2/10 Terrible
Darren G., York, UK
18 Sept 2022
Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication
Disliked: Location, listing accuracy
Extremely disappointing
From the pictures and online description, this property would seem to be very appealing. Unfortunately, it was quite the opposite.
On arrival, we were greeted with a view of a building site – complete with a workmens’ portacabin placed in the shared drive / entrance space. It transpires that the property (also owned by the owner of this one) in the same courtyard is undergoing extensive renovations. A real eyesore, and something that should have been mentioned in the online particulars.
The house itself is quite nicely presented, clearly newly modified, albeit giving a sense of being not quite finished cosmetically. On exploring the house, there was a note warning to avoid using the en suite shower and bath for 24 hours as there had been a leak, and new sealant was drying. Ok, accidents happen, but another disappointing welcome.
The layout of the rooms is also pretty mixed – the downstairs open plan lounge and kitchen area is nice and airy, but the upstairs bathrooms, being built into the eaves, are hugely impractical for all but the shortest of folk.
The thing that finished us off – and that resulted in us leaving after 1 night – was the utter lack of communications in the place. The wifi wasn’t functioning when we arrived, and despite the owner and their on-site facilitator being responsive and trying several things to help us (including provision of a mobile data hub, but to no avail) – we could not get a signal to the outside world anywhere near strong enough to use Netflix (which is provided on the lounge TV) or any other internet-dependent device. Given that there is also very poor mobile data or reception in and around the property (given its remoteness), this was a huge problem for the needs of me and my guests.
The wifi presented in the house appears to rely on a powerline booster to bounce a signal from a router that is kept in the owners’ other property on the site, some 50-100 feet away. Little wonder the quality is poor to non existent, and this house should not be advertised as having wifi. The owner did admit to me that even when in full working order, the connection is not suitable for streaming or, frankly, what I would call standard everyday modern usage.
At very expensive rates for the week (we left after 1 day!) this is really incredibly disappointing accommodation and is not correctly or accurately sold in the online description.
Darren G.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2022
