Staycotswold Avis 

I booked a 3 night stay to molls yard in chipping Norton and had a phone call and email cancelling my booking at 1750pm the night before I was due to stay. This was due to a problem with the property, which can not be helped obviously. I was informed that they had another property which was very rural available which was cheaper- which I didn’t like and was not suitable for me. And also another property which was more expensive but I would have to pay the difference. I would have assumed that my booking would be moved to the most suitable property and no extra charge would be made due to the problem not being a fault of my own. I was told no this is not the case and that I would either have to pay or get a refund on the booking. I managed to book another property of which I was able to do so, my refund will take 7-10 days and also the deposit hold of £250 for the property would be released back to me also. Now if I was. It able to book another property due to financial reasons this would have ruined my weekend and a surprise trip for my partners birthday. I am still awaiting a refund. I had no proper apology for this happening. And on the website it states if they cancel the booking they hold no responsibility for ruining the trip and hold no accountability. However if I was to cancel I would be m charged. Probably the full price if I cancelled at such short notice. I do not recommend booking as if this happens they basically are not bothered!

it’s unfortunate that you’re disappointed that I would leave a completely honest review stating the facts, I’m sure you can only imagine how disappointed I was to receive your phone call only hours before we were due to stay. Maybe going forward as a company providing a service you should reconsider the way that you manage cancellations to ensure that you provide a positive experience with a more satisfactory outcome to the customer.

DISGRACEFUL COMPANY, DISHONEST AND LACKING COMPASSION.

Very simply put I would recommend that you NEVER USE THEM and property owners should look at other more reputable companies with whom to list their properties.

In short we booked a property which said it had a 20% discount if booked under 2 weeks. We booked. There was then no discount offered despite it clearly being on their website up until a week later. When contacted we were told that there must have been an error and there was nothing that could be done. Nothing? I find that hard to believe and the miss selling of the properties in itself is an offence under the consumer protection act of 1987, but the story gets much worse.

4 days before our holiday was due to commence and less than a week after booking my wife’s father died suddenly, alone, in France.

In contacting StayCotswold we were told that there was again nothing they could do. “Everyone has extenuating circumstances” they said and we would only receive 10% back as it was company policy and we should consider carefully if we wanted to cancel before we tell them if we “wish” to cancel??!!??!!

To be clear we did not wish for him to die, we did not make a choice to change our plans. Perhaps they expected us to have our holiday and not bother with the funeral as his sole blood duaghter?

After going back and forth with no resolution other than hiding behind a company policy, not even an offer to move the booking to another date, we were finally offered £150 that will take up to 10 days to hit the account. As I write this they are also still holding a £500 deposit in our account despite us stating that we needed the money urgently to pay for the funeral.

I’ve reached out to owners and directors and have had no reply. They are being removed from my communications each time I send them by staff and i am astounded by the lack of compassion shown.

There are many great companies out there offering holiday homes in the UK whom we have used in the past. This one does not deserve to be in business so please take our advice and do not book with them.

Pleasant stay at Cornerhouse Barn, with great facilities. We do think on reflection that the 5pm check in is a bit cheeky. Across Airbnb, Booking.com or any of the other holiday lettings properties, it really is rare to see a check in time that is quite so late in the day. Coupled with 10am check out (which is admittedly more common across the board these days) it just contracts the whole weekend experience a bit so worth really thinking about before booking. This is not to say that the property wasn’t lovely and the service was good with no other issues during our stay.

We booked The Glen in Ilmington for a week away and when we arrived the road was closed both ends for roadworks! No advanced warning from Staycotswolds or the owner. Apparently, the owner lives in the village, so why not inform us? We had to ask the workmen if we could gain access to the road in order to unpack out luggage. The road was full of holes and barriers meaning that each day was hit and miss whether or not we could get parked. Furthermore, the cottage wasn't as clean as we would have liked and expected, finding gooey/slimy brown stuff in the slots in the kitchen draining area, left over dried vegetables in the utility sink, a mould spore growing on the window in the kitchen and not to mention the grubbiness of the kitchen floor! Another dissapointment we encountered was when our children ventured out to explore the garden and found about 8-10 piles of dog poo!! I reported this, and the road issues, and the response was "sorry for the inconvenience", not really what I expected for having paid a decent amount for a relaxing holiday - certainly not relaxing due to the noise from the road works without any of these other issues.
I do not recommend this company and nor do I recommend The Glen cottage.

Staycotswolds - I have read your reply and unfortunately does not make right the situation we experienced. We did have the details of the property manager, but why should our holiday be interrupted when the cottage should have been cleaned BEFORE we arrived. It should not have to be cleaned during someone's stay. We took photos (which you are welcome to) of the areas and things I originally mentioned.
You state the dog poo is the owner's responsibility. Not the property manager's or the owner's. Nor was it ours. But, we were left with it. And, if it's not your responsibility, then I'm assuming it'll still be there when the next guests arrive. Brilliant attitude.
Lastly, if the communication between you and the property owner is this bad, we certainly have no confidence in ever booking with you again

lovely stylish and welcoming home, warm and comfortable accommodation with so much character made this a great stay for a family birthday weekend...fabulous local restaurant and good for dining in, too

We found the Staycotswold Company very efficient.
There was a problem with our booking/payment for Harvey’s Corner Cottage, Chadlington and they dealt with it really swiftly by email, even though it was a Sunday and they were closed.
Kevin who maintains the cottage was excellent and reassured us with a few of our concerns about the cottage straight away..
The cottage itself was gorgeous, tastefully decorated, lovely extra touches, THE most comfortable beds, lovely bed linen and towels..
(We could move in!) ..
A pretty garden too..
Those extra touches of the welcome pack of milk, biscuits and crumpets were much appreciated…
We really enjoyed our stay and would highly recommend this delightful cottage and the letting company..
The Tite Inn was walking distance with a lovely garden too and friendly bar staff.
All in all, we had a fabulous stay..

Brook Cottage, Lower Brailes is a lovely little cottage, we really enjoyed our stay.
Cottage was very clean and ready for us to move in for our week stay.
Only things to note are as described the stairs are VERY steep but do have good hand rails.
There were only 2 outside chairs, 2 were in the carport but were broken so sitting outside wasn’t great with 4 adults. Only 1 wine glass, so we ended up buying our own which wasn’t ideal, booklet said coffee pod starter pack was available as were bin bags, sadly not.
Nice to arrive to milk, butter, eggs, juice and bread.
Great location and a must is a visit to the butchers and bakers just up the road.

Easy booking and excellent communication before and during our stay in the absolutely immaculate, beautifully equipped and very conveniently locate Nepenthe cottage in central Stow-on-the-Wold. Can thoroughly recommend both Staycotswold and Nepenthe.

Recently stayed at Churn View, Stratton. The property was slightly grubby when we arrived and now the owner has had the audacity to withhold our security deposit for minor damage that was there when we arrived. StayCotwold have been no help at all just taking the owners word for it. Have asked for dated proof that we caused the damage and had nothing back.
Also the cottage itself isn't available on any of the usual review sites, makes me think they are hiding something.
Don't use StayCotswold and definitely don't stay at Churn View.
Update 4 July 2024: With regards to the response from StayCotswold - the damage was already there when we arrived at the property and we were not responsible. When requested the owners were unable to provide proof that we caused any damage. We were also told by StayCotswold that the owner had paid £60 to get the carpet professionally cleaned (they were unable to provide an invoice for this) yet the comment below states that the owner cleaned the carpet themselves - in which case one of those statements is not true. We have since had our full damage deposit returned! I stand by my review.

A despicable company. More than happy to take your money for a booking, but zero interest or accountability when something goes wrong. I wasn’t provided with the correct keys to access ’The Nook’ in Burford and found myself unable to access the property late at night with my family (including 9 week old baby). No support at the time, and a refusal to refund after the event. Avoid at all costs, this company is toxic.