Self Catering in West Sussex - Chichester

Offers poor value for money in what could have been a fantastic property
Stayed as a family of seven (2 adults, 5 children) for the final week of the summer holiday as our only family holiday of the year and had been really looking forward to it as the property description and photographs looked fantastic. Sadly, our experience fell well short of expectation and we would advise against anyone spending significant amounts of money on this property unless significant improvements are made. The positives: large cottage, located conveniently for the coast and Chichester, close to A27 so easy to get to places further afield. Plenty of space for a family (though insufficient seating downstairs), generous bedrooms and a huge garden for the kids. WiFi works well - always a bonus! Lots of little extras - a washer/drier (rare in self-catering accommodation but so important in the UK!), plenty of towels, handsoaps provided in bathrooms, buckets etc for the beach. The negatives: our first observation on arrival was that the hardwood frame of the sunroom (where you let yourself in) was rotting badly and the main entry door has swelled in heat/rain so is hard to close - hardly a great start when you think of the high rental cost. The sunroom itself leaks in several places in the rain, which we didn't expect, so one of our children slipped on a puddle on the tiled floor and was lucky to escape uninjured. Overall some aspects of the property just need some TLC: the sofa in the lounge is filthy and marked with stains; many of the kitchen cabinet doors don't close properly. Small things but important when you've shelled out a lot of money to stay. It's not unreasonable to expect the place to be clean. The kitchen has an Aga which is a new experience for many and quite unlike conventional cooking; unfortunately, it wasn't working properly so we couldn't safely cook food and ended up losing nearly ?30 of food that we couldn't risk giving to our children partially cooked. While the owner was quick to offer a goodwill gesture so we could get a meal, this didn't replace the lost food nor compensate for the inconvenience and stress. There's no fun in spending an hour trying to cook basic oven food when your children are playing in the garden and you can't join them because you're trying to get their dinner ready. It's worth noting that, even if the Aga works, it only has one roasting oven so it's hard to cook for a large number of people. There are also some safety considerations if you plan to stay with children. The property has polished open flat stairs, so it's difficult for younger children to use them safely. There isn't a stairgate at all, even a portable one, so be aware if your child is the type who gets up at night. The garden opens onto a fast country road and there are no gates, so this was a constant worry for us. The pond, however, is covered. Overall, we were very disappointed as we expect better for a four figure cost and the cottage could be so much better if some thought and time was given to improving it, so I wouldn't currently recommend staying there.
AndThenThereWereFive
2018-09-22

The house was perfect for our requirement, photos and description perfectly match. Garden was so nice, really lovely to sit outside.
Mrs Plant
2016-05-24