Confirmed guest - verified booking

"We were very grateful for the owners finally rearranging our arrival and departure times as the cottage was empty the week before (we were driving up from Cornwall and needed to be at an appointment early morning). However, getting any commutation with the owners during the week before our visit was almost impossible as they wouldn’t return my calls as promised on their answer service. The cottage is nice and safe for dogs but it had not had a proper deep clean for a while. There was dust so thick under the bed that we had to clean our cases before putting them in our car, stains on taps and in sink, stuff left in freeze box that also needed a defrost as it could not be closed. There were crumbs around the toaster and under the tray it rests on. The sofa covers provided for the protection against dog damage were very smelly and unusable, not that we needed them as our dogs had their own beds. We washed these covers on the last day for the next guests. When staying in any accommodation guests don’t like to think someone else has stayed there before nor do we want to see any evidence of anyone else apart from an entry in the guestbook. The property has nice little touches such as a dog shower in the garden but needs a doormat big enough to stand on, no matter how hard you try you can’t stand on what is provided and shut the door behind and without any porch or outside rain cover it became a big issue with damp floors on damp days. The downside to our stay and why we will not return was that the owners stuck a hand written notice to the outside door while we were in and watching tv asking us not to leave the heating on when we went out. We had left it on low, at 15c, as it had snowed overnight. The owners reason for the complaint was that they “pay a lot for LPG”. Well we had paid to stay and it was the week before Christmas and you can check the news about it being freezing cold and a Yellow weather warning. Up until this point we would have booked again and had started the process as soon as we arrived but the note left a bad feeling; we’re not wasteful and know only too well about environmental issues but it was bitterly cold and we had paid to stay and that had included heating. The thermostat was left on 15c, if it had kicked in during the day that’s because it was cold and there was lying snow. The A19 had been closed due to the weather that night. So to sum it up;nice place if a little small, safe garden and stunning views, shame about the owners inability to communicate as this can make or break a stay. Positive contact with any guest is always important. Unless a guest trashes a property it is best to say nothing."

Ian - verified booking

"The online photos of the cottage are deceptive. They do not show that there are stairs in the middle of the lounge/dining room which are steep and narrow. The light which is 3/4 of the way up the stairs was not working and the bulb in the light on the landing fused on the 2nd day of our stay. I had to carry a heavy wooden dining chair up the stairs to change the bulb using a bulb from one of the table lamps. I am in my mid seventies and have a back problem and if this had been shown , we would not have booked this cottage.The front windows needed cleaning which my wife did to the best of her ability and there was stones on the floor inside the lounge area. There were problems with lighting in the lounge as half of the bulbs had blown and we used the only replacement bulb. This meant that the lounge was too dark to sit in during the evening, it was too dark to read. I had a message on Wednesday to say a "handy man" was coming that day but he did not appear.It would also have helped if there were written instructions on how to work the oven hob and the towel rail . The storage heater in the main bedroom was not working, in fact the control switch was not attached to the heater. Previous visitors to the cottage had commented in the visitors book going back as far as 2016 on some of these points. There was only one bolt in the middle of the front door and did not feel very secure. All in all a very gloomy cottage downstairs, which needs more power points to enable extra lighting to be used."

David - verified booking

"House and pool were great for us. Some problems with various things - fridge doors didn't seal closed so stuff got hot, Window in upstairs bedroom had no gutter so rain dripped down from roof into room via open window, loo seats were loose and turned round in use. Curtain in downstairs room over door had to be lifted to open door (too long) and there were many dead insects under it. We completed the maintenance book for all things wrong so hopefully they will be fixed. Accommodation was good and we found plenty of spaces for such a large group of 16 with ages 2.5 - 75 yrs. We would go back if opportunity arose. Our main problem was outside seating was poor and there was no shade. Also, no place outside which was grassed over and suitable for children to play."

Steve - verified booking

"Sadly in need of maintenance - back door out of line & hard to open, outside lights not working,some inside lights not working (under cupboard lights in kitchen- twin wall lights in living room only one light on each lit up)front door only bolted & difficult to open - the cardboard over the letter box is hardly a draught excluder.The stairs leave a lot to be desired - do they meet building regulations??? We note there were no photos of the stair case on the web photos- I wonder why.Main bedroom heater broken.bathroom in need of some work - specially around the bath the panels not fitted properly, shower trim - dirty.quite few cobwebs high up."

Ms P Medlyn - verified booking

"We stayed at Clematis Cottage and were very satisfied. The cottage is beautifully appointed and has excellent specifications. The shower and bed were especially fabulous. There was just the right level of communication from the owners: we were welcomed a little while after finding the key and settling ourselves in and we were also warmly sent off on our last morning. The extra facilities - use of the tennis court, games room, washing machine & dryer etc - were an added bonus to an already great little cottage. Overall we'd have no hesitation in recommending the cottage and would love to return at some point."