“The property was spotless, perfectly clean and just a few minutes away from Seahouses Main Street which was great.”
The two upper bedrooms were roomy and very comfortable, the property as a whole was light and airy and very well presented.
However there were a number of issues with the facilities which I will present as follows: No teapot/No Tea/Coffee/Sugar, I have stayed at Sykes Cottages previously and I have always been greeted with an arrival welcome packages, usually filled with snacks/cakes etc, none of that was present here.
Also No Kitchen roll/hand wash-liquid soap in the bathrooms (which is essential in my view)Only 2 toilet rolls were given to a party of 4 over 4 nights. Dishwasher tablets were provided, but no washing up liquid/sponge scourers/scrubbing brushes/No laundry tablets or liquid were provided.
Further to this, I found a number of issues with the property - the lock was broken on the inner front door, the property really needs venetian blinds in the front rooms and overlooking the dining area for privacy, you do not want a busy street looking in at you whilst watching the TV, or the neighbours observing you whilst eating. I would recommend a rug in the living room and artwork/pictures above the TV and above the sofa opposite the window to make it look less sparse.
The lock on the bathroom between the two bedrooms did not twist and thus did not work.
There were plaster chippings on the downstairs non-bunk bedroom wall which need addressing. This room is advertised as a 'double room' well it has a double bed but it is far from a double room, there is extremely limited storage and you can only shuffle around the room, it's a single room and should have a single bed, essentially it is a box room.
The curtains in the living room and the box room (downstairs non-bunk bedroom) are not blackout and let all the sun and heat in, in addition they are too heavy for the rail and fixtures, leaving them barely hanging off, they don't close in the middle and need replacing.
There is an area in the living room between the sofa opposite the window and the wall which looks like it has been re-plastered, but not painted - it needs painting as it looks messy.
The shower next to the stairs got as hot as 'luke warm' and the one between the bunk bed room and box room got as hot as 'warm' I can only be thankful I stayed here in the summer. In addition the shower system is so convoluted it needed instructions - but none were given in the 'welcome' pack.
No instructions about bin collections were given in the 'welcome pack' the black bin was mostly full already, they need to address this - this has been mentioned in previous reviews but not acted upon.
The shower screen in the bathroom next to the stairs is hazardous, it needs a stopper as clashes next to the sink and there is a real chance of breakage.
In the kitchen there are extensive chippings on the chairs - they need repainting or replacing.
As noted in other reviews (which has not been acted on) there is limited kitchen supplies, the pizza trays were in good condition, but the other baking trays were filthy, worn and need replacing. There is a lack of mugs considering up to 10 people can stay here, only a half sized dishwasher and a half sized air dryer are provided, wish no washing line. Kitchen supplies were lacking in the main, which again has been pointed out in previous reviews, but not acted upon (do they care? Probably not).
The toilet roll holders are useless, they flop down so the paltry 2 rolls provided fall on to the floor if using them.
The broadband is a basic package, no higher than 18mbps, so the TV streaming services cut off more than once during our stay - an upgrade is needed.
Also, we were asked to strip all bedding and leave in bags for them to clean - I have never been asked of this when staying in Sykes Cottages before. Ostensibly, I don't have an issue with this - but I am being asked to go above and beyond when the owners are not willing to do this themselves? I found this is a bit cheeky.
Would I stay here again? If they addressed the above issues, then yes, otherwise no.
