Holiday Cottages Avis 

Accidental Damage £25.00 not refunded after the stay, even though it stated this would be refunded after 10 days of visit. This has soured our whole experience and believe this element of the contract is a con! I had no choice but to take out £25.00 accidental damage but this was not clear when booking that this was non refundable! Shame as the cottage was lovely and most of the interaction was good/positive. Refusing to refund the £25.00 so becareful if you use this company to book cottages as they refer to the small print but when booking we had no choice but to take this out believing it was refundable! Holiday Cottages you need to review your policies and make it much clearer when booking what your charging! The cottage itself was lovely the issue is with Holiday Cottages and your policies, we won't be using you again to book any cottages!

Holiday Cottages rung us less than 24 hours before we were due to leave for a holiday in Cornwall that had been booked 9 months earlier, to say that the owners of the cottage could no longer honour our booking as the house was in the process of being sold. We were offered three alternative properties, two of which were unsuitable due to our son being allergic to dogs. In order to have a holiday at all, we felt we had no choice other than to accept the third property, which turned out to be extremely small, was miles from where we wanted to be and did not have the amenities we needed.
We complained several times and were alternatively lied to, ignored and fobbed off. We pursued compensation and were eventually forced to accept just 20% of the cost of the property.
We were treated throughout as irritating customers who they could ignore in the hope that we would go away.
We will never use this company again.

Holiday was a disaster. Cottage got cancelled when I arrived on doorstep. Travelled 8 1/2 hours to get there. Reps told pack of lies. Company took weeks to answer emails then basically threatened me to accept a sum as compensation or no further contact would be accepted. This was despite advising them that ConsumerDirect Scotland were advising me of my rights. Avoid this company at all costs.liars, cheats totally uncaring about customers.
Also stay clear of cottage called Uphouse, kinlochbervie, Scotland.

Very poor service, no emails at 3 days 1 day before with directions. Misrepresented with the name of the cottage. It was supposed to have a watermill view and secure garden for the dog..... No to this as well. Complained as soon as we returned. Still no responce 3 weeks later poor...

I agree with other customers, that if you give a poor review for holiday cottages, they do not put it on. The place we stayed at in East Sussex, could have been better.The photos and description were not accurate

We have not been away as yet, but their customer service is non existent. I deleted their email with details of our holiday on it by accident, I then phoned and left a message to ask them to re-send the email, that was over 6 days ago and not heard a word.

Will never use this Company again.
We paid 1300 pounds for a week stay at Ty Nain Denbigh .
It was advertised as 20 mins to beaches etc, it wasn't, it took 45 mins.
On arrival the house smelt terrible, we also saw a mouse on the 2nd day, we complained to Holiday Cottages, told them we were leaving but they did not care, we had no refund or apology.
They even removed my review of the cottage because I told the truth.

We booked and paid for a week in a lovely barn conversion that we have stayed in several times before, without any problems. I received an e-mail yesterday saying there's been a mix-up with the booking and it is now unavailable!
It does make you wonder whether they tried a "bait and switch" on me. Anyway....I have requested a refund (why should it take 4 days?...they took it in 2 secs) and would be wary of using this firm again.

WELL HOUSE, SUDBOURNE
An absolute nightmare of a holiday (only stayed one night).
Filthy kitchen, cables across walkways, mattress in the garden - BEETLE IN THE FRIDGE!
I am trying, unsuccessfully to get a refund, minus the one day, booking and dog fee.
I am being ignored!
I have supplied, many many photo's as evidence, but nothing.
Please see my "Manky Mansion, the prequel" review under "Holidaycottages.co.uk".
The reviews here are for that company - I've checked.

We stayed at a holiday cottages.com accommodation in July 2025 called the Old pottery in Burton bradstock. The place was really unclean but because this company doesn't except negative reviews it's hard to communicate with them

We have realised that our review of a recent cottage stay had not been posted. Our review was honest and detailed, however unfortunately not 4 star due to various issues.
When looking at the reviews for the cottage (only 20 odd of them?), a cynic may come to the conclusion that less favourable reviews are simply not posted. This gives, as in our case, an untrue picture of the accommodation.
As a customer spending in the region of £1500-£2000, honest reviews are welcome, warts and all. I imagine most customers would rather make an informed decision.
Disappointing.

Just booked a property this was confirmed and 2 mins later I was sent an email saying that this property was not available for these dates!! My money was taken and was told that someone would phone me to discuss this, nothing to discuss. It 's an old trick to advertise some thing good but then told its not available so perhaps I would like a different property. I also find that the property which I booked instead is also under Holiday cottages, if I had known I would not have booked it. Dreadful company I hope they go out of business.

We arrived at Lea Brook Cottage, Lea Bridge in blazing sunshine. The cottage was advertised as dog-friendly, but there was absolutely no shade in the garden, the conservatory or the sitting room for our Labradors. The cottage and garden were vastly smaller than portrayed and the outside space was unkempt. We had no choice but to leave immediately. We have been pursuing a refund, but had little interest from the company. We will not give up and will be contacting a consumer organisation next. We posted a review of the cottage, but it has not been published, calling into question the validity of the reviews they post, if they are only the positive ones.

MOUNTAIN COTTAGE - Penrhyndeudraeth LL48 6BY.
***EDIT - I have finally received a full refund (19th Aug). Persistence and firm but polite correspondence between myself and claims manager, Katie (who was very helpful) paid off. The owner however was not so forthcoming with the communication, happy to take the money though.***
Booked dog friendly cottage with enclosed garden. Arrived to find the garden open into next doors garden with no gate, just an open entryway. They had dogs so we couldn’t safely allow our dog out so had no option but to leave. There was also a sunken garden advertised however this couldn’t be accessed due to the overgrown state with weeds blocking the steps down. Contacted owner and Holiday Cottages, neither were helpful. Put a formal complaint in with Holiday Cottages and am still waiting despite calling and emailing to chase for a refund. I have left a review on their site but they have chosen not to publish. Now in the hands of my credit card company. Will never use this company again.

Where do I begin?

I have booked a repeat trip back to the cottage we booked via Holiday Cottages. We love the area and ok so the cottage isn’t brilliant, it’s right bang in the middle of where we want to visit.
I don’t mind paying a bit of Commission but when it’s like 15% of the of the cottage rental it’s too much. I sent 2 emails asking various questions and both had no replies.
I then find, not only do they charge almost 15% but they take their fee BEFORE the cottage owners get their rental. But to top it off and this really narks me more than anything, I’m asked to submit a review of my stay. If you read my previous reviews, I am fair and honest but never rude and it’s suppose to help the owners of the company improve.
So I write this review and suggest a welcome pack for the new renters showing the nearest shops and places to eat and some places to visit and I also suggest a small welcoming basket because it’s just for the rental of the cottage. We had a horror trip by car. A 110 mile trip took nearly 6 hours and when we arrived, we found nothing. Not only did we not know where any local shops were but after 6 hours on the road, we had to go back out looking for a shop to buy milk, something light to eat like biscuits etc. So the review was fair & after our return home, we found out that journey is notoriously bad, but nothing at all on the website warning guests of long delays and this is year round.

So to top it off, I send the review off and I get the thank you message and we will review your feedback before publishing it on our site, standard practice I know. It was never published, it wasn’t bad as you have read, but nope, nothing.

So I felt others needed warning of Holiday Cottages. Once the overall fees had been taken out of the price of the cottage for a week it was nearly 20%. They add a £200 deposit for any breakages during your stay, that’s a first for us or you can pay a non refundable £25 fee for the same cover. There was nothing to break, again, another rip off which comes out of the rental price when you pay the deposit. It has me so mad and what a surprise when I came to write this review on Trust Pilot, Holiday Cottages has a lot of bad feedback. I didn’t know that before I came here to write this.

I do not know the answer, maybe try and find another agent to use other than this one. Unfortunately you do not know if another site is the same company using a different name.

We arrived at Francis Cottage Woolacombe to be greeted by a disgusting smell of piss and BO coming from the the bedroom. On investigation it came from the bed linen and smelt. We called the housekeeping who changed this. We noticed the duvet was stained in several places.
The washing machine liquid container was full of scum and mold and the floor and wall next to the washing machine was dirty with mold.
There where dog hairs and fluff on the legs of the occasional table in the living room. The patio door step had a ball of human or dog hair in the corner. The sun loungers where difficult to put up with rusty fittings pinching may fingers.
On a positive side the cooker and kitchen where very clean.
The beds where comfortable too.
Having driven 8 hours to a place we have rented before you do not expect to call the housekeeper to change the beds.

My wife and I are currently waiting today Friday for a reply from Holiday Cottages regarding our booking of a cottage in Suffolk from Monday for our wedding anniversary. We received an email from Jo at Holiday Cottages after 9pm last night stating “We wanted to inform you that unfortunately, Wi-Fi will not be available at the property xxx (HGLENV) during your stay. This is due to an ongoing issue with the service provider, which has been impacted further by the property's rural location…” e.g. 3 days before arrival and Holiday Cottages knew about it. We immediately replied asking whether there is 3G or 4G at the property and what cancellation terms are since internet access was a prerequisite of our booking. So far no reply and it is Friday and it’s high season so booking elsewhere is unlikely.

Well, I take back my nice comments re Holiday Cottages Have been told one thing and now totally ignored when I send emails. I really cannot believe a company can tell you one thing and then do not respond. Was given comfort when staff listened initially to my problems on holiday, told me one thing and now are not responding to me at all.

Wee Spruce Aberlour Scotland Not dog friendly. Told by Steve the owner on arrival not to let the dogs on the gravel as it stains it!
Owners house right next to the cottage. This is not shown on any photos. No privacy and spoiled our big birthday break!

Please be aware that when you pay accidental damage, this is non-refundable, unless you pay the higher price of £500. I assumed that as long as there is no damage in the property I stayed in this would be paid back to me, but no I have lost the money. What a CON.