“This property should not be let in this condition,it felt grotty, unclean and very neglected.”
It really spoilt our much longed for holiday. We came with fairly low expectations as wasn’t too expensive, but this was way below the worst we imagined. It was cold, damp and musty when we arrived. We found a man’s underwear left in a drawer, old food in the cupboard, bin was mouldy, the bedroom carpet didn’t appear hoovered, the tumble dryer filter was blocked and water needed emptying - no battery in remote, ancient baking trays, cracks in walls not filled, dirt in the ancient washing machine, cooker old and needs replacing. The front door is an indicator of how neglected this is. Yet a few immediate and inexpensive tweaks would make this immediately better: 1) a blind, ideally vertical, in the front window is a necessity being right on the road…we blocked it half up with some cushions for some privacy. 2) a large rug on the tiled floors to make it more cosy, we resorted to using our picnic rug 3) proper fitting curtains all the same length - what an utter mess the sitting room looks because the badly hanging cheap cream curtains are different sizes and don’t go to the floor…a separate pole for door and window would look better…next door is an indicator of how much better it could look. 4) fill the cracks and repaint 5) replace oven trays and have matching wine glasses. Stage 2 would be more expensive and require new front door, new fitted kitchen units and appliances and new bathroom. Then either secondary glazing or better fitting window and door to obscure some of the traffic noise.
Stage 1 is essential and better standard of cleaning and checking the property. Our holiday was spoilt by having to stay here, tho it did mean we spent a lot of time in the pub!
Haltwhistle is a great location and there seem to plenty of other rentals, so I advise choosing somewhere else.
This cottage is thoroughly cleaned for each visit
The curtains for the door are merely to keep privacy from the small door window & are most of the time tied back into their tie backs
This cottage has never smelt of damp …
The front door does require a makeover but we have never had an opportunity to do this, with visitors & decorator - as it will require 12 hours drying the gloss paint … this has now been arranged .
The washing machine is an American top loader & incredibly useful & exactly the same as the one I have at home & actually NOT ancient ……… how it was dirty, I’ve no idea as we constantly use this & the dryer between changeovers if we’ve time …
Apologies about the dryer I may have forgotten to empty after drying towels ….
There is a rug, but having a large one means it’s not manageable to clean under but you can move the medium sized rug to whichever sofa you’d like it next to
If we carried out all the changes you require then we’d have to charge quite a bit more & as you mentioned it is very cheap, not the Dorchester, but we never claim it is
.
It is a cheap & cheery holiday let, with a great shower & comfy beds -
The holiday lets on either side are also ours - so not sure which you are referring to, but we do like to keep them different … perhaps you chose the wrong cottage
Bests viv xx
Property Owner
