Shropshire Self Catering cottage, The Generals Quarters, Shrewsbury, sleeps 14

Restoration project in progress - avoid?
It's an old building with character. That said, the professional photographs of the building don't actually show the state of (dis)repair of parts of it. I'm sure the main building where the owners live is fine, with their grand entrance, but we had to descend 17 broken stone steps to get to the dirty servants passageway to get to our entrance in the guest wing. Some of the rooms are well furnished. Other are not. Mats on the stone floors are faded and grubby. None of the cupboards and drawers have linings so we couldn't put clothes in them. There are no wardrobes - just hanging rails for clothes. The bathrooms don't have shelves to put cosmetics etc. No hooks on doors for coats/dressing gowns. Most bedrooms don't have a bathroom attached so you have to walk down a corridor to a shared bathroom. The kitchen has been renovated but the contents of the kitchen drawers look that have come from a jumble sale. There is no telephone and mobiles don't work in this location. The wi-fi is patchy and tempremental. At this price, one would expect better. It's a shame. The photographs are lovely. Just not the ones that we took to show our friends back home.
radnage49
2022-09-26

Overpriced and filthy
We are staying in this property now. A party of 10 and the first time we have met with our relatives from America since 2019. We booked through Sykes Cottages. I have complained to them and to be fair, they are starting to respond. However, we have bene here since Friday and this is Tuesday. We only found about the stairs access the week before we came. The information about this is not prominent on the Sykes website. The property is a work in progress which is not mentioned on the Sykes website. The photos on the website are misleading with respect to the quality of the accommodation which at £3000 per week is overpriced. I have attached some photos. The place is dirty. The chairs are dirty. No one on our party has unpacked their cases because the drawers are filthy. Most rooms do not have wardrobe to hang clothes. The chairs and cushions in the sitting rooms are dirty. We had a power cut which is apparently common. It is also known that the mobile phones don't work here and there is no alternative phone in case of emergency. So getting a message to the site manager was not easy. What waste bins there are in the rooms are mostly fit for the tip. There are some simple things that could be provided like hooks for wet clothes, wastepaper bins, better towels. There were two tiny towels each. There was only one hand towel in the kitchen. The water is dangerously hot with no warning about it. There was rubbish in the main bins when we arrived. There was no provision for washing up by hand - no washing brush, not enough dish washer tablets. My husband and I are in the downstairs bedroom which is horrible. The mats are really filthy. The lights are dingy. The outside is a mess, there aren't enough chairs for everyone and they are dirty. The outside table is dirty. Enough hooks in the porch to hang wet coats would be helpful. Some bedrooms have no chairs so you can only sit on the bed which some of my family are finding difficult for dressing. Also, there are not slip mats in all of the showers and the towel mats are a slip hazard. Overall, this has been very disappointing. We understood that this is an old building but even making allowances for that, it is overpriced for what is provided. This is such a shame because we haven't seen our relatives since 2019.
Lucy G
2022-09-19

Great house
I have just come back from a week here with my family. There were 14 of us ranging from 2-58 and we all enjoyed it especially the dog having some lovely walks around the grounds. The house was warm with plenty of space for us all. The bathrooms were all lovely and the beds comfy and clean. The kitchen was well stocked with plenty of crockery and cutlery. The owner greeted us and gave us a personal tour of the private attic space where there were bats roosting and her knowledge and enthusiasm for the building was incredible. The only gripe from the younger members of the family was the WiFi connection which was only usable in the great hall but with this being a very old house with the odd cobweb here and there it was to be expected. It was a perfect place for a big family get together and we'd definitely return.
Happyawayallthetime
2022-05-05

Great family celebration
Booked by my daughter for my 70th birthday weekend. There were 14 of us - 8 adults and 6 children (ranging ages from 7 - 17) We were excited to be staying in a NT like house and the children loved exploring and playing hide and seek. We had 3 dogs and they enjoyed the grassed area to run in as did the children for playing football. We had a party in the Great Hall on Saturday night which was fantastic, The rooms were fine, with clean beds and bathrooms and the lounges were cosy. The kitchen was well stocked with crockery, cutlery and glasses. The cooker, dishwasher and microwave worked ok. We didn?t light the log fire in the great hall as we had young children, so it was colder than the rest of the house which was very warm, but warmed up when we were all in there. One little bother was the front door lock which was very stiff and difficult to do. We enjoyed the grounds and lake walk, the views and the country sounds ( birds, cows and peace!)
Relax65569167626
2022-04-24

Health Hazard
Had the misfortune to stay here with family for New Year. First of all yes it's a very old house and it is in the middle of the countryside. We booked this through Skye's Cottages and we have received back 10% although begrudgingly from the owners but this was only thanks to Skye's Cottages. There are a couple of good points for the house. It's old, it as character and it's big. We was told we could check in from 3:30 but house still wasn't finished cleaning. Don't know how bad it was because it still wasn't clean when we got in at 4:00pm. Two cleaners for a seven bedroom house during Covid is not enough. Cooker was still filthy, trays inside greasy, dirty and all the non stick coming off. Managers helpful reply when complaining was well there's nothing to stop you putting everything in the dishwasher!! One cupboard stank really stank. There was stale opened food left in there. The sink and washing up bowl was filthy, plughole had a brown stain that wouldn't come off. The cupboards was messy and not checked everything was sticky and untidy. We was going to cook a Christmas meal but the oven and cooking utensils was so filthy we didn't bother. Wasting money on food. We ended up having to try to get takeaways or eating out. There was cobwebs and dust everywhere. Someone wiped the big dining table the cloth was black. Coasters and placemats disgusting with caked on food. Cupboards in the so called games room smelt damp. There supposed to have been a pool table but all the green surface was all ripped in several places, the balls was not even a set, different sizes and the cues was half cues. This supposed to have been the previous guests, who had also left the house in a mess. The main room had a sofa that was broke in places so you ended up sinking down into it. The floor was dangerous floorboards kept coming out, nails was sticking out and there was holes in the floor. You had to constantly look where you was walking and we kept thinking the floor was going to give way. Next the firewood. We know that most holiday let's state that they will provide you with the first basket of logs and then you have to buy your own but it stated and still states on the details that heat and fuel is included in the cost. It is not. Even when messaging unhelpful manager to ask where we could buy more logs she sent an abrupt text back stating that it wasn't up to them and details was in the book. The guest book was out of date and a lot of places to eat out and get takeaways from had now closed so it wasn't very reliable. The bedding felt damp and wasn't clean, we all had two towels each that was threadbare and not very good quality. Our bedroom smelt horrible like a uncared for care home. Had to leave windows open at all times. According to unhelpful manager oh it's probably a dead mouse stuck under the floorboards we can't get to it. It is an old house and it's the country. Lamp wasn't working, shower attachment on bath just went round and was loose. The details for the house states you go down a set of steps, what it doesn't state is they are at least 15 steps that are very steep, slippy and not suitable for anybody with difficulty walking or balance issues. Was told by unhelpful manager was because of the rain but it only rained on the first day we was there. Know it's an old house but it should state how steep. It states on the details that the downstairs bedroom is great for anyone with mobility issues I doubt anyone with mobility issues could get down or up them. Carrying luggage down them is a nightmare. The little garden by the front door smelt of dog poo and was disgusting. We had two dogs with us and picked up after them. The washing machine didn't work so nobody could wash their towels but according to unhelpful manager they wasn't allowed to give us anymore because Skye's Cottages wouldn't allow them too. She also said she was waiting for laundry delivery but when we insisted we needed some clean towels she came to the house and a family member saw her go into a cupboard and get them out. She somehow she informed me managed to get hold of some. Whilst there we tried to discuss all the problems we was going through. She said she felt over whelmed so I did say sorry and I tried to discuss all the issues with her. She wouldn't look at the oven, dirty unusable cooking trays or acknowledge anything. She texted me the next day to tell me that she had spoken to the owners and they was getting in touch with Skye's to sort out some compensation for us. Skye's or owners knew nothing about this. To top all this off the downstairs toilet kept blocking up and although a man was sent around loudly informing everyone it was a bank holiday he did pour some water down but couldn't fix it. A second hand washing/tumble dryer was delivered and plumbed in but it only washed the dryer didn't work. This was the day before we came home There was also lots and lots of blue bottles flying around in the house. Bit unusual in December. In the downstairs bedroom we discovered 30 of them hovering over by the window just staying there. Don't know where they came from but didn't feel right. Plus as well with the blocked toilet which by now stank we could not wait to get home. Please if considering staying here reconsider for the sake of your health and we'll being. The place needs closing down for a through deep clean. If it was a takeaway environmental health would close it down. Avoid the place like the plague.
Debbie F
2022-01-27