“The property manager Julie, is lovely, the bedding and towels are great, but that's about it.”
I should have known what to expect when I saw the "welcome pack": a dirty basket with cheap biscuits, nondescript tea bags open to the air and 6 instant cappuccinos - all |I suspect from Aldi. The crockery pantry looks like a charity shop, only one dishwasher works, no foil, cling film or parchment. One hairdryer for 18 guests (and we didn't find it). Every serving dish had a layer of grease, every non stick pan was damaged (so I went to Waitrose and bought my own frying pan, baking tray and roaster) There was 1 bin liner, 1 washing tablet and 4 dishwasher tablets which just felt mean. There was a filthy paddling pool in the courtyard and 2 metal chairs that left metal splinters in your hands. Decor/ornaments were cheap and nasty, yellow un-ironed polyester tablecloths in the dining room, a mixture of tables so we couldn't all eat together, 70's dirty sofas, ripped and stained beach towels, not enough wineglasses , no serving spoons. I was uncomfortable in bed and discovered my mattress had been turned over due to several nasty stains, but I had to sleep on them, our main paper lampshade was ripped, and the curtain rails damaged, when I moved the bed to plug in my phone charger there were used tissues and a pile of ancient dust behind, plus the table lamp had a shade that was mouldy. Couldn't leave the bathroom window open as hornets kept coming in... and all this for £1,200 per night! I think Julie is doing her best but she has no budget to make the place right , We won't be back
I am sorry to read that The Lodge didn’t meet with your obviously high standards. The last 16 parties of guests have all left a 5/5 feedback, including the guests who departed the property on the morning before your arrival that afternoon, and the party who arrived on the afternoon of your departure. They obviously didn’t encounter any problems.
The cappuccinos are in a box of 10. Yes they are from
Lidl but I personally prefer them to the Nescafé ones. The teabags provided are in a metal tin with a lid, not open. There are also sugar, sweeteners, biscuits and 4 pints of fresh milk provided. However, much as I didn’t want to I have now gone down the route of individual branded wrapped sugar & coffee sticks and individual wrapped teabags
As the property is classed as ‘self catering’ i am not obliged to provide foil, cling film, parchment paper. Toilet rolls, hand soap, washing up liquid, bin bags, dishwasher tablets not laundry tablets are provided but only enough for your first day or two to get you started.
As far as I am aware you had an extra 5 people joining you every day, all day who were staying in another local property. Probably why there wasn’t enough table space
The hairdryer was found in the dressing table drawer of the Master bedroom!
£1200 per night equates to £66 per person per night based by the number of guest in your party. Plus you stayed for 3 nights in high season. You payed exactly the same as all the guests before and after you. None of them complained.
People don’t appreciate the hidden costs of running and maintaining a property of this size. In fact, the cleaning company cost over 20% of your total stay. That’s without the laundry company, council tax, other utilities bills and much more besides.
Also, what you pay is not what the Owner receives after commission is deducted
I did get the engineer out the next day to attend to the dishwasher, which he rectified . There was another dishwasher so this was not the only one. I have provided 2 of everything - toasters, fridge/freezers, kettles, dishwashers etc so if one fails, there is always a back up.
There is ample crockery and cutlery. It is however impossible to keep matched sets of everything due to regular breakages. I would need to keep hundreds of matching replacement items in stock. There should have been more drinking glasses in the dining room cupboard and I apologise if I did not inform you of this.
As the property is in the heart of the countryside and given the time of year and the recent weather conditions unfortunately bees, flies, hornets and other insects are part and parcel of country living. The guests who departed in the morning before you arrived did not inform me of a problem. Pest control have now attended and dealt with a wasps nest 3 story’s up outside the property
Other issues mentioned will be thoroughly investigated but until your feedback i was unaware of any problems based upon the past feedback left by the previous happy guests
Twice a year we do a refresh and deep clean before and after busy periods once our busiest times are coming to an end. This is currently in progress but takes time
Upholstery is professionally cleaned twice a year, this is scheduled for 2. Weeks time once the property is vacant for a reasonable amount of time
Property Owner
