“We enjoyed our stay at Kempley Cottage.”
The building is lovely and the decoration tasteful but there are lots of small things that let it down. Most of the issues would be easy to put right and low in cost.
Cleaning – Given that we had late check in and early check out times because of the additional cleaning required due to the Coronavirus, I would have expected the place to be spotless. The majority of the cottage was clean but on arrival it was clear that the oven hadn’t been cleaned and there was a dirty baking tray still in the bottom. The freezer was ¾ full of ice. My husband spent the first evening trying to remove this, so we could actually use it. The washing machine in the boiler cupboard was covered in brick dust and throughout our stay we found long blonde hairs on the furniture. Everyone in our household, has short dark hair (including the dog.)
Facilities – Every year we have at least a one-week self- catering holiday in Britain. Whilst we do like the occasional meal out, we like to use the cooking facilities. Unfortunately, many of the utensils were old and worn. I would recommend a new sharp knife and a non-stick frying pan, as a starting point. The bed in the master bedroom is very firm. The owners have tried to address this by adding a mattress topper. This is a great idea except they have put a double bed topper on a king size bed. The quilt and quilt cover are also only a double, so we did not quite get the comfortable night sleep we expected. The bathroom has a large bay window at the front of the house. Whilst there are blinds that can be drawn when using the facilities, it is not realistic that this can be done every-time someone uses the toilet. It would be better to have plain frosted glass at least half- way up the window. This would give privacy and still allow plenty of light. The hot tub is great and we all loved relaxing in it at the end of the day. However, there is no mechanism for removing and replacing the lid. I did not have the strength to do this on my own. Thankfully, I could rely on my husband but even he said that it would be easy to hurt yourself doing it.
Maintenance – During our stay, we identified a few issues. Given no one has been staying in the property until recently due to the Coronavirus, we were surprised at this. The last few months would have been an ideal time to get everything in tip top shape. The bi-fold doors in the conservatory need attention and are starting to come off their track. The windows high up on the property need cleaning. The lawned garden, as described on the website, is in fact a very small patch of grass and mostly weeds. There was a leak under the kitchen sink, which clearly has caused previous damage to the wooden floor and the bracket holding the built-in fridge in place, was no longer attached. This caused the fridge to lean forward every time the door was opened. We did inform the owner of the last two issues and we were told that they would be addresses after we checked out.
Given all of this, if the issues raised were to be addressed, this would be a great place to return to. The cottage is situated in beautiful countryside, within easy travelling distance of lots of pretty towns and villages, as well as a variety of tourist attractions.
