Dog Friendly Cottages In Stow On The Wold

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Didier - Verified booking

  Pros: Generally quiet, well placed for local walks, supermarket and town sites.

  Heating, bathroom shower and kitchen electrical appliances worked well. The bed matresses were comfortable. The cottage had wall to wall wool carpet in the main part. The log / coal burning fire was welcome. The front garden has well placed outdoor furniture for catching the sun. Cons: The property manager had not brought the property up to a suitable standard at the time of booking. The exterior areas were over-grown with extensive moss spread causing excess blue-bottle, fire fly as well as wood lice, ear wig and spider to invade the cottage both front and back. When warm, the rear conservatory requires the rear door to be open, causing the insects to invade in large numbers. The exterior front door mat had more moss than brush. The interior front door curtain had many insects witin it's rear on arrival. Much of the cottage was not cleaned with clear evidence of dust on skirting boards, plug surfaces as well as some grimey fittings. In the main rooms, the interior walls were inadequatly covered with one sparsely applied coat of paint with numerous missed patches. The sitting room sofa covers smelt as though they have never been washed, making it diffiuclt to sit in the room in the evening, even when reconfigering cushion arrangement or lighting a fire. The toilet in the bathroom smelt of the same and no amount of dis-infectant diminshed the smell. It's mechanism fails to produce a proper flush and needs service. The cottage specifices no pets but several of it's kitchen cupboards were haphazzardly stuffed with pet detritus of baskets,toys,bowls etc in an unsanitary state of wear. A dead, preserved cat in the sitting room did not compliment the find. The cottage specifided an equiped kitchen for preparation of meals, but on arrival basic impliments were absent and needed to be requested. On departure a number of items still remain absent such as serving spoons, grater, water jug, tea pot etc. A wide range of old, dusty and half drunk bottles of alcohol of many types were found on kitchen surfaces and in cupboards. Many were past their sell by date and it wasn't clear why these were in-situe or if they were permitted or safe for use. A couple of shelves were badly mounted, notably in the bathroom and also in the rear bedroom, where one shelf was suspended by just 2 loose screws and could easily collapse and potentially hurt a guest. The rear bedroom has very limited storage for clothing and the adjacent linen cupboard is musty and not enabled as an obvious solution. The property managment stepped in with some assitance to begin with but the quantity of issues which mounted requiring attention would have siginifcanly disrupted a much needed break. Sadly, in the end, the property was vacated prior to departure date due to falling unwell during the stay. It's not clear if this was the result of the conditions which were encountered, which is worrying. The property has potential but it clearly, in our case, had been rushed onto the rental market with inadequate inspection or preparation by the property manager (Manor Cottages) from which i choose the booking because i presumed a high standard of quality. I paid the high rate of rent but got a cottage as described.

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• Peter - Verified booking

  The farmhouse provided a near perfect setting for a gathering of friends to celebrate a big birthday and the arrival of 2020.

  The bedrooms and bathrooms were good; the lounge and snug, with their wood burners, very welcoming; the two kitchens great for all the cooking; the dining room ideal for the big meals; and the games room was fun. Anticipating that a farmhouse in winter might be a tad chilly, we came with ample woollen jumpers, etc. Not needed - it was a lovely warm house throughout (once we'd mastered the heating). The Aga provided more than enough heat for the main kitchen, which became the focal point for breakfasts. The entrance "porch" was an excellent large space for muddy boots and all our jackets. The location of the property meant we did a variety of lovely walks all around us, without any need to get in our cars. And the town was a short walk away for the occasions we needed it, which weren't many. Minor less positives... As noted by others, the property is on a busy road and so the crossing of it to get to the side of the road with the pavement requires patience and care. And there is some noise from the road to be heard. The welcome basket consisted of a packet of chocolate biscuits and a packet of shortbread biscuits. I'd suggest that's embarrassing for a group of 16 adults to be presented with, especially given the cost of the rental. There's lots of kitchen equipment, but it needs to be searched out. There didn't appear to be any order to where it was stored. More helpful instructions for the central heating would be useful. We weren't to know that apparently the housekeeper had turned down a thermostat such that the heating to one section of the vast property wasn't coming on. If you need a TV, which we didn't, then the only one downstairs is too small even for the snug.

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• Nancy - Verified booking

  The house was wonderful.

  Roomy and spacious and beautiful. We had a fantastic time. The traffic was quite loud when sitting outside, but we had been forewarned about this. We didn't have cars, so it was great to be able to simply walk to Stow-on-the-Wold. The two living rooms were amazing, the play room was great fun, and the huge dining room divine. There were a few small problems. When we got to the house the Aga was not on. I rang Manor Cottages and within an hour someone had come to the house and started it up. He also took me around and explained the heating systems. The housekeepers had forgotten to leave black rubbish bags (pretty fundamental for so many people) and by the time they came with them I had already run out and bought some. Also, the next guests came at 11 am on Sunday, having been told we would leave at 10 am, but I had arranged with Manor Cottages we would stay most of the day. They were very nice and it worked out fine, luckily. One of the toilets broke upstairs and there was a small leak through the ceiling, but it was pretty minor and as it was the weekend and we were unable to ring Manor Cottages, we simply stopped using the toilet. With so many in the house this was not a big problem. I did text the number which had been left in the house for such things but got no reply. Despite these small things I thought it went great, and it was truly a wonderful weekend.

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• Sarah - Verified booking

  We were a big family group of 20 celebrating a belated ( covid) 50th birthday.

  South Hill is ideal for large groups, plenty of parking, plenty of rooms, bathrooms and space. We loved having 2 kitchens and lots of fridge and freezer space and you couldn’t wish for any more cooking pots, pans or cooking space!! Games room a bonus! It obviously had been empty for a week or two since the last clean as on arrival there were many ants in the kitchen and lots of insects dead and alive in the bedrooms, shame these hadn’t been cleared!! Sykes cottages did send someone round with ant powder! What you fail to realise on reading the description of this place ( and let’s face it why would you dwell on it!) is that Fosse Way is very very busy main road full of cars and massive lorries careering at high speed along a 3 lane road. There is no pavement on the side of the road the property is on, only on the opposite side so to walk anywhere you have to brave crossing the road which can take minutes and is nerve wracking with older people and young kids. So a “5 min stroll” into Stowe is rather more like an raised heart rate road cross followed by walking on a narrow pavement up the side of a very busy road. So in summary the house is great but better to be aware of the road as I would not let my ( early teenage) kids ever cross it on their own. We were hoping they would be able to wander in and out of Stowe but this stopped that!!

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• Victoria - Verified booking

  We had a lovely stay, thankyou.

  There were no tea towels in the kitchen and this was our biggest frustration over the weekend. The property is a little worn and well lived in, but it's comfortable and clean. My biggest issue with this overall booking was the difficulty in speaking with anybody to discuss our reservation ahead of our stay. I was desperately hoping to organise an early check in, was more than willing to be accommodating for how this might work (appreciating check outs and preparing the property), but trying to speak to anyone on the phone was impossible. The customer service when trying to accommodate the request to speak to someone was unhelpful and dismissive, it would take them days to respond to my queries and as a new representative was picking up would have to start the query all over again- their system does not log your previous enquiry. On the day of our reservation I received a voicemail from a very chirpy representative- the property was ready and we could check in from 2pm. Not particularly helpful when it's currently 1.30pm you've got 20 people arriving from all corners of the country and you yourself have a 3hour journey ahead. If you are looking to book this property, please be mindful of check-in times and the ability to liaise with anyone about your reservation ahead of time.

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