“Overall a lovely cottage and enjoyable stay.”
Everything was very clean and the cottage was kitted out with basic essentials such as washing up liquid, hand wash, dishwasher tablets and a couple of loo rolls in each bathroom; very handy to have these on arrival so you're sorted until you can get to the shops. They had an extensive range of pots, pans, plates etc with things like egg cups, juice bottles and all sorts of surprising/useful things.
The children's room was gorgeous and there were lots of books and board games throughout the cottage. An extensive welcome pack and lots of info on local attractions. The housekeeper was very friendly. We accidentally cracked one of the plates but were told not to worry about it, and when the chlorine dispenser for the hot tub broke it was quickly replaced with no fuss, which we really appreciated.
Only slight downside was that all the notes dotted around the house with warnings about blocking the toilets/using the heating/breaking things/using the dehumidifier made us feel a little less 'at home' and a bit on edge, because they were literally everywhere you looked and it made it a bit harder to relax, in the first couple of days. However, I understand why they feel the notes are needed if they have had bad experiences of people blocking toilets etc...I would maybe suggest putting all the warnings/requests together in the welcome pack, or in a separate book on the table, so that they can be read all together at the beginning of the holiday rather than constantly coming across them the whole time you're there. It just made us feel like every time we went to relax on the sofa, or go to the loo, or brush our teeth there was a note glaring at us with rules, or warnings, or requests. They were all perfectly reasonable rules, warnings and requests - but you just don't really want to be constantly faced with them all day. Having them all in one book of rules would be fine.
Another slight negative was that the hot tub is away from the cottage down some steps rather than right outside the door, so you have to walk up and down sometimes when it's dusk or chilly, but this isn't a massive problem.
I would also say that this is not an ideal place to stay if you do not have a car and this should perhaps be made more clear in the listing, as we thought there was a bus stop near by but actually the nearest bus stop is a 20 min walk away and that's only one bus route, to go further (e.g St Ives) its an even longer walk across a bridge over a roundabout. The taxi services in Hayle are terrible; only three taxi companies and they are all almost always fully booked so really difficult to get a taxi to and from the cottage. However, if you have a car none of this matters and things like Godrevy Point, Penzance and St Ives are a very short drive away from the cottage.
The local pub closed its kitchen earlier than they advised food being served until. We had even called them earlier that day and specifically asked what time food was served until, and when we arrived they had closed the kitchen earlier than the time they had stated. Not even an apology or explanation. So just be aware of this and if you want to eat there then perhaps go a lot earlier in the evening than the advertised time. The pub does have very good reviews and we would have liked to eat there so its definitely something to be aware of. Of course this is nothing to do with the cottage! I just thought I would mention it so people staying here can be aware :)
Thank you so much for your feedback.
We are sorry about the issues that you experienced with public transport etc and will discuss changing the wording to reflect your concerns with Sykes.
We will give serious consideration to the 'putting of notes etc' in the Welcome folder but unfortunately we have to abide by the requests of our insurance company who insist that we have all notices prominently displayed.
Property Owner
