Lovely location and facilities but welcome not the best or stay relaxing
We stayed at the farm for a week at the end of August. The house and lakes were lovely and well kept. The location and setting is superb and peaceful.
However our tranquility and break was short lived as we found the manger Justin to be a little ‘overbearing’. This ruined our stay and relaxation in honesty. This is not personal but hopefully constructive feedback. He is obviously a very passionate and proud of his site (and he should be as it’s lovely). Yet, we were left repeated notes with comments on, and all conversations and interactions over our first 3 days were him enforcing the rules of the site and what us or our kids had done wrong.
We totally understand that rules are there for a reason, yet these were not sent in advance to us at booking and/or we’re communicated inappropriately during our stay. For example, my kids were shouted at for using the pool at 9:50am but were told to leave as pool doesn’t open until 10am. There were no signs or notices of this at our private garden entrance. This is just one example there are several more over the course of our stay.
My wife and I were felt that all our actions as a family were being ‘watched’ and this wasn’t a nice feeling on holiday.
We would definitely return for the location and facilities but the welcome wasn’t what we expected which is such a shame.
Reply from South Farm Holiday Cottages and Fishery
Thank you for your feedback and we are so glad that you appreciated the accommodation and location but we are sorry that you felt that the necessary health and safety guidelines were communicated to you inappropriately and had an impact on the enjoyment of your stay. We feel that it’s great to receive any feedback and as you rightly stated due to the nature of the site with 3 wonderful fishing lakes and a lovely swimming pool, these shared amenities must be kept safe and in good condition for all. The terms of use are especially important and if not followed need to be implemented by our on site manager for the safety and enjoyment of all. For example, children must be supervised at all times, arrival time 4pm is kept to unless by prior arrangement, pets are not left alone unattended and hygienic use of the hot tub. The booking conditions are on the website and there is also more in depth information in the property but in view of your comments we have revised our booking software to avoid any confusion in the future and will ensure sufficient signage is erected and renewed on the site to reinforce this so all are aware. Thank you for making us aware of this short fall and we hope that this addresses your concerns. We understand that there are still outstanding charges on your account for your 2 dogs and hot tub so we do look forward to receiving payment.