“A group of us stayed at Skyfall (Starfall) for a weekend in June 2019.
The house is quite nice, though there are a few niggles which would be easy to fix such as no locks on the bathroom doors and visible wires in the overhead light above the dining table. There was plenty of hot water in the bathrooms, the beds were very comfortable and the garden lovely. We had problems with a kitchen tap that did not work, patio door that did not open and hot tub not prepared for us despite booking and paying for it.
I am appalled at the customer service. Sarah Campos-Martyn doubted that I could tell whether water came out of a tap, and denied that the door could be broken. It turned out that the tap had been turned off by a plumber as it had been dripping and was awaiting repair – Sarah said sorry that she thought it had been fixed so I wonder why she doubted me if she knew there was an issue. Someone came to check the tap (and turned it on for us!) and tried the door with a key but could not open it – Sarah never apologised for the broken door. She also denied that we had booked and paid for the hot tub and as I did not have the email trail with me, I was unable to prove it until after the holiday.
I emailed (twice) as soon as I returned proving that I had booked the hot tub and giving bank details for the return of the hot tub payment and security deposit. I received no reply. I chased the payment at 30 days (when the security deposit was due) by email and text and again at 36 & 37 days. I finally had a reply and deposit refund at 38 days with the apology that she had moved house and had only just got Wi-Fi. She did not address or even mention the hot tub issue. I wonder how it is possible to run a holiday property business for 30+ days with no internet; I expect she managed to reply to enquiries for new bookings during that time.
I have emailed and texted again and I am still waiting for a response and refund for the hot tub.”
“Due to the coronavirus pandemic, only 1 household can go away during our dates. We have asked for a refund as there are 15 of us and the lady reports this not being her problem! She refuses to give a refund and expects 1 person to go for the weekend, costing £2000!
No other dates that she can offer us. Totally unreasonable.
Avoid if you don't want to lose your money!!! Book elsewhere.”
“We stayed at The Old Manor, Almer for one week in July 2018 - our experience dealing with the owner caused a huge amount of stress before, during and after what was supposed to be a relaxing holiday.
1. 2 days before our arrival, and before the arrival of our 16 guests, the owner sent us an email to say that they had had to move all the beds from the top floor to the middle floor due to fire regulations - when I called to request compensation, she put the phone down. This caused a considerable amount of stress for my wife and I on what was supposed to be a week of holiday and celebration. I understand wanting to comply with regulations but to inform by email and not pick up the phone given the implications for our stay is just bad management.
2. On arrival, there was a large bin full of rubbish and maggots - and a Johnsons cleaners bag of bed linen outside on the path
3. The cleaner we booked with the owner to arrive on the Monday did not turn up so we had to spend time changing the beds and cleaning the property after the weekend when we were supposed to be spending time with family. When the cleaners did turn up on the last day, they told us that no-one had tried to contact them to arrange the Monday visit and would have been available if asked - we had to clean the place ourselves which was a huge inconvenience and spoiled a day of the holiday.
We were also unable to find the vacuum cleaner which we were trying to find only because the cleaners had not turned up on the Monday - we found one vacuum cleaner which overheated - the cleaner told us that it was older than than the 6 weeks the owner told us and the cleaner had to get her own when she arrived at the end of our week.
4. We passed on feedback on the property by email during the week Including utensils and cooking we thought the kitchen should be equipped with - and told the owner that the toilet seat in the master bedroom en-suite was broken - this was not fixed during the week.
5. On every email sent to the owner, I asked the owner to keep my wife copied as we were were both involved in the organisation of the holiday - not once was this done as requested
6. My wife advised that kitchen knives were not sharp - the owner s aid that the knives are not sharp for health and safety reasons and people normally bring their own!?
7. When the cleaners arrived on the last day, my wife made coffee for them and passed on the feedback about the house - a guy arrived some time later to accuse my wife of being rude to the cleaners which the cleaners, when we asked them, told was not the case”
