“We knew this was an old house but expected it to be clean.”
The house was filthy. It didn't appear that it had been cleaned properly in a long time. There was a dreadful bad smell when we opened the front door which we think may be coming from the cellar. We had to clean the fridge before we could put food in it. The floors were not clean, the bathroom floor downstairs was filthy and sticky. Tiles over the bath were not clean, all the socket covers in the sitting room had brown marks that looked like insect droppings. I cleaned one of these and the marks ...
The house was filthy. It didn't appear that it had been cleaned properly in a long time. There was a dreadful bad smell when we opened the front door which we think may be coming from the cellar. We had to clean the fridge before we could put food in it. The floors were not clean, the bathroom floor downstairs was filthy and sticky. Tiles over the bath were not clean, all the socket covers in the sitting room had brown marks that looked like insect droppings. I cleaned one of these and the marks do come off. We could not sit outside in the garden as the lawn hadn't been mowed in quite some time. The patio was filthy and in need of a good power-wash. Most of the windows do not open except for the kitchen and downstairs bathroom. One side of one of the windows in the sitting room fell off when we tried to open it and we could not get it closed again. There are cobwebs everywhere. The furnishings were not clean especially the sofa in the utility area. The windows were in need of a clean. The state of the house had an impact on our holiday but we were lucky the weather was good and we were able to be out all day and we refused to allow it to ruin our holiday altogether. Carrigaholt is a lovely village and the people are especially nice, we loved the coffee dock and the chat with the locals. We would stay in Carrigaholt again but definitely not in Bidsie Bricke's. We would NOT recommend a stay in this house.
I have to say the posting of this review caught me by surprise, especially as I had been using the same cleaning crew for the previous three years, with little or few complaints received. So I was extremely disappointed upon reading this review as it does indeed seem that there was an unacceptable lowering of standards, and I wholeheartedly apologise for this.
You mentioned noticing a "smell" in the house upon your arrival, and I suspect you were noticing the aroma of years of turf soot which occasionally emanates from the original inglenook chimney, particularly, as was the case, if the house hadn't been "aired" for a couple of weeks. It is after all a very old stone built house and though the smell of turf soot
is sometimes noticeable, it generally disappears once the house is in regular use.
And yes, the house built in 1893, with it's exposed stonework, does gather it's share of cobwebs remarkably quickly at times, that I am afraid is the nature of it.
The cobble locked patio is prone to moss, and after a bit of wind, it can also quickly gather leaves and small debris from the overhead canopy of sycamores. Because of this it is usually swept regularly, so again my apologies if this was not your experience.
Weather permitting the lawn is mowed weekly, but at times of wet weather and heavy ground, this can be delayed.
The upstairs windows are fitted with Chubb window locks to prevent any accidents, particularly to children. There should have been a key for this on the keys supplied upon your arrival. I am sorry you had difficulty with some worn and damaged windows, again maintenance of an old house is a continuous progress, and I do endeavour to keep up with repairs as they occur.
I do take complaints seriously , and as the cleaning crew did not complete their tasks to the required standard, I have addressed this by ceasing their contract and by putting a new arrangement in place for the coming season. Property Owner
