Ian - verified booking

"Having read other reviews I have to say we were rather disappointed. On a minor point the 'welcome pack' of the cheapest Cava from the local Co-op and a handful of Roses chocs that had been hanging about for ages or left in the sun (plus a pint of milk and a few small bottles of water) fell way short of our recent experiences elsewhere. Never found the expected doggy treats. The place feels a bit neglected and needs some basic maintenance. The French doors to the garden and front entrance were hard to open fully and even more difficult to properly lock again. Having wrestled the utility room door open we never shut it again as the catch was so dodgy. Regarding cleanliness; we found a few cobwebs here and there and the table and worksurfaces in the kitchen were sticky. We had to go to the Co-op and buy dishcloths to help clean as none were provided. In the fridge were a selection of commodities left by previous occupiers, many were way out of date and unusable - the cleaners should remove such items. We thought it would be a good idea to fill the chilled water dispenser in the fridge, only to have the contents dribble out of the tap onto the kitchen floor. With regard to the gardens etc., don't be fooled by the photo's on the website - even making due allowance for the remarkably hot weather the collection of scruffy pots with dead/dying plants in was unacceptable. Added to the odd collection of tat and rusty paraphernalia alongside a broken chair and weeks of accumulated dead leaves that you walk into the house all the time gives the impression the 'gardener' has gone missing. The next door rental property is a complete contrast. Our efforts on watering and sweeping up may have revived things a bit.I hear you say 'did you contact the owner?' - no we didn't because none of these matters individually amounted to a federal case, but the overall effect was negative. However, contrary to our other experiences renting cottages, nobody contacted us proactively to see if all was well. Not much to ask when paying upwards of £800 for week's stay.On a more positive note, the location was great affording easy access to the beaches, forest and decent local shops (Co-op, Boots, butcher/deli, newsagent, pet shop and chippy) plus three dog friendly pubs within walking distance ranging from good honest pub grub (Carpenters Arms) to a 2 AA rosette place that charges sensible prices (Three Tuns, not to be missed)."

RUPRAI - verified booking

"We arrived at Bakers Barn after a 5 hour drive. On opening the door the kitchen looked lovely. We had a quick look around and the bedrooms and bathroom were nice and clean. Coming back into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and that is where the initial wow factor disappeared. All cutlery looked like it hadn't been cleaned properly with remnants of food and coffee stains in mugs, plates and pans. The oven doors were thick with grease and hadn't been cleaned. The worksurface was sticky and again not cleaned. The tiled backsplash was filthy. The cupboard doors had tea/coffee stains running down them again not cleaned. The kickboards were disgusting and filthy. On opening the cupboards we found half eaten packs of crisps , cereals etc. Same with the fridge it had previous guests half eaten food and bottles in. The kitchen bin has no lid and was overflowing again with previous guests rubbish. When you pay close to £1000 for a cottage you shouldn't have to be faced with this scenario. The master bedroom doors are hard to open and close and the front patio doors have splinters of wood coming off which caught my wife's dress and ripped it on entering the property. The place needs a very good clean and then would warrant the price to stay there. Some of the points mentioned above have been pointed out by previous guests but looks like no one has acted on them. I have never left a bad review of a holiday cottage but unfortunately I had no choice with Bakers Barn."

Hilary - verified booking

"We had a great holiday. We enjoyed walks from the cottage within the grounds, found a shady stream with a rope swing. Short drive to carisbrooke castle, colwell bay (sandy beach, great for going in the sea) and mottistone. We booked a Tesco delivery for our arrival and then did little shops at Lidl. There's a family sized fridge freezer so you can do a weeks shop. We went to a lifeboat launch at Bembridge, and cycled the red squirrel trail from shanklin. We ate at Pavarotti's in shanklin, highly recommend, and went to the chine in the evening. We also went to godshill model village.We had glorious weather which always helps, but there was lots to do, could have happily filled 2 weeks! The children loved being at calbourne mill, we went every morning before they open at 10 to feed the birds and have a pedalo. Youngest child loved the lego table. The lodge is very comfortable, bigger than I expected from the photos. It was lovely and clean and the beds comfortable. The big windows upstairs stopped it getting stuffy or too hot. We didn't get pestered by the birds at all, the children loved seeing them walk about. We ate all our meals on the veranda and didn't use the dining room at all but it was very spacious. Thank you for a lovely holiday."

Helen - verified booking

"Lovely light airy open plan eco house.Practical things which could be acted on to make it even better - 1 Toilets didn't flush properly. Water constantly trickling through so took hours to refill after use. Awkward when whole party trying to leave together. Please sort the toilets out!2 Recycling instructions - there were none, which for an eco pod which makes much of its green credentials is poor. There was one green wheely bin - no information about whether this was for glass and cans, or paper and cardboard, or all together, and whether waste should be presented separated out or commingled. No food waste bin at all. Where does the residual waste go? When are collections? No excuse for an eco pod not providing recycling instructions.3 Provide better quality loo roll. The starter set of one roll per bathroom provided was one ply which is cheap, and the eco pods are not. If it's recycled then say so. If not then splash out on the sort of quality people usually buy at home. 4 The children were uncomfortable about sitting on the balcony because of the peacock poo. Could this be cleaned up more often?The boats - the pedals don't work well on the pedalled, put us off this year."

Judith - verified booking

"We stayed for a weekend at Sea Breezes as we were attending a wedding in Yarmouth. The directions and location for our needs were brilliant - when we got off the Yarmouth ferry it was a 6-9 minute drive to the house. On arrival there was a lovely welcome pack and the owner was in contact beforehand to give information on the cottage and the area. Sue also found out about the bus service for us to get to the wedding. We were 2 couples and 2 grown up children - plenty of hot water, the bedding and towels were clean and comfortable athe bedrooms were on the whole comfortable although the twin beds were low and our grown up children found them uncomfortable. We made use of the garden furniture and the garden was sunny in the afternoon. It was a bit of a squash round the dining table for 6 adults but we ate out mostly. Approx 15 mins walk to Totland and Colwell Bay and a shop across the road for necessities. On a main road which I did not expect. Could benefit from some black out blinds as the light came flooding into the bedrooms first thing in the morning, so we woke early. Wifi etc and kitchen appliances all very efficient. Great stay - recommend!"