We stayed at Cotswold Cottage for a weekend booking and although we do not live that far away had never really experienced the lovely little town of Highworth & Lechlade, my parents came down from... more

We were a large group: 5 adults, 3kids (under 10 and) a dog - with 4 cars between us!
Cotswold Cottage was like The Tardis: accommodating us all comfortably with no problem.

We were... more

Myself, husband and 2 kids booked this holiday cottage for 4 nights over New Year along with my sister and her family. We paid a total of £1025 along with a £250 breakages deposit.
We were looking forward to a relaxing family break but what we go was far from the high standard promised. 2 days before arrival I had not received directions or details on where to collect keys etc so telephoned Mrs Joyce who informed me the refurbishment was not complete and they wanted to cancel us 3 week previous but hadn't done so. The hot tub area was not complete and not useable. She was generally unpleasant and rude. After a lengthy discussion she told me she didn't want 'people like us' in her cottage and then hung up. Her husband then telephone us and apologised, telling us she was under stress as the refurb was running late. He assured us the hot tub would be up and running and all would be good. Not a good start to the holiday or the New Year!
We arrived to find the cottage is not in Lechlade, the river Thames is not on your doorstep, it doesn't have 4 bedrooms or an annex. The family bedroom didn't exist and it certainly wasn't the luxurious high standard advertised. The 'annexe' is a down stairs extension which doubles as a games room. The bed is a sofa bed which is so uncomfortable my sister and husband took the mattress off the sofa bed in the lounge to double the thickness. The bathroom next to the 'annexe' is grubby with limescale on the taps and broken floor tiles. Mr Joyce explained that the boilder trips out all the time and gave us instructions on how to reset it, which was useful as it went off at least twice a day.
The small bedroom with the bunk beds has no TV and the only window is a sky light with no covering so your kids will have the sun glaring in their room as soon as it comes up. The master bedroom is on the main road with a street light right outside the window and paper thin curtains, take an eye mask if you want a decent nights sleep. The bedding is polyester. There are no remote controls for the TV in the master bedroom or 2nd bedroom. The door to the bunk bed room does not close as it is not hung correctly.
Wifi was not fitted, there is no internet connection at all. Mr Joyce offered to come and do it but it would have caused too much disruption so we declined another visit from him. He had already been 4 or 5 times (once to collect his own personal washing out the tumble dryer!) his brother also walked in the front door asking if Wendy was home.

The cottage was really half finished, paint slodeges down the wall, no wardrobe in the master bedroom, Mr Joyce told us he had to put in in twin room to cover up a hole in the wall they hadn't finished during the refurb. There was no outside lighting, Mr Joyce came and fitted one light so we could at least use the hot tub. the hot tub is small, barely fits 4 kids, most comfortable with 2 adults only. The trampoline has no safety cage, the area under it is rubble and there is a small uncovered pond, half underneath the trampoline so not suitable for a childrens play area at all.
The kitchen was equipped with what you would expect to find in a student kitchen. If you are planning on cooking a big family dinner forget it, there is no oven to table wear, not enough glasses, barely enough cutlery and not enough saucepans. There were loose wires hanging down and the splash back behind the oven was sharp and jagged. There is a co-op just around the corner so we bought a few bits and pieces for the kitchen. Mr Joyce again visited and brought us some glasses and batteries for the clocks as they didn't work but he bought us AA when they all took AAA so useless. There was a rat trap in the kitchen cupboard and a drawer full of screws and building material. The kitchen door is sheet glass (not safety) so if you have young kids or dogs recommended you don't shut it as its too dangerous.

The lounge area is nice but the TV is projected on to the wall above the fire (which deosn't have wood or anything available so you can't light it) so only 4 people can sit comfortably at a time to watch the TV, its a good idea and modern but practice it doesn't work. There is quite a good collection of DVD's for all ages.

The swimming pool is in a hotel about a 10 min drive away, you will be hard pushed to get there without a car. In fact if you don't have a car don't stay at this cottage. The cottage provide you with discount entry of £3.00 per person per visit to the hotel leisure facilities, so our family group paid £24 per visit so if you want to swim every day it works out pricey for a family. The swimming pool seems to be the only on in the area so it gets crowded and full of kids if you go over school holidays.

There are so many more things that I could say about this place and the management team. If you look at the surface it is nice but stay there and dig a bit deeper and its awful. We spoke to Mr Joyce regarding the false advertising and poor finish of refurb and he was full of excuses. Blamed Owners Direct for changing his details. I contact Owners Direct who confirmed they have not. On our return we emailed our complaint and photos to Mr and Mrs Joyce, they weren't interested. Eventually I tracked down the owner Mr Raynes, telephoned him and he said he would read my complaint and respond. I emailed him that day, he responded saying thank you and he would get back to me. I have chased him several time and they are refusing to respond. They want your money but after that they aren't interested. Do not stay here. There are so many other lovely places to stay that are better value for money and have owners and managers who actually care if you have a nice time.

Since we stayed, the have made some changes to their property listing to remove some of the incorrect details but they have still refused to contact me regarding our complaints.