My husband and I booked this cottage for one week during November and were very disappointed with the accommodation.
On our arrival at the cottage, we phoned the manager to inform him of our arrival (there is no reception) and were more than surprised when he came to greet us wearing no shoes. He showed us around the cottage and explained about the heating adding that we could light the stove, and if needed, we could get more firewood from outside under the stairway. He had obviously hadn't paid any heed to us when at the time of booking, we explained to him that we could not use the stove due to the fact that I suffered from emphysema and the dust when cleaning the stove would cause breathing problems for me. He also had no regard for the fact that we are an elderly couple and hauling firewood up a wet slippery stairway and across a decking which was lethal to walk on during our stay, could be quite dangerous. We were told that the heaters were on in the downstairs hallway and the upstairs open plan kitchen, dining and kitchen areas, and if needed, we could switch on the boosters. This we did, but it had very little effect as the house was so cold.
Later in the evening, we went out with some family members and on our return, my husband checked the bedrooms and discovered that the heaters hadn't been switched on and the rooms were cold. He switched the heaters and the boosters on but even after a couple of hours, the rooms were still cold. When we retired for the night, the bedclothes felt cold and damp and despite leaving the heat on all night, we woke up shivering with the cold. I would also like to add that the sheets on the beds were very flimsy and had not been ironed, which didn't impress me. When I went into the bathroom, I discovered long black hairs in the toilet and there were some more on the little shelf above it. There were two brown towels in one bathroom and there was none in the second bathroom. Fortunately we had brought our own supply of towels, and toilet rolls, as these were in short supply also.
Next morning, after a cold and restless night, we went upstairs to make coffee before going out to breakfast but the kettle was so dirty we couldn't use it. I can understand discolouration due to mineral content in the water but this was plain dirty both inside and outside. After retrieving our own kettle from the boot of our car, we sat down to have a hot drink only to find that the flowers which looked so nice on the table had spiders crawling from them. My husband removed the offending flowers and in doing so, discovered a mouse dropping on the table.
Due to the fact that we were in Cork on business and would be spending very little time in the cottage, we decided to suffer it our for the remainder of the week. However, both my husband and I caught bad colds during the week and by the sixth day, just as the house was beginning to warm up, we were so ill and miserable that we had to leave for home.
On our departure, my husband handed the keys to a lady, whom he assumed to be the managers wife, and told her we were leaving to go home. She didn't question the reason for our early departure nor did she ask if everything had been to our satisfaction.
We didn't complain during our stay as we feel that everything should have been as we would expect it to be, prior to our arrival.
Needless to say, we will not be returning and we would be ashamed to recommend it to anybody. read more
