We booked this accommodation last minute as a family member had been admitted to hospital and we did not check the reviews as thoroughly as one would have hoped.
It cost £415 for 4 nights accommodation.
Sheila greeted us at the cottage with the log fire lit. Sadly no other electric heaters were turned on so the property took some time to warm up but that's ok.
No basic necessities catered for i.e. bread, milk, tea. But again that's ok. In my experience that is a bonus but never an entitlement that should be expected.
I would have to describe the cottage as dated yet practical however, upon inspection of the upstairs twin room where my 2 yr old and 4yr old were sleeping there were approximately 10 flies inside the ceiling lamp shade. We found more dead and alive uninvited guests on the window ledge. I appreciate we are in the countryside however in January I would not expect that volume of flies within a property, in the summer yes because windows are open for ventilation but again not in January.
Then there was the pet hair smell, wow, it was over powering when entering the property, the listing states no pets allowed which is something we opt for when searching as my wife and children suffer badly with pet hair allergies. Needless to say it was not nice.
I did what any reasonable person would do and asked Sheila the next day if she would consider refunding us barring our nights stay (calculated at approximately £104) In essence asking for £300 in refund.
She informed us that this was not possible as AirBnB charge comission on top which I understand. I asked if anything else was possible and she was sadly not forthcoming with any suggestions nor empathetic to our situation. I asked if dogs had stayed there and she confirmed they had, I asked about the flies and she confirmed they sometimes enter the property through cracks in the walls, Sheila offered me £100 so essentially costing us £315 for one nights accommodation, I returned to the cottage in a state of bewilderment.
I then proceeded to email Sheila documenting our conversation and asking if she could clear the flies, remove the pet hair laden rugs and vacuum whilst we were at hospital visiting our family member.
I sadly had no reply in 5 hours so escalated the situation to AirBnB who I must say we're excellent. Sheila still had not replied to my message and to this point has not emailed since to apologise.
We returned to find most of the rugs had disappeared and the dead flies removed, there were still some uninvited guests buzzing around and if the carpets had been hoovered then sadly I think a better hoover should be sought, or better still new carpets.
We reluctantly stayed a 2nd night and again the night was a wash with sneezing and coughing from the effect of pet hairs and restless nights sleep from my children waking up saying the flies were tickling their faces, not ideal by any means.
The next day we made the decision to vacate the property as the sneezing and coughing and red yes we're getting worse and also the flies had spread to the upstairs bathroom. Thankfully AirBnB managed to mediate a satisfactory refund so no harm done.
In summary
Initial good communication from Sheila but lack of empathy and understanding let her down badly.
Property could do with being brought into the 21st century.
Too many flies for January. Dead and alive!
Pet hair pet hair pet hair, if you are advertising a property as not pet friendly people will not expect the remnants of dog hair in the property. The final nail in the coffin was the poo bags left in the kitchen drawer! LOL.
All bookings are direct with the owner 