“This was the 14th year we've had the same cottage for a fortnight, and compared to last year the provision of kitchen items (specifically dishwashing liquid, sponge & cloth) has been the most blatant 'cost cutting exercise' so far (during past years e.”
G. hand towels in both bathrooms and kitchen have already been left out of the linen provided, and the oven mitt was omitted years ago); instead of 'the usual' we found what was clearly a minimal travel-size 'stopgap' box not up to the job of washing dishes and cleaning worktops for a fortnight or even a week. The half-size scrubber sponge started falling apart after the first lot of washing-up and the soap provided was travel size rather than the usual bottle of eco-friendly liquid on the ...
G. hand towels in both bathrooms and kitchen have already been left out of the linen provided, and the oven mitt was omitted years ago); instead of 'the usual' we found what was clearly a minimal travel-size 'stopgap' box not up to the job of washing dishes and cleaning worktops for a fortnight or even a week. The half-size scrubber sponge started falling apart after the first lot of washing-up and the soap provided was travel size rather than the usual bottle of eco-friendly liquid on the window sill; we didn't even bother wiping with the paper-thin J-type-cloth, fortunately had the foresight to bring a microfibre cloth from home. The linen was not changed on the normal day and it took a lot of frustrating attempts at contacting the agency in order to get that remedied following the initial call at just before 5pm, on our return from a day out. The replacement bag appeared more than a day late, which meant on the changeover day remaking the bed with the used linen, towels were obviously damp in the bag having been used that morning before leaving the bag ready for collection by 10am as instructed. Sykes Holiday Cottages is not the easiest agency to get hold of, especially after hours since all calls then go to voicemail - including the 'out of hours' number. They did make up for the gap in service by providing extra linen and an apology, but on this occasion it did mar two of our 14 days' holiday. We will be returning next year for the annual fortnight around the same period, and hopefully will have an improved experience then!
