“The outside area of Decking and the Porch were not well maintained at all.”
The glass to the decking was filthy and we had clean this before we felt comfortable sitting there and enjoying the views. The furniture had green moss and algae over it and the area was generally dusty and full of cobwebs. Inside was better. However one night I dropped something on floor and at side if bed/just under the bed area was stained and sticky. We did not feel it was COVID Clean. There was a huge problem with flies and we felt this had been ongoing for some time due to the inside of the conservatory where there were loads. I know controversial but we felt there should have been a trap set up or a means of dealing with this, like screen to doors or something. Inside glass again dusty and dirty and I have already passed you photos if this. We did not really use the area because of this, which was a shame especially in the evenings. We also found it a bit odd that the accommodation is for 4 people but there was only 1 sofa inside to sit 3. Whilst there was lovely furniture in conservatory we were unable to use it. Sofa had seen better days with splits in cushion and tape over this which didn’t look great.
Thank you for your feedback and we are sorry that her recent experience at Dragonfly Lodge didn’t meet your expectations.
There are several points raised in her email and we will try and address them. We would like to explain that as owners, we are several hours from this site, and, like many other business we have been signicantly affected by the pandemic in a variety of ways. In one, not being able to visit the site during lockdowns, and suppliers and services not being able to provide there usual services, either by no longer being in business, or the supply chain restricting choices.
Firstly, we are very disappointed to read that you didn’t feel like the lodge was COVID clean. Regarding the floor cleanliness, dusty internal glass and cobwebs, we have immediately addressed this matter with the cleaner.
Unfortunately our outside glass area, which recently was scheduled to be cleaned by our regular contractor, had to be delayed as they cancelled the appointment. We are looking into switching our contractors immediately. We didn’t realise the outside area had algae developing, and will address this imminently. We hope you can appreciates, that being so rural, there are many environmental factors (trees, flowers and wildlife) that continually disperse into the area, which does make it challenging to keep spotless!
We have been looking to replace the outside furniture with durable quality pieces this summer but regrettably the garden furniture industry outside has been significantly affected by the pandemic along with supply chain difficulties, meaning it has not been able to be replaced this summer as we would have liked to. We are very surprised to read that this area was covered with moss and dusty. Prior to your visit we had several workers on site removing Norfolk Reed in front of the conservatory of the lodge to enhance the view for guests to watch the wildlife and activities in the lake. We do apologise if this work left some debris on the balustrade / decking area and we will check any area for moss, thank you for letting us know.
The sofa tear has happened this summer, most likely due to a guest pet erroneously being on the furniture, apologies for this. We have looked into replacing this asap, which we cannot do until the end of the season due to the bespoke nature of the sofa. Again, finding appropriate items in stock has been challenging. We did not know of the other two splits in the sofa however, and we will make this a priority to replace.
A deep clean and a window cleaner have been arranged and the furniture will be replaced as soon as possible. We are deeply appreciative that you have brought these matters to our attention.
The flies can occasionally be an issue in a rural area, screens are a good idea and we will look into this. For now however, we will purchase fly paper for any occasion they are needed and guests at their own discretion can utilise this.
We do give our contact details out pre arrival and Sykes Cottage also have a dedicated helpline for guests and if we had known earlier in your stay could have helped with this immediately. We are sorry we were not given the opportunity to help you at the time.
Property Owner
