“Despite having made a phone call to Sykes/the owner before booking to ensure the described rear courtyard was secure for our dogs, and been assured this was the case, on arrival it was clear this was not for two reasons.”
One, the gated rear entrance had no lock as it was in fact a thoroughfare for the next door property, and the courtyard belonging to the cottage was dissected by this alleyway. The courtyard for the cottage is off this thoroughfare which had no gates and was open to it. You have to come out of the cottage which backs onto the alley, and cross it to access the garden. Two, there was dog excrements (three piles of!) in the cottage courtyard when we arrived late Friday. A call to the managing agent ...
One, the gated rear entrance had no lock as it was in fact a thoroughfare for the next door property, and the courtyard belonging to the cottage was dissected by this alleyway. The courtyard for the cottage is off this thoroughfare which had no gates and was open to it. You have to come out of the cottage which backs onto the alley, and cross it to access the garden. Two, there was dog excrements (three piles of!) in the cottage courtyard when we arrived late Friday. A call to the managing agent was made and message left requesting a call back. As this was out of hours I expected a call first thing Monday. However no one called despite having described the problem and asked for a return call. When I called on Tuesday late afternoon the agent said they had not got the message and said they were surprised as they had checked the property themselves. That being the case it can only have come from someone using the alleyway and entering the open courtyard. This renders the courtyard not secure and clearly open to the public. I have seen the owners response to another review saying the courtyard was not secure. They suggest that house rules are dogs are not to be left alone in the property and this includes the courtyard. To be clear we are happy to, and did follow this rule, however we cannot sit and relax where our dogs are off the lead and anyone might open the gate and walk through the alleyway as they are likely to run to see who is coming into their space (a natural instinct) and be at risk of getting out onto the road. If I have to sit in the garden with my dogs on a lead I may as well be out in public. This is what we did in the end. We didn’t use the courtyard and made it clear to the agent that we would not be doing this or cleaning up members of the publics dog foul. Other feedback is generally more positive. Cottage is pretty and compact. Great log burner for the damp conditions in both the cottage and the weather! Kitchen generally well equipped. A bit stingy to only say that one black bin bag of rubbish will be collected, for a weeks stay this felt very impractical. We ended up walking rubbish down to the bins at the long stay car park where was parked, there are large public bins there, included in the £55.10 per week parking fees! Bed was comfy, sheets clean and well made.paint work and carpets looking a bit grubby in places. Floors downstairs needed a good clean when we arrived as they were still gritty presumably from sand tracking in on previous occupants footwear. Nice touch to leave spices for use, however many of these were out of date and as the cottage was quite damp the powders had solidified and they would be best thrown away. Overall I’d give this stay a 3/5.
- Christina, February 2024
Thank you for taking the time to give your honest feedback. It is always so disappointing to read a review like this, especially given the number of people that have thoroughly enjoyed their stay at Penhale with or without dogs. Firstly I am so sorry that the number in our welcome folder was incorrect and didn’t automatically re route your call through to the management team as it always has in the past, this has now been rectified in both the welcome folder and the pre-arrival email sent out. With respect to the courtyard not being private, you will see from all our very positive reviews that it is, except for our neighbour who does share the gate with us when they are staying there (which is rare) and who are both dog lovers. That obviously doesn’t excuse the dog mess that must have been left by the previous guests and not cleared up by the management team - I have since addressed this with them together with the lack of cleanliness, unusable condiments and they have apologized, as do we. The courtyard is secure, albeit the gate is latched not locked, my previous comment was that we just ask that dogs aren’t left unsupervised in either the cottage or the courtyard. We do reserve the right to charge for extra rubbish but haven’t had the need to so far, as you have said, there are large bins right next to the car park which is just a 5 min walk, along the seafront, which you will need to use if you are unable to secure a space directly in front of the cottage. We are however so pleased that you too enjoyed the new wood burner, that together with all new storage heaters and windows has ensured that the cottage remains nice and warm and cosy - we love our Winter stays there now even more! Michaela
Property Owner
