“We were very dissatisfied with the condition of The Abbey.”
It was extremely dirty when we arrived. One of the beds was completely full of black dog hair, inside and out! The entire house was filthy. Full of cobwebs, dust and dirt on all windowsills and shelves, with dead flies and bugs etc. Bath had scum mark, showers had a lot of black mould, the dishwasher was virtually breathing... the list is endless and we have many photos. The owner called the cleaning company they use who arrived a couple of hours later and she did the best she could but was also appalled at the condition of the property and apologised, she too took photos.
We complained about the lack of wine glasses and the owner purchased some and brought them over promptly. This was Christmas break and when about to prepare our Christmas meal we noticed all the baking trays were unusable, they were beyond rusty and also mouldy. I called the owner again and he promptly went to purchase replacements. The cutlery drawer was full of crumbs and dirt and utensil drawer was full of black dust and dirt... it was very unpleasant. We had to put everything through the dishwasher and disinfect the drawers before we used anything.
In all we were very uncomfortable there and felt the high rent paid for that time of year was completely inappropriate given the condition of the house
There was a hot tub but we felt it very risky to use from a hygiene perspective given the condition of the rest of the property, so it was a perk we didn't benefit from.
The stress and inconvenience we experienced and could have really done without.
We would have left but with other members of the family arriving from the next day we didn't have anywhere else to go. Such a disappointment.
Whilst constructive criticism is useful and necessary in order to constantly improve our business we feel your comments need replying to:
The Abbey Cottage is professionally cleaned after each stay. All laundry is externally washed. Unfortunately, on this occasion the housekeeping team clearly missed a booking and didn't attend the house before your arrival. Within minutes of your call we had arranged for the company responsible for cleaning to go straight to you and they were with you that afternoon. Given that it was their responsibility, and their mistake, it is confusing to hear that they were 'appalled' at the state of things. We ourselves were appalled and upset as we want every guest to be happy. You were clearly unsettled and try as we might to placate you, you found faults with several things, all of which we attended to immediately and gave you gifts and money as compensation. You didn't mention anything about the hot tub at the time, but we can see from your comments that you were unsure about it, rather than knowing or observing anything actually wrong with it so there is little more on this or the other issues that we could have done. We know the chemicals were balanced and it was clean; it is a separate team that attend to this.
We don't set the price. The price reflects the amenities, facilities, time of year and location. The standard of cleanliness should always be good, it wasn't, and that is why we corrected this immediately.
Property Owner
