“We have been visiting Whitby every year for about 10 years now and always enjoyed our stays in various cottages/apartments etc that we have rented through Sykes Holiday Cottages and others.”
Unfortunately, this time, although loving Whitby still, the accommodation on offer by Sykes Holiday Cottages has been very disappointing.
The good points are that it has a good location, is a short walk into town, has its own parking and it was clean and warm.
The bad points were that we were greeted with tired, rough, well-worn bedding and one of the most frugal welcome packs we have ever experienced in a cottage rented by Sykes Holiday Cottages.
The cottage is basic and in need of TLC. Nowhere to hang coats as you enter the front door, a lack of shelves/hooks in the bathroom, kitchen and bathroom bins that need replacing (lids don’t work and the kitchen bin lid keeps falling off (previously reported)). Later, we discovered the TV only had 6 channels until we noticed the coax connector detached from the aerial cable at the back of the TV.
However, the most frustrating and annoying thing of all (again, previously reported) was the creaking floor in the kitchen/living area. The flooring could not be stepped on without creaking. This being an upside-down house, anyone trying to sleep-in or have a quiet time in the rooms below were constantly disturbed by ANY footstep or movement upstairs.
On our second day we went out and purchased kitchen roll, toilet rolls, washing up liquid, cleaning cloths and a small chopping board, and had we not found a set of decent bedding, my wife was prepared to buy some for her own comfort.
Additionally, we had to buy bin bags, as other than those left in the bins by the cleaner, no others were available.
I know this is self-catering accommodation, and expect to eventually buy own supplies, but we have always found a reasonable stock of cleaning materials to assist with keeping the accommodation tidy – at least the basics.
So overall, very disappointing. We have enjoyed some lovely properties rented through Sykes Holiday Cottages in the past that have clearly been well managed by them and well loved by their owners, but sadly, this recent experience was not one of them.
