Problems with Cottage 14574
Review Submitted: June 30, 2008
Date of Stay: June 2008
There were two main reasons why we chose this cottage: accessible for elderly or infirm, and having a garden to sit in. Unfortunately, it failed to meet these requirements.
The party consisted of four members, two being in their eighties. One elderly lady uses a wheeled walker and an important consideration was accessibility of all facilities. We also did not wish to use the car every day and as part of the holiday we wanted a garden where these two ladies could relax.
The access into the cottage was easy having no step to enter the front door and apart from a small step to the toilet and shower-room it was on the level. However, in the shower-room there were two steps, with no grab rails and no secured seat. In the double bedroom it was necessary to step over into the shower and once again there were no grab rails or secured seat. Hence the two elderly ladies were not able to use the shower during our stay. The owner, Paula, thought grab rails were only necessary for disabled access although she did say they would now be fitting grab rails. A bit late for us and there are still the steps! Access to the washbasin in the shower room was made difficult by the washing machine located in front of the basin.
The garden was not inviting. The metal garden furniture was dirty and the chairs did not have arms or cushions. The covered area was full of junk along with the bins, dirty, full of cobwebs and smelt. Not a place you would want to sit! The garden was not very well cared for with an overgrown tree, weeds and an uneven lawn that was not cut during the time we were there.
The cleanliness of the cottage left a lot to be desired. The floors did not feel like they had been swept, the two rugs had not been hoovered, there were cobwebs and in some areas thick dust. The washbasins had not been cleaned properly and a lot of the crockery, cutlery and pans were grubby. We spent time cleaning to make the cottage acceptable. Finally access to the rings on the cooker was difficult for a medium height person as they were at chest level rather than waist level.
We had booked the cottage for twelve nights but left after nine nights. This is the first time we have booked a cottage in France and it will be the last. The holiday was booked primarily for the two elderly ladies and they were very disappointed with the cottage that they had looked forward to for many months. The disappointment of the cottage did put a cloud over the holiday.
Owner's Response: I am disappointed,and quite hurt with this response,having tried very hard to accommodate these visitors.Their main problem was that one of the elderly ladies clearly needed disabled accommodation, and our cottage is not marketed as suitable for disabled- had I known in advance of her very limited mobility I would have suggested that they seek specialist disabled accommodation.I did go out of my way to try to help them by buying new chairs for her and suggesting things which might help, but they have not acnowledged any of this.With regard to the garden, the grass is always cut before our guests arrive, and I do not normally cut it while they are in residence.This has never been a problem. I had explained that the garden was recovering from being excavated with a digger in the spring due to emergency work which unexpectedly had to be carried out on the septc tank.We have plenty of garden chairs available- they only had to ask.With regard to the cleanliness of the property,I do all the cleaning myself so that I know it is done thoroughly.It is impossible to remove every cobweb from a 300 year old cottage like this- you can remove them all in the morning and some will reappear by the afternoon.Apologies for the pots and pans not being clean-we have to leave this to trust that the previous guests have left things as they found them- you can't possibly check everything in the 4 hours which you have between guests.At the end of the day, you can't please everyone!
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