Tonakilla House

The location of the house is great, really close to the beach and well-connected to places to visit.

The area is beautiful. Michael, the owner, is also welcoming and accommodating, which is why we do not leave a negative review easily. However, based on how it has been advertised, our expectations of the property were not met, and we think it is only fair to prospective guests to share what we found. Cleanliness: we arrived to find crumbs over the kitchen work surfaces and the house in need of a hoover (a toenail in conservatory, hairs over all floors, including close to toilets, cobwebs in all rooms, blankets and throws that are stained and smell). Disrepair: The double bed in the ground floor bedroom sank in the middle as soon my husband and I got into it, and we then heard a loud crack. Looking underneath, many slats were broken, and the level of disrepair was such that we knew it hadn’t been caused by us sitting on it once. We moved to the second ground floor bedroom, but the bed there was also unstable (two of the legs were split) and we were afraid to put weight on it all week in case it also broke (our children were sleeping in the upstairs bedrooms so we couldn't move again). We reported this to Michael, and he said he had arranged for a carpenter to fix the bed after our departure. He also raised the possibility of a partial refund of the rental cost (we suggested 15% and he agreed, and paid very promptly). On the first morning, we discovered that the shower screen was broken, so we reported this also, and Michael apologised for not making us aware of it before we arrived (he said the plumber would be coming to fix it after our departure). This was the only shower in the house (the upstairs bathroom has a bath, but it has ‘Out of use’ written on it), but we were able to continue to use it throughout the stay as long as we were careful not to get water outside of the shower. Other: The house needs a good clean and some repairs and modernisation (the upstairs bathroom is not included in pictures on the website, and there is a good reason for this – it is very dated and unappealing, especially with the tape across the bath), but we were particularly disappointed by the conservatory. There is no seating in it (apart from a dirty hammock), and an old mattress propped against the wall, so it’s a really underexploited space. We also found it strange that there were no mirrors in bedrooms, and no microwave but a drinks fridge. It sounds trivial, but having no wooden spoon was also unhelpful when we were cooking.

Very nice house in a lovely area.

Michael was friendly and helpful. We really enjoyed our stay.

1.

Bath upstairs was out of use, leaving only one shower for 6 adults. 2. could not lock upstairs bathroom as there was a gap of at least 20mm between door and doorframe. 3. No lock at all on down stairs shower room. 4. Disherwasher was full of dirty crockery. 5. Cleanliness wasn't up to ideal standard. 6. Had to negoiate heating times with owner as it was on a hive system controlled by him, eventually agreed 8 till 10am and 6 till 11pm, the rest of the time with no heating. Upstairs heating seemed to be on a different system altogether, as most of the week there was no heating whatsoever. 7. Curtains in living room near impossible to open and close. 8. Windows continously covered in condensation as only single glazed. 9. No mirrors in any of the bedrooms.