Mr DeanMrs Sey - verified booking

"The description on Sykes website was accurate and pictures were true to what we found when we arrived at the house. The kitchen was particularly well stocked with utensils and crockery. The house owners made good efforts to liaise with us prior to arrival, at arrival -checking all was as we wanted (by text) and were available by text for any queries during our stay. There was a dvd player that was easy to operate. The totally enclosed rear garden made it safe for our medium sized dog to spend some time safely outside without incident or concerns. There are good golf courses nearby or within 1 hours drive and some good dog walks and dog friendly cafes too. I would have no hesitation in staying at this property again and would recommend to others looking to stay in that locality. A peaceful, relaxing break for family including our medium sized dog.We stayed over the Christmas week to visit family and the Christmas decorations and welcome pack were really lovely and very much appreciated. There is off street parking right at the front door and the back garden is very private and fully enclosed so no problems letting our dog out. There's a great dog walk adjacent to the Royal Birkdale golf club only a few minutes drive away."

Kathy - verified booking

"If I needed to be in Hale for any reason in the future, I'd definitely stay here again. The owners live very near, and are absolutely lovely people. The house was very clean and tidy, and the garden is large, fully enclosed (great if you have a dog!) and lovely. As far as areas for improvement, I just have a few comments: 1. less perfumed spray throughout the house - it was overpowering - ESPECIALLY on the bed (I think the bedding was sprayed, and it was way too strong for me). 2. The house was lovely and warm, but the master bedroom is quite cold (not surprising for a 300 year old cottage!). I'd recommend having some extra heavy blankets available, rather than just the one, very thin one in the closet. Luckily, I wasn't using the 2nd bedroom, so I was able to use one of the duvets in that room on my bed. 3. Having a cafetiere available for people who like "real coffee" would be great. They're small, cheap, and would be a welcome addition. ;-)Other than those three, minor things, it was a truly lovely cottage and a good experience. Kudos to the owners!"

Alan - verified booking

"We wanted a base to explore Liverpool and do some family cycling (canals). The cottage has an ideal location (a tranquil village close to the airport) for walking and cycling. It is cosy, very well equipped and Julie & Simon were very welcoming (offering to store our bikes securely).Two of us are allergic to dogs so we were a little nervous that this might be a problem as animals are welcome in the cottage, but this was not an issue as the cottage was very clean.Lots of local birdlife/animal life at the cottage and on local walks (ponies of course, wrens, herons, bats, dragonflies, even a seal). It's proximity to the city allowed a blend of quiet village life and busy city action. We would happily return, a week was not long enough."

Wayne - verified booking

"Boiler service was out of date, was told it would be serviced on second day of our stay, unsure if it was as we weren’t informed or left proof of service,there wasn’t any batteries in the carbon monoxide detector (I had to inform the owner who later fitted them) the smoke detector didn’t work either and a new battery had to be fitted.The mattress, pillows and bedding were all of poor quality, the mattress protector had seen better days and one bed didn’t have a mattress protector at all.Also a lot of the furniture looked tired and had seen better days.In the bathroom the shower head was completely broken and unusable.and The grouting needed renewing."

Angela - verified booking

"The location was great with good local amenities and access to public transport. Also the neighbours were very friendly and helpful. The house was comfortable and had most of what we needed for our stay. It was the overall cleanliness - or lack thereof - and the untidy gardens that let this place down. Also the quirky ideas about bed linen. I would recommend the front garden be turned into off road parking, as per the rest of the street, so that customer's cars are out of the way of the enormous tractors that thunder past twice a day. All this place really needs is a bit of time spent on it to deep clean the house and overhaul the gardens."