine. It was a very comfortable place and pleasant place to stay, despite the two issues I have mentioned.
- Annette, September 2022
Thanks for your feedback. Parking is directly outside the cottage, on the private road, which doesn't have passing traffic (it's a dead end so ultra quiet). I'm glad you could get your 4x4 around to the door, which is ok for loading and unloading. I'm sorry you had issues with the TV, I think someone else had changed the settings before you, I'm delighted that we responded and had someone at the property, fixing the issue within one hour of you alerting me, so a very quick response. Overall, I'm glad that you had an enjoyable stay, once you got settled in and unpacked, and I appreciate you acknowledging the quick response!
Property Owner
