Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts about your stay at the Barn.
Firstly we hope that your other daughter, whose poor health meant you had to unfortunately return home after one night, has improved.
Turning now to your thoughts regarding the cottage, we are very concerned about some of the points you have made which do not align with the +138 reviews from our guests since we opened 4 years ago. The reviews from guests staying with their dogs, have been universally positive.
For the safety of dogs staying at the cottage, the garden at the Barn has a 5ft high wall with double gates which my husband advised you to close for the safety of your dogs (as we do with all guests who have dogs). The neighbouring guests, who use the same drive access due to the layout of the off road parking area, were informed that you had dogs and would be closing the gates. All guests are advised that, if the gates are closed, they should close them when they arrive or depart the neighbouring cottage. We don’t understand why you chose not to close the gates, yet you suggest that the garden is not enclosed, when it is - if guests close the gates. The green, which is a 2 minute walk from the cottage, is an area we point out to all guests, as we did with yourselves, for those dogs that require grass for their toileting, because we don’t currently have a grass area at the cottage.
Many holiday let properties are now equipped with security cameras to ensure the safety of guests and their possessions, along with the properties when they are unoccupied between guests. The cameras also ensure that guests are not conducting illegal activities for which owners could be liable to prosecution. Similarly we have chosen to install security cameras over the parking area and a Ring doorbell for each cottage. The doorbells are a useful facility for guests when takeaway meals are delivered. The presence of the cameras is advised on entry to the properties but they are not routinely watched unless necessary.
We do believe that the professionally commissioned photographs are very representative of the cottage, and many of our past guests have stated that they do precisely reflect the property. Our website also benefits from a Matterport Virtual Tour of the cottage which potential guests are free to view to gain a more detailed appreciation of the rooms.
We are also very confused as to how you were able to hear the guests next door going up and down the stairs as there is a room between the soundproofed dividing wall which separates the cottages, and the stairs in the neighbouring property.
One of our biggest concerns relates to your observation about the “third bedroom” - the Barn only has two bedrooms and this was explained to you in our correspondence when you initially contacted us about availability. When you enquired about the cottage, as your stay was for 3 people, we advised that you could have either two single beds in the second bedroom or, if you preferred, the second bedroom could be made up as a King bed which would mean that the third guest would use the full-sized, single daybed on the large landing. You chose the latter. The bathroom is off the landing, rather than a bedroom, which is the case in almost every house.
Part of what makes our cottages stand out from the crowd, and enabled us to win three awards, is the personal service we give to our guests. We have tailored our email correspondence to be very personal rather than generic unlike so many of the bigger operators; in addition we communicate directly with our guests via text or WhatsApp to ensure that all and any questions are answered personally.
We meet our guests on arrival, again detailed in confirmation emails, so we request an approximate arrival time with an update when guests are an hour away. We appreciated that your drive from Lincolnshire to Pembrokeshire involved a very long journey (of around 8-9 hours) for a short stay of only two nights, so we ensured that the walk around the cottage and explanation of such things as recycling and use of the Sky TV with your daughter whilst you stood outside, was as short as we could make it at between 10-15 minutes - it’s important to us that our guests get into the cottages as quickly as possible to relax and enjoy their stay.
The reason for requesting an ETA is twofold: firstly it means that we can work around the most important people, our guests, and we can plan our day and, secondly (and by far the most important), it means that if guests are caught in traffic, have to stop to exercise their dogs, or they simply want to stop to get a drink or a meal, they aren’t feeling under pressure because they are worried about arriving late.
Many of our guests comment on how much they enjoy being made to feel special because of our personal contact and service - and our guests ARE very special to us; they entrust their spare time to our care and it is our privilege and honour to ensure that they enjoy their time away from home whilst staying in our cottages.
In an increasingly impersonal and isolating world, we pride ourselves on delivering traditional values of excellent communication and exceptionally good customer service, because every one of our guests is special and matters to us.
We are very sorry that our USP did not align with your expectations. We really do hope that you find other, more suitable, accommodation for your future travels.