“Just not good enough”

Response from the owner I am so sad that none of these issues were raised with me during this guest's stay, rendering me powerless to deal with any of it. We pride ourselves on excellent guest service and are committed to our best endeavors solve problems as quickly as possible. I'll refrain from giving my personal opinion about the motives behind this bemusing serial negativity, but will gladly address the concrete issues one by one, hopefully putting any future guests worries to rest: The Cottage is definitively NOT damp. It does not smell of damp. It is very efficiently heated as the reviewer pointed out with electric wall radiators in each room. It's usually unnecessary to use them in the summer months, but they are there if a guest needs them. It's impossible to buy mattresses to suit everyone's individual sleeping preference. We have decent quality mattresses on all of the beds. It's a gross exaggeration to describe a creaking bed as something that would wake up the whole house. Yes it's a wonderful traditional antique bed frame, but creaking that would wake the neighborhood - no. I'm happy to note that when this guest was unable to work out how the cottage door locked that someone was available to help him solve his problem. It's definitely not a "strong arm" job. That would be ridiculous. If glasses are chipped they should be discarded of course. We make every effort to replace anything cracked or chipped but sometimes guests crack or chip things and don't want to tell us for fear of losing their deposit - we don't charge for incidental damages like this. Any broken or chipped glasses or crockery brought to our attention would be immediately replaced - we keep a stock of extras. It's a pity we weren't given the opportunity to do this with this guest. Yes many find that having a twin room on the ground floor is very useful for children who need to go to bed earlier than their parents. Yes the bunk bedded room is very specifically described as being for children. I, however, have slept in that bed on several occasions as well as some of our adult guests who have requested that adults use that room. The mattresses on the bunk beds are regular single size, so an adult can sleep in there quite comfortably, as I did. It's true that there's not a massive amount of headroom between the two bunks, but unless you are planning to sit up and read in bed, this isn't an issue. Yes of course the pool is fine and heated beautifully. It is also attended to every day. I take huge exception to the allegation that the grounds are not as big as described - they are absolutely as described - this reviewer himself said he felt it was "hardly worth going" through the locked gates over the river to the larger part of the grounds. There are 5 acres in total. If you can't be bothered to explore them, then please don't accuse me of misrepresenting their size. The locks are essential for the safety of young children as there is a river running through the property as well as a large duck pond so the gates are purely a safety measure to protect our little guests. I'm sad that this reviewer doesn't appreciate the value of this. Yes it's a farming and rural area but to complain about the noise of chainsaws is ridiculous! You may hear the donkey braying or chickens clucking and if a neighbor decides to chainsaw a tree down randomly one day then or course you may hear it, but that would be so rare. To say "there is nothing in the town itself and nothing within a 20 minute drive" is frankly ludicrous. The village has a beautiful and historic church, gorgeous houses and a well stocked shop as well as a sometimes-open bar on the main street. Within two minutes drive is the beautiful forest of Eu, with picnic tables, walking paths and miles and miles of pretty cycling trails through the wonderful lush forest. Ten minutes away is the bustling market town of Blangy sur Bresle with an interesting decorative glass factory that is well worth a visit, as well as its fantastic local market on Sunday mornings where local produce abounds. There are two supermarkets there, a beautiful historic church, an amazing pizzeria and plenty of traditional bars. Ten minutes in the other direction is Londinieres with fabulous restaurants and picturesque houses. Just outside Londinineres is a quad biking track. Further along is horse riding at Bellengreville. 15 minutes drive away is a huge water sports centre on a beautiful lake near Gamaches where you can hire pedalos, bikes, kayaking and windsurfing equipment. The area is absolutely set up for tourism, but not in a tacky way - no egg and bacon joints for breakfast or English pubs - it's very traditional and authentic. You just have to open your eyes and see it - or read the information file left for guests detailing these and many other great things to do for adults and kids in the local area. It's very unusual for our neighbors to have a party - I'm sure you would have been most welcome. The village has many tourists passing through and lots of tourist accommodation - it's just not in-your-face tacky tourism. People visiting here usually want an authentic taste of French life - and that's what you get. Re your day trip to the "Parc du Marquenterre", I'd suggest that less than 35 euros for a day out for a family of 4 is excellent value! Thanks for this tip! If the ironing board was broken and it was reported it would have been replaced straight away. It is one of my biggest bugbears when guests fail to mention something that isn't right during their stay until after they have left when it is too late for us to rectify the problem. Our television system has now been upgraded to Apple TV - so guests have an array of choice and can now bring with them their Netflix accounts and watch whatever they like to their heart's content. We now also provide great wifi/bluetooth speakers so you can bring your own music and play from your device. We provide bed linens and towels as well as provide a gift pack with champagne for everyone on our regular package. Some choose to strip this out and save some money by having our Economy Package and bring their own towels and dressing gowns and save money - but after comments like this we are now seriously considering no longer allowing the Economy Package. We provide a starter toilet roll in each toilet. This is, after all, a self-catering holiday rental, not a hotel, but we do like to provide some extras to help our guests on their way to a hassle-free stay. I'm glad this guest had a wonderful week in spite of all of these niggles. I hope that whatever it was that was really causing the negativity is now fixed and the guest is able to appreciate all the great things in life. I'm grateful for the opportunity to host anyone and am especially grateful for the opportunity to reply to this review, which is, in my humble opinion, grossly unfair and unwarranted. Namaste - love to you all!

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.

“Enduring Memories..”

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