“Overall, our stay was really pleasant.”
The cottage itself is beautiful, it had a perfect blend of modern and old style, the outdoor seating was great, the hot tub area was great, and the surrounding countryside was perfect. There was plenty of room in the car park. All the beds and sofas were comfortable, and the kitchen was a good size, and the fridge/freezer was a perfect size. The games room was great, and we were grateful the owner gave us binoculars to see some deers. We also enjoyed the complimentary eggs, milk and cake (which were delicious). However, there are a few minor suggestions we would make that would take this cottage to a 5 star level:
1) The owners did not nearly give enough toilet roll, kitchen roll, bin bags or dishwasher tablets. 4 toilet rolls between 8 people for 6 days is very stingy. We would prefer more of these essentials than the cake and eggs. We had to buy more of each of those things which we feel we shouldn't really need to do. Also, why weren't the loo rolls already in the toilets rather than in the basket in the kitchen? And why weren't the towels already on the beds?
2) there was no Compost bin or recycling boxes at the cottage. Initially, this forced us to use more black bins before we decided to go get recycling boxes from the car park.
3) the hot tub always had too much Chlorine which gave a few of us bad skin reactions. I have a hot tub at home myself and I can tell you there was way too much Chlorine in there.
4) the kitchen was not very well stocked. There were no decent knives, there weren't enough breakfast bowls for everyone, and there were no smaller ovenproof dishes.
5) the dishwasher wasn't very good - our dishes would often come out dirty. Also, you asked us to ensure we put any dishes through one last clean in the dishwasher, but you didn't give us enough dishwasher tablets so we couldn't.
6) the 2 pieces of wood you gave us didn't fit into the fireplace.
7) the shower in the bottom bedroom would often overflow, and it ran of hot water pretty quickly. The shared bathroom upstairs was hard for some people to lock as the door is quite stiff.
8) if you can, please get better Internet as it was very weak, and when more than 3 people connected to it, it wouldn't work. The Internet didn't reach some rooms at all.
We hope you take these minor suggestions on board as we would love to come back again. Thanks for a great stay.
Hi Andrew,
we are glad you liked the property in general and the surroundings, we took over Lambscombe in December and are constantly updating our offering to guests. Can I please point out that Lambscombe as are all other Sykes properties are self catering and not hotels.
The welcome pack is exactly that it provides our self catering guests with some essentials to last them until their own shopping etc. arrives. Since covid most guests prefer toilet rolls etc. in the welcome pack and old rolls removed to avoid any contamination etc. the same goes for towels which demonstrate they are freshly laundered before each arrival.
We also provide black sacks and clear sacks for towels and bedding so that guests can strip their beds before leaving. (this is again standard for self catering and protects our team from any potential transfer from bed linen, all properties are fogged before cleaners enter).
Regarding waste etc. there is a recycling area where guests separate their waste into glass, plastics, metal and cardboard this is stated within the welcome booklet. I have separated your waste for collection we encourage our guests to recycle as much as possible. As this is a rural area bins are kept away from properties to avoid unwelcome pests.
We use Bromine and not Chlorine in our tubs as it is far less likely to cause irritation. The chemical levels are checked daily and fed via a dosing system, sometimes if the tub is not in regular use by guests levels can build up but were within recommended testing levels.
I will look into the knives and sharpen as required although there is a knife sharpener provided in the utensils draw, we will also perform another check on bowls etc. as quantities were in line with Sykes guidelines.
Apologies on the wood as we stop providing log baskets at the end of April although guests are of course welcome to use the woodburners at any time. I will speak to the changeover team as to why any wood was left.
I will also take a look at the bathroom door and the lower shower, if you had reported the issue I would have dealt with it straight away.
We have individual broadband connections for each cottage via BT but unfortunately only receive around 5MB on each due to the distance from the exchange. We have enquired about alternative connections but no line of sight means wireless is out and fibre to the premises is still being rolled out in Devon.
Hopefully these minor points didn't spoil your experience of the tranquility and stunning surroundings at Lambscombe Farm Cottages.We look forward to welcoming you all back soon.
Yours Sincerely,
Damon Williams
Property Owner
