“Having just arrived home from our week at The Lookout in Hopeman, we wanted to give you/the owner feedback before our experiences fade to memory.”
Overall, we enjoyed a beautiful week in the area and The Lookout provided us with a super central point from which to explore. Sadly, The Lookout itself, didn’t live up to expectations - especially for the price paid. We had holidayed with our elderly parents, who are able to manage stairs and lower than normal beds - however, our shock on arrival to find that the beds were literally on the floor, found us wanting to turn round and come home. Our folks are in their 70’s, and fit for their ...
Overall, we enjoyed a beautiful week in the area and The Lookout provided us with a super central point from which to explore. Sadly, The Lookout itself, didn’t live up to expectations - especially for the price paid. We had holidayed with our elderly parents, who are able to manage stairs and lower than normal beds - however, our shock on arrival to find that the beds were literally on the floor, found us wanting to turn round and come home. Our folks are in their 70’s, and fit for their ages … but, had we known that they would have to crawl on hands and knees into their bed, we would not have booked The Lookout. Further, the beds were situated under the coombed ceilings meaning that even the most agile and fittest of people had to bend double to get into the bed, crawl from the bottom and manoeuvre into a sleeping position - after what felt like an agility course to get into bed. Getting up from the bed saw the reverse as it was impossible to get out of the bed at the side, the only way out was to crawl back to the bottom and ease out avoiding the coombed ceilings. Our parents banged their heads many times during the week. On our first night, my wife banged her foot on the wooden base of the bed which was not visible under a throw at the end of the bed, and a black and bruised and swollen toe meant a fair bit of pain and discomfort which persists. We enjoyed the ground floor of The Hopeman, the facilities and space was super and we all very much enjoyed the views and the outdoor space. We were disappointed to find that the kitchen was not as clean as we would have expected: the shelving on which glasses were stored rim-down, were not clean, some of the oven trays were very grubby and over-used and the top of the fridge was similarly dusty. The kitchen had no tinfoil or greaseproof paper for use when cooking, which meant the very worn oventrays etc had to be scrubbed clean after each use. The cushions for the two loungers on the deck were beyond threadbare. The shelving in the TV room was very dusty - behind the TV and nearly no-one had reached over to dust them in a while. Skirtings and ledges throughout the house hadn’t been dusted for some time. The house just felt a bit tired and unloved. As to personal storage space: my wife and I spent the week living out of our suitcases on the floor by the side of our bed in the smaller bedroom - there was limited drawer space for 4 adults (with one unit on the landing being used to store the properties linen supplied) and no hanging space at all for dresses etc. Finally, the rubbish bins were stacked at the front door of The Lookout. They had clearly not been cleaned in a very long time and were very smelly. Worse, the green bin had a thriving colony of maggots feasting on the detritus available to them … and I mean, crawling with maggots! So, yes, we enjoyed our holiday but felt awful for our parents as we had no option but to make do with the bedtime challenges. It was disappointing to find on our last evening that the sofa in the downstairs TV room was actually a pull out bed, and had we known that, we would have made that room up as a bedroom for our parents. Perhaps this facility could be advertised and offered for future visitors’ information and benefit. Making it clear that the bedrooms suffer from little or no headroom when entering and rising from the beds (which are mattresses on the floor) would also be helpful information to share with would-be visitors. I’d be grateful if you could respond to this e-mail to advise me of the steps taken to improve The Lookout as I would hate for others to feel as we do, having paid handsomely for use of the house, our expectations fell short of reality. Many thanks Sharon Saunders. PS: We found an item of jewellery (necklace) in the small jewellery box on the chest of drawers in the main bedroom - left by a precious visitor ... we left it in the jewellery box.
- Mrs Saunders, August 2023
Thank you for your feedback.
I sense you had a very challenging and stressful time.
In order to prevent future confusion, we have now amended the descriptive text to better emphasise the compromised ceiling height upstairs.
I am assured that the price point is appropriate. (It has been my own experience that the cost of all accommodation has increased sharply post covid.)
The bins are emptied on Tuesdays (turnovers are only ever on a Saturday), so forgive our oversight and rest assured that all 3 bins have now been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
I have spoken with the housekeepers and trust that they will redouble their efforts to ensure all guests are happy with the standard of cleaning.
Although attempts are made to provide all sundries, there will be occasions when the absence of items (such as tin foil) may not be immediately evident. Thankfully there are two general stores within 3 mins walk of the cottage and an honesty jar of money available should guests feel strongly about the cost of such a purchase.
Our cottage is well loved by us and thankfully by the vast majority of those that stay there.
I sincerely hope that your next holiday is more successful. I know how precious time spent with family is. Property Owner
