Dovedale

The. House was lovely and light. A nice garden and a bonus having a driveway, otherwise it would have been difficult to park.

The stairs were very steep. Hard to go up and down them. Wasn't really suitable for my Mother-in-law who finds it difficult to walk and climb stairs..

Parking place off road by front door, tables and chairs in sheltered garden with choice of barbeques to use, herbs growing in garden for use in cooking. Road has no through traffic, so very quiet, but with pub and Nisa store within walking distance.

The grub screw in the front door internal handle had fallen out, not a major issue, but pointed out to owner when we left. The vacuum cleaner was very noisy and not very effective. Other than these two minor irritations no problems.

+ Spacious, open-planned nature of the downstairs area was great for entertaining /cooking. + Garden was great and well enclosed for the dog. Patio area with garden furniture meant we could sit outside and enjoy a drink whilst our daughter played on the grass. Didn’t use the BBQ, but was available. +Bi-fold doors from dining area to garden were so lovely and really opened up the space. Invited in the evening sunshine too! + Plenty of TV facilities - living room, dining area, and both double bedrooms had TVs. + Two toilets - the bathroom is downstairs, but doesn’t cause an issue, as the upstairs cloakroom was perfectly situated between our bedroom and our daughter’s room. + 15 minute walk into Ryde centre, which on the way there is downhill. Just be prepared for the uphill on the way back! + Separate living room meant we could choose where we could relax in the evening, and even had the option of doing so separately. + Sofas and chairs were comfortable. + Good sized fridge/freezer. + Kitchen was very well stocked, if not a bit too over-stocked. + Driveway parking for one car. + Nisa shop just round the corner for those essentials! + External appearance is lovely! Looks really well maintained.

- Both us and our friends whom we travelled with struggled to sleep in the double beds due to the extreme firmness of the mattresses. They felt very poorly cushioned and none of us felt particularly well rested all week because of it, waking up with all sorts of aches and pains. - Overall cleanliness. Whilst on the surface, everything seemed to be clean, as we spent more time there, we noticed that there were areas that were being repeatedly overlooked. We went to use a saucepan lid, which were stored in a corner cupboard and they were all filthy, as one example. Another being the water tray inside the fridge - it is disgusting. Do not use the water or ice from the front of the fridge. - The shower tray does not drain effectively, and so very quickly floods the bathroom floor. We used the shower at 1/3 power for a few days to try and overcome this constant mopping up flood water, but then found a plunger. The plunger had to be used at least once a day for the rest of the week to stop the shower from flooding, which obviously meant that it often kicked back up some gross stuff into the shower tray too. Grim. - Lack of towels. The information provided by Sykes Holiday Cottages says that towels will be provided, but they were not and when I messaged the owner to enquire, they told me to go to the Tesco Extra down the road to get some towels. Sykes really needs to get their information right because we had to spend a fortune on hand towels, bath towels, tea towels, loo rolls, hand soap, dishwasher tablets etc. Go with the view that you’re not going to be provided with anything. - Parking. There is a space on the drive for one car, but if you have two, like we did, it’s really tricky to get parked, as neighbours often like to park awkwardly making it hard to even get on the driveway, or to park in front of it. - The stairs are exceptionally steep! Not necessary a negative, but just something worth bearing in mind if you have mobility issues or very young children.