“The cottage was lovely in a nice setting, and would probably have been a great place t stay in summer.”
Sadly after a couple of days with the heating being on there was a significant damp and musty smell at the bottom of the staircase, with wet running down the lower half of the walls, and white residue near the floorboards. I believe this to have ben caused by untreated damp, and the smell affected my chest and regrettably I left this cottage early as I was concerned about my health. The service I received about the experience was very poor, I didn't feel listened to and no one called me back to discuss further, I had to call them. I am so disappointed in both the property and customer service.
The first report of any problem was on Wednesday 22 November 2023 , on the 5th day of a 7 day holiday , when the guest contacted the Sykes office to say she was leaving due to there being a smell of damp at the bottom of the stairs and the cottage being damp. Within a couple of hours Sykes visited the cottage and didn't find any evidence of damp , or smell of damp , at the bottom of the stairs or anywhere in the cottage but there were small amounts of condensation on both bedroom windows. On receipt of photographs from the guest on 22 November 2023 Sykes re- visited the cottage on the same day and this confirmed that there was no damp but there was some evidence of condensation at the bottom of the stairs where there is an outside stone wall and one backing onto the utility room. The guest called for an update on Thursday 23 November and Sykes emailed the guest with their findings later that day.
A couple who stayed in the cottage in December didn't report any problems. Sykes manage the cottage for us as we live 200 miles away and we think that they did respond in a timely manner to the reported problem. We stayed in the cottage in early January and there were no issues with damp or condensation.
Property Owner
