Holiday Cottages Avis 

We stayed at 19 Waves Apartments in Watergate Bay and were very disappointed with the cleanliness of the accommodation. Whilst the location is faultless the property was generally quite tired and therefore the high price tag for the peak of summer isn’t in our opinion justified, especially as it’s not really family friendly with a spiral staircase that cannot be closed off for safety. Holiday Cottages (who took over from Beach Retreats as agent) were not very helpful in resolving our complaint - they simply acted a postbox back to the owner. The most frustrating thing is that they would not publish my review on their website (saying it was not in line with their policy as it referenced a complaint). I believe this is purely a way not to have to publish negative reviews and bring the star ratings of their properties down. My review was fair and there is no reason why as an absolute minimum the star rating(s) could not have been published and comments sanitised if absolutely necessary.

Easy to book. Good communication prior to arrival. High standard of holiday home.

The description of the cottage as advertised on holiday cottage was idyllic but it was no less than a misrepresentation. Neither the location nor the surroundings were accurate. I have fed this back to the company and received no reply at all. Will never book through this company again.

2 Poundstone Court, Salcombe

Coast & Country Cottages

12th September to 14th September 2026

I booked this beautiful apartment for a week’s holiday with my family because of the stunning views, location, what it has to offer and the fact that it is worth over £1.3 million, it must be fantastic.
On arrival Saturday 12th September, I parked my car in the set bay which took about 5 minutes to park, due to how tight the bay is, due to the very large pillars on each side that stick out, this is not mentioned in the write up.
On arriving to the front door of the apartment, there was a nice cobweb to greet us next to the doorbell.
On entering the million-pound property there was a very distinct musky damp smell in the apartment, which my family commented on straight away, it was not nice.
We walked into the kitchen and again the smell of grease was hideous and again the damp smell which was not nice. We opened the fridge to put our food in and again the smell was not nice, like milk gone off. Not a place I wanted to put our food in.
We then went into both bedrooms, and the musky damp smell was not nice. The bathrooms are fitted out well, but both extractor fans had thick dust around the filters which I quickly removed.
So far, this wonderful apartment is not good, and I was not happy after spending all this money and having a nice, chilled week with my family.
We then went down to check out the garage where the washing machine and tumble dryer are housed. OMG there were all tissues and paper on the floor, and the bin was full of rubbish, not happy.
Once we had unpacked, the smell of this apartment was not going away, all windows and doors opened and an unhappy family. I took the metal filters out of the cooker hood extractor fan and put them in the dishwasher to wash. I then went down to the Co op in the town to purchase air freshers, air spray, and lemons at a cost to me of £25.00.
The air fresheners for all the rooms, and the lemons were for the hideous smell in the fridge.
This was not the start to my chilled holiday that I had expected. We then went down the town for dinner.
Once we returned to the apartment, we sat around watching TV. The 3-piece sofa was so uncomfortable and marks over the cushions and the same for the other two other chairs. By this time, I was not happy, this was really starting to make me angry. We then went to bed. The sheets smelt damp and not fresh, which did not go down well with my wife and there was an issue with the right side of the king size bed, it was very badly sagging down, new mattress needed I thought. I slept for about 2 hours then had to get up and sleep in the lounge on the rock solid three sofa, not happy, I was fuming.
In the morning and an hour’s sleep, I investigated the king size bed in the master bedroom and found that there were 8 of the wooden slats just hanging down under the bed to the floor, I again fixed these and the bed was then fit for purpose.
I went to your office on Sunday, but you were closed where I wanted to complain and sort out all these issues. I then emailed you directly and used your WhatsApp number for someone to contact me.
Monday morning and no call from anybody, I had, had enough, we vacated the apartment and drove 5 hours home, our week had been ruined, and it was only Monday morning.
On the surface this apartment looks great, but it is not, even the single beds has dust and dirt around the inner frames.

This property needs a good deep clean, to bring it up to the correct standard.

As you can see from this letter, all I wanted was a nice chilled out weeks holiday with my family. I am not happy with the whole situation, and I want a full refund in the form of compensation for all the stress that this has caused me.
I will never book another holiday with Coast & Country Cottages, a very unhelpful company that has no respect and compassion for the customer.

We own a cottage in Staithes which we rent out through Sykes Cottages. It has been rented out for 3 years with them. Whilst we continue to welcome their guests and provide a 4.8 outstanding service to them Sykes have not paid us since October 2025 and now owe us nearly £6000. If you are a cottage owner DO NOT trust them to pay you on time. If you are a guest, remember they do not pay their ownes on time and after 4 phone calls in the last 7 days only, they still have not resolved the issue and paid us. Attrocious behaviour. Who do they think they are?

A Reflection on Profound Disappointment and Growing Frustration for OC-Wonlo found on Holiday Cottages.

What we Liked: · The Ex Valley is a truly beautiful part of the country, with stunning scenery, picturesque villages, and welcoming local pubs. One of the highlights of our trip was The Royal Oak in Winsford, which served fantastic food in a lovely setting. We would highly recommend a visit to anyone exploring the area.

What we Disliked:· We booked this property for a 7-day stay but were forced to leave after just 3 days due to severe bites all over my legs from what appeared to be fleas, bed bugs, or some other pest. The bites were so bad that I could not continue the holiday and had no choice but to return home early.

To make matters worse, we found dog toys under the bed, raising questions about the standard of cleaning, and there was a bin full of dog faeces near the barn just a few metres from the front door. This was unpleasant, unhygienic, and certainly not reflected in the property's advertised photos.

When I raised the issue, the owner admitted that a similar problem had been reported before, yet could not explain what had caused the bites. He also promised to refund the remaining four unused days, or at least offer some compensation. Neither ever happened.

A ruined holiday is bad enough, but being covered in bites, leaving early, and then having promised compensation ignored is completely unacceptable. We left feeling angry, out of pocket, and thoroughly let down. Based on our experience, I would strongly advise others to avoid this property.

We booked this through Booking.com who told me just to leave a review, no help at all!! Holiday Cottages did not even respond!! The owner stated he had someone check the property and no refund has yet been received.

Booked a cottage in pevensay bay at the beginning no of July. We were there 8 hours, when we see 2 rats in the property. I was petrified. I wanted to just leave without our property. My nephew although scared had to pack it all up because I wouldn’t go in the property. It was 11.20pm, I had my mum who has dementia and was so confused. By the time we’d loaded the car and drove home we got home about 3am. Called the owner that night and left a message. 10.30 the next morning I called holiday cottages who said it’s down to the owner if they refund me and they cannot pressure the owner into doing it. I was livid and shattered. The booking had cost just over 2k. The owner called me and apologised and honoured my refund. The owner admitted that the people in the property the week before had reported seeing them in the garden. The owner only went in on the Friday morning before me were due at 3pm to bate it. I believe I should’ve been informed that there was an issue and had the opportunity to cancel. Instead it drove 2 hours there, went and purchased £200 worth of shopping and then drive 2 hours home absolute shattered. I asked for compensation Holiday cottages said they perused it with the owner but they more or less said I was lucky to get a full refund. The cottage is still on their website to let. There is no way they are rat free so I don’t think Holiday cottages have done anything about it. I wonder if they’ve warned any new bookings. I doubt it

The whole booking experience went very smoothly, and issues were dealt with promptly by customer services especially Zoe who was polite and professional in all she did. Very impressive process all round.

So Booking No.801760 Beachside Cottage, Camber Sands - 12 to 18th June '26' No welcome pack (1 st time ever) Dog friendly, but no locally £6.00 per.hour to walk dog a friendly beach near by - near beach? yes but only if you clamber up 30/50ft sand dunes to get to beaches! Had to buy new replacement bin and food bin bags (never before) Hob was so old and no marks to show which plate referred to which switch (DANGEROUS) MAIN COMPLAINT.... 2 Large doubles pushed together = 1 Super king size bed - but when slept on the two beds parted company leaving a large gap in between 2 mattresses. BED LINEN WAS A DISGRACE, Bottom fitted sheets were totally ill fitting, so thin and threadbare through wear and on larger bed were ripped and torn at each corner - I assume to enable them to fit over the two mattresses. Totally unacceptable!!!These are the main concerns.... there were more....Calculated that we paid over £100.00 per day to stay here........ very, very poor service and not at all acceptable. Have pictures to show if needed.

This company supposedly looked after the Airbnb we just stopped at. We've stayed at over 30 Airbnb in past 18 months so we are not new to their processes. However the holiday cottages messages and correspondence are terrible. I've worked in lettings so know the processes but this company seemed to be run by children who can't put a sentence together literally and can't even copy and paste our review up to help the hosts. We noticed no reviews for the fabulous property we had just stayed at and we're in contact with the hosts throughout our stay. We messaged holiday cottages 4 times asking why no reviews had been put on Airbnb even though we sent it the day we arrived home. The excuses and being passed from pillar to post instead of the property manager was so unprofessional. It's a bloody review for god sake. How hard is it to put up. After the last voicemail of more lies we contacted the owners/ hosts to tell them. You are dealing with adults here. Lying does not sit well with us. Ge4 your act together for the sake of your vendors because you really shouldn't be in business.

Absolutely heartless customer service. My mum booked a cottage for herself and her partner of 30 years, to celebrate her 80th birthday. It was The Sea Garden in Bigbury - they had been there before and loved it. My mum's partner passed away completely unexpectedly 36 days before they were due to book in. Not only is mum in shock and broken hearted, but she's panicking about how to manage on a single income. Despite notifying this company within 48 hours of her partner's death that she needed to cancel the booking, and the reason why, they have refused to refund her more than 10%.
If these people rebook the cottage 90% of mum's money will be pure profit for them.
It staggers me that human beings can sit behind a computer making trite expressions of 'sympathy' and behave in this way towards a recently bereaved pensioner.

Lovely stay at Bakers cottage Old Town Eastbourne

The cottage was really nice. Kitchen was well equipped. Sofas were comfy. Lovely decor.

We didn't sleep very well on the double bed. More because we're use to a king-size with a really thick/soft mattress. So We moved to the next room with 2 single beds and slept much better. There was less noise from outside too, our dog also preferred the quieter room. So we moved his bed there too. The cottage was in a great location with the pub, waitrose, pizza place and the park on our doorstep. We walked into town and along the front. Took us around 20mins to get to town. One day we walked to the station and caught a train to Brighton. That's was a great day. We also drove to Beachy Head and walked along the cliff. Was a lovely walk but a very misty day so we didnt see much. I think the cottage is a perfect getaway and would stay here again

Booked a cottage in Holkham Hall Estate in Norfolk. After 4 hour drive we arrived to find the cottage had not been serviced. The place needed all the laundry, bed linen and towels changed and place needed a thorough clean. At 4pm we got through to the answering service and someone took note of the situation. 45 mins later nothing had been done. Rang again, spoke to song else on the system who I asked to call us back with an update in 10 minutes. No call back. Rang again spoke to yet another person who this time did try and contact the Holkham Estate but by this time it was 6:30pm and their offices were closed.
We couldn’t find anywhere else to stay at such short notice so had no choice but to make the 4 hour journey home.
Now we have a fight on our hands to get our £900 for 3 nights refunded.

Unable to use a cottage due to ferry cancellations- the company offered no recompense or solution other than to rearrange the dates at a further cost to me. The cottage would have had no services used or cleaning required, a small refund would have gone a long way to good will. No warnings were given that this was a common occurrence either.

Revolting and horrendous are 2 understatements for this day time robbery of a company called Holiday Cottages.
PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW BEFORE YOU LOOSE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY!!!

1. My partner and I booked a lovely cottage in Cumbria with Holiday Cottages for a week and we thought at that point the service and the cottage was wonderful.
2. Last night we decided to book another cottage for Christmas for a week.
3. Today we checked on the reviews for this property and the reviews were horrendous.
4. We had so much confidence in Holiday Cottages so we explained that the reviews for this property were bad and we wanted to switch over to a different property and use the £566 deposit we paid.
5. This was the beginning of our nightmare with this company
6. Ami the agent explained to me that their company policy is that there’s no refund whatsoever whether you booked in less than 24 hours or not. However, she assured us that she would speak to the cancellation team and see what she can do to help us out.
7. We then got a missed call from the cancellation team and an email below.
8. Please read “Good Afternoon Ms Waite

Thank you for contacting us and I am so sorry to hear that you may need to cancel your booking at Valley View Barn.

Should you cancel, as the booking was placed under 24 hours of you contacting us we can cancel under cooling off which would incur a £75 admin fee. 

There is also the option of requesting to transfer your dates to another date in the future, if this is something you would like to consider, this would be subject to a £75 transfer fee and should you choose more expensive dates the additional cost, this is of course at the discretion of the owner.

We could also discuss the option to change the name on the booking so that a family member or friend could take the booking in your place. This is also subject to a £75 administration fee.

Please consider the options I have outlined for you and let me know how you wish to proceed, I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Mandy

I review businesses for a living. Mainly fashion and hospitality. I must say I was truly disgusted as to how this company deserves my £75 for doing nothing. My partner and I did not ask for a refund. We asked for the money to be transferred to a new cottage we were going to look for.
There’s a reason why hotels give you time to cancel for free. I’m talking about transferring money to another property and you seem to think you deserve £75 for doing nothing. We have contacted our bank and to say the list they were horrified. One thing that I want to stress to you is that, you will not get a single penny off this booking but infact loose customers for your greedy and selfish policy. We will not be coming back to this greedy company for good. Please do not book with this company incase you have an emergency within your family where you have to cancel. We found a beautiful property on Air B an B that comes with a guaranteed 100% full refund policy. Kind regards. Chantell

We stayed at Tideswell in Braunton in December 2025. The heating was not working and it was extremely cold. We had to take a day out for someone to look at he couldn’t get two radiators working also we had a leak in the bathroom due to the extractor fan being caked with muck!! The single room was full of dust and the kitchen cupboards were dirty. The electricity testing was over a year out of date. They gave us a £50 refund which is not acceptable!!

I booked a holiday cottage for July 25-August 1st yesterday but got a booking confirmation for July 3rd-10th today. I do not know what went wrong. Anyway, I had to pay an administration fee of £75,- to either change the dates or cancel the whole booking. Such a bunch of thieves! I canceled!!!!

Whilst the company did respond to our complaint about a cottage we felt was abysmal, grim and dire they did not resolve the issue, a holiday ruined. They explained the owners were going to refurbish but knowing it needs it they are still advertising it without mentioning this. Im not even able to put a review of the cottage so I cant let others know. (its Courtyard Cottage, Lauder). We were refunded the two days we didnt stay, which was not good enough. They dont check on the cottages they arrange lettings for. Worst cottage we have ever stayed in. I wouldnt use this company again.

Great location! Our accommodation was in the grounds of a golf course about 5/6 miles from Edinburgh. The owners live in the adjoining cottage and were friendly and helpful.
They explained the golf course was originally a dairy farm but this activity ceased about 20 years ago.
We specifically booked a pet friendly property for our dog. This worked well for us and her.
The accommodation was spacious and comfortable. The extractor fan in the bathroom wasn't working so we mentioned this and a new one was fitted within a few hours.
Plenty of places to eat out nearby and local shops and supermarkets within a short drive too. We certainly enjoyed our trips to view e.g. Roslin Chapel, Portabello Beach and a few Outlander filming sites as well.
Overall, we were really pleased with our stay.

Tried to book.
Account login not working.
Rang. Someone to ring back. Never happened.
No payment link sent .

Sent SIX emails all ignored! If I was a cottage owner with holiday cottages I would want to know customers can’t book.