Dog Friendly St. Ives Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Deborah - Verified booking

  We were really disappointed with the condition of the property and it meant that it was incorrectly sold as it definitely isn't 5 star (tick) rating.

  Issues are: 1. The shower in the family bathroom keeps blocking rendering it un-useable. if you do try to use it for more than a few seconds then the water will make the whole bathroom like a paddling pool and the water starts to flood into the hallway too. They did send someone to fix it on day two, but the fix didn't work. I did try calling the office again but couldn't get through and no-one called me back. I can see from a previous review that this problem was also happening in November yet no-one had fixed it. Not acceptable. There were 4 of us and if we had known the apartment only had one useable bathroom then we would not have booked this place. 2. The tumble dryer does not work. Again, this had been feedback in November but obviously not dealt with. 3. The kettle keeps switching off. Sometimes you have to try it more than 5 times to get it to work. 4. The coffee machine works intermittently so we had to mostly use the cafetière but it was only tiny. 5. The flat was very cold when we arrived (despite weather not being that cold). There is not enough heating in the place. 6. There is no heating in the double bedroom. 7. The underfloor heating in the family bathroom does not work. 8. The stairs leading to the apartment were only partially lit and were covered in leaves which were wet and slippery. We asked for them to be swept but this did not happen. 9. The outdoor light by the front door didn't work. 10. The rugs in living room were not clean - we had to vacuum when we arrived. 11. We had problems with communications with Carbis Bay Holidays who have ignored our calls. 12. Despite not being able to get through by phone, you make it almost impossible to contact you in another way - you tell us to read the booking conditions for contact details, and having sifted all the way through -.you did not provide an email address for Carbis Bay Holidays, just customerrelations@sykescottages.co.uk. Nor did you tell us clearly how to go about making a complaint other than to use this form. I spent ages trying to get through, either through phone or trying to find an email address. Also, your portal does not work on mobile (I have an iPhone). Please can you let me know how to go about making a formal complaint and how to request a refund of 50% of the rental cost for a very poor condition apartment which was mis-sold, and for loss of amenity and inconvenience. how Sykes and Carbis Bay have dealt (or not) with this complaint is now exacerbating matters further. Also, I contacted you re. an item left behind at the property. I know exactly where it was. You then said you would need to try to locate it and I still haven't heard anything back. Both Sykes Cottages and Carbis Bay Holidays' customer relations is really bad. I did not reply originally on this feedback form because I thought you might want to keep my comments private, but I have been told that this is the best way to feedback to you, and because your customer service has been so bad since I first started to try to give feedback, I am making this public.

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• Natalie - Verified booking

  Alfred Wallis is a great location to explore St Ives and soak up the wonderful views.

  The apartment is located on the second floor and parking is about a 7 minute walk away. I would advise unloading at the long stay car park as the road leading down to the apartment is very narrow. The allocated space itself was easy enough find by the directions given, however the space was hard to locate due to overgrown weeds and a large 4x4 encroaching on the allocated space for Alfred Wallis. The markings had also faded. The space is more suited for a smaller car rather than a large family car. Once parked, we rarely needed the car unless we were heading out of St Ives. There are plenty of walks, shops, beaches, bus transportation to get around. Access to the property involves steps and steep inclines. Some would find this difficult. It certainly helped me reach 10k steps a day! We arrived late Friday evening due to traffic. The key collection instructions were clear and easy to find. We were greeted with an overwhelming smell from the drains in both bathrooms. After flushing the shower drains through with hot water this did seem to help. The apartment was clean, beds were comfy. Both bathrooms had been updated since the photos on the advertisement. A new sofa in the living area. I would point out there were no hand soaps in both bathrooms. Something which we usually expect when we stay with Sykes, and especially when paying nearly £1500 for a week. I would recommend advising customers this is a necessary item to bring with them when staying at Alfred Wallis. There was a hair dryer provided in both bedrooms. The kitchen was well equipped apart from there being no toaster. A simple kitchen gadget which is handy for an easy breakfast. The patio doors were not in use in the kitchen area, only the living room side. The WiFi was ok. A couple of days we had very poor service. The TV lost signal for a day or so. We couldn’t find any sky Chanel’s, only free view and Netflix through the PS3. Disposing of household waste was not as described in the folder. The wheelie bins are located in the outhouse at the back of the property. I ended up having to ask a neighbour on the first floor who also struggled to locate the bins. We stayed during May Halfterm. I wouldn’t be happy to pay anymore than we did, especially in the summer holidays. The only welcome item we received was a pint of milk and No hand soap. Some board games, a few books would be a nice touch. Especially on the rainy days when there is poor signal and the tv doesn’t want to work. Overall Alfred Wallis is a lovely apartment which could do with a few finishing touches to make the stay a 10/10.

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• Natalie - Verified booking

  Alfred Wallis is a great location to explore St Ives and soak up the wonderful views.

  The apartment is located on the second floor and parking is about a 7 minute walk away. I would advise unloading at the long stay car park as the road leading down to the apartment is very narrow. The allocated space itself was easy enough find by the directions given, however the space was hard to locate due to overgrown weeds and a large 4x4 encroaching on the allocated space for Alfred Wallis. The markings had also faded. The space is more suited for a smaller car rather than a large family car. Once parked, we rarely needed the car unless we were heading out of St Ives. There are plenty of walks, shops, beaches, bus transportation to get around. Access to the property involves steps and steep inclines. Some would find this difficult. It certainly helped me reach 10k steps a day! We arrived late Friday evening due to traffic. The key collection instructions were clear and easy to find. We were greeted with an overwhelming smell from the drains in both bathrooms. After flushing the shower drains through with hot water this did seem to help. The apartment was clean, beds were comfy. Both bathrooms had been updated since the photos on the advertisement. A new sofa in the living area. I would point out there were no hand soaps in both bathrooms. Something which we usually expect when we stay with Sykes, and especially when paying nearly £1500 for a week. I would recommend advising customers this is a necessary item to bring with them when staying at Alfred Wallis. There was a hair dryer provided in both bedrooms. The kitchen was well equipped apart from there being no toaster. A simple kitchen gadget which is handy for an easy breakfast. The patio doors were not in use in the kitchen area, only the living room side. The WiFi was ok. A couple of days we had very poor service. The TV lost signal for a day or so. We couldn’t find any sky Chanel’s, only free view and Netflix through the PS3. Disposing of household waste was not as described in the folder. The wheelie bins are located in the outhouse at the back of the property. I ended up having to ask a neighbour on the first floor who also struggled to locate the bins. We stayed during May Halfterm. I wouldn’t be happy to pay anymore than we did, especially in the summer holidays. The only welcome item we received was a pint of milk and No hand soap. Some board games, a few books would be a nice touch. Especially on the rainy days when there is poor signal and the tv doesn’t want to work. Overall Alfred Wallis is a lovely apartment which could do with a few finishing touches to make the stay a 10/10.

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• Catherine - Verified booking

  What a wonderful find!

  Probably the best self catering accommodation we’ve ever had - the flat suited us perfectly; it was superbly equipped (once we’d found the cutlery lol!) and ideally positioned with the most stunning outlook. It was beautifully clean for our arrival, even the floors had clearly all been washed too. Everything we could have wished for was provided, even binoculars to make the most of the view. Very comfortable accommodation, everything there that you could possibly need, and so much to do right on the doorstep in a beautiful area. Thank you so much! Parking would have been tricky if there had been anyone at number 4 but thankfully there wasn’t! Just a couple of suggestions. Would you kindly update the info on rubbish & recycling as there were two bits of conflicting info in the handbook, one said don’t sort and the other said yes, do sort. One said collection Thursday and one said Saturday. There was loads of recycling at the kerbside when we arrived, we did what we hope was right but there didn’t seem to be a collection at any point while we were there. Secondly, thank you for allowing dogs - our four legged friend had the best time! We just had one really nasty incident when two of our party were on the beach with our young dog on the Saturday and a firework display started very close to them. This had really bad consequences for our dog, and even the young people with him were very shaken. We had no idea that there had been a wedding at the Hotel that day and that fireworks had been arranged for the evening; if we’d known obviously they wouldn’t have been on the beach at that time and we would have ensured that our dog was safe and secure as he hates fireworks anyway. I contacted the Hotel afterwards and they were really lovely about it and explained that they show firework dates on their website with start times etc. Could your guest information perhaps let people know that firework displays do take place but are shown on the Hotel website and for guests to check there if they would like to see if there are any planned during their stay? Hopefully it will avoid our experience happening to anyone else. Thank you again, it’s been the best holiday and we’ll definitely be back!!!!

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• Warren - Verified booking

  Parking not acceptable.

  The location of this property is great and the views are lovely but there’s a few points that need highlighting for future people looking to book. PROS: Flat itself is clean and well kitted out. Some lovely extras like biscuits and tea and coffee. Sky TV and good Wi-Fi signal. Location is brilliant and very short walk to Porthmeor beach, harbour and main shops. Views are outstanding. CONS: Firstly access for unloading the car is only possible via a very steep narrow lane which is also a dead end. It’s very hard to get down there due to the nature of the lane and other people trying the same thing. Secondly and importantly is the parking isn’t acceptable. It’s not close and a good steep walk to it but more importantly as it’s just a gravel bit of land there is not enough room for all the cars. I was blocked in by other cars and couldn’t open my doors to access my car or move it for a planned day trip thus affecting our holiday experience. This really needs to change. Due to the poor access to unload I also spent time ferrying bags back and fore which took a long time. The bathrooms are wet rooms and so if you shower in the morning the whole floor is wet all day when using the toilets or sinks. Balcony has a cracking view but is very tiny with hardly any room to move. The location itself is brilliant but steep as are the stairs in the property so wouldn’t be great for some older people. I appreciate a lot of these issues are expected with a location like St Ives but it should be made known on the website. It’s worth saying that while the parking issue couldn’t be resolved the service we received when we contacted Sykes was very good. I wouldn’t book again unless the parking issue was changed and clearly pictured what the new space was on the listing. I also think pictures of the access to the property should be added as trying to reverse down that steep narrow lane would not be pleasant for some people hence why I didn’t try it.

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