“The house was OK for our purpose (stopping for a couple days at Norfolk on our way back to Germany after visiting the Scottish Borders) but not one the best we've stayed in.”
The photos are showing a very modern house, but in fact it's been built in the 90s and frankly, it feels a little bit tired and could use a little love. The good things first: the beds were very comfortable, with clean sheets, no problems there. The bedrooms were of a good proportion too, with enough space to put clothes etc, and clean. The living-room space is nice and airy, great for a family of 5. The garden was lovely. But: The weird self-made front door was a bit off-putting; the lock was quite hard to use. It was impossible to lock the door from the inside; we locked it from the outside and then got back in through the back. Not ideal. The house could have been a litte bit cleaner overall: the bathroom fittings were all very clean, but there was quite a bit of dust in the corners of the bathrooms and the living area. And there were dead flies and moths lying around literally everywhere! The kitchen, sadly, needs a good deep-clean. The floor was sticky and the counters and sink had been only hastily wiped, leaving ugly streaks. The electric kettle was disgusting - encrusted with thick layers of scale. The small tiles on the back of the wall under the window were really filthy, particularly behind the sink - when I wiped them down even just gently, layers of grime came off. That's not the kind of hygiene I like in a place where I make food. (Also, there was no cafetière for making coffee; luckily we brought our own). Well-equipped, as others stated, the kitchen is not. The stove is an old electric one, taking ages to get water to boil, and the dishwasher had a setup that made it impossible to load the pint drinking glasses without falling over. Also, it's in desperate need of de-scaling. All the glasses and crockery had a gritty, chalky feel after having been "cleaned" in it. The kitchen was the biggest let-down for me. The outdoor furniture would have been nice to use, as it was a very hot couple of days, but it was dirty, covered in bird droppings and cobwebs. I don't want to have to clean the garden furniture in a house where I only stay for three nights! In the heat it was especially bad that the three doors in the living space (two downstairs and the one in the big mezzanine) could only be opened all the way, not just tilted so we had to close them completely at night, making the room insufferably hot for my daughter. The vent that we opened didn't really help. As there were no insect screens, in the evening the house was teeming with moths and grasshoppers. There were lots of spiders, too; not ideal for my somewhat arachnophobic daughters. When I got the owner's 26-page instructions of how to care for the house, I wasn't expecting a property that has obviously gotten so little love recently. The village is ok, we did manage to take a decent walk, but it's not your picture-book English village. The neighbour's property across the street with its strange wolf-head effigy and "up yours!" sign was downright creepy.
We did enjoy driving to Kessingland beach, visit the fab aviation museum and taking a day trip to Norwich; however unless this house gets the makeover it needs, I wouldn't really recommend it, I'm afraid!
Thank you for your candid review. I am sorry for the problems you appear to
have found and the discomfort caused by the exceptionally hot weather. My
housekeeping team put in enormous effort throughout the year to keep the
house sparkling clean with everything in good condition. I myself made a
visit immediately before your arrival to check the house and am surprised by
your comments. I know for sure that the cafetiere was in the cupboard with
the coffee cups. I ran the dishwasher and detected no problems. After use I
cleaned the filters and topped up with rinse-aid and salt. I wiped the
garden table and was able to operate the door locks inside and out. Never
the less I will ask the housekeeping team to check everything you mention
and assess possible improvements.
As part of our quality control procedures a video is made of the house at
each changeover. Guests are requested to call the owner or Sykes on arrival
if they have any concerns about cleanliness or any other queries so that
they can be addressed promptly.
Property Owner
