“First appearance ok, went into the office where a chap found our booking, walked me around the corner and pointed to “the one with the white gutters “ Looked fine outside, older than expected, very close to neighbours, When next door was in and out their car it was very noisy.”
Next was petrol strimming day and petrol leaf blowing machine day. What a din. Hardly any privacy around the hot tub, did ok. Night times were awful, the hot tub is right outside the bedroom window! I’ve had a hot tub, and used many, this one was on and off , with bubbles an unpredictable recycling mode. Even turning the heat right down at night, as requested in the notes. Next day we complained about the smell of DRAINS in our caravan!! “ Oh yes” the young man replies, “we always get it with that one, don’t know why, I’ll see if we have any chemicals “. We went out for the day then, it was better ,( for a while) ,when we returned, armed with air fresheners and the like!! Seams to me your plumbing isn’t “ breathing enough, and it syphoning out the p traps , and letting the smells come in. On the plus, we got to see, hear and smell,the petrol leaf blower up close when next door was made ready for new inmates! Just went round closing all the Windows for a short While. Caravan well Equipped, generous with lots of things from loo rolls to mugs. Some good ideas if you have a dog or young family, nice to see the sea when you looked out the patio doors.
Many thanks for taking the time to write your lengthy review; we always take guest comments very seriously, and we are sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your stay with us.
Gentle Tide is new this season, so we are particularly interested in the comments that guests are kind enough to leave for us, and we ensure that these comments are shared with the owner.
Arrival - All our guests are sent pre-arrival information, which includes a map, key safe code etc to facilitate their self check in. We encourage self check in so that guests don’t feel rushed, can arrive in their own time, and do not have to worry about reception being closed, especially if they are tired and have driven a long distance.
Guests are usually escorted to their Lodge, if they do decide to come in to reception; they are given a brief overview of the site and location of local amenities as part of their Welcome.
Regarding the look of the Lodge - the photos on the Sykes website clearly show that the Lodge is flanked on either side by other Holiday Homes. These pictures determine the distance between the Lodges, so may we suggest that if more privacy was needed, then the choice of holiday destination required additional research.
Hot tub privacy – the photos on the Sykes web site clearly show the location of the Hot Tub, the screening provided which determines the level of privacy offered.
Unfortunately, we are not able to control how loud neighbouring cars are, however, we do request that all guests are mindful of other Holiday Makers during their stay with us. The Welcome Folder in each Holiday Homes asks guests to kindly….
'respect your fellow guests and keep noise levels to an absolute minimum. Please remember that sound carries at night and awnings are no barrier to noise. All music making devices must be switched off by 10:30pm. Voices can be just as loud at night and can be disturbing to those wishing to sleep.’
At no point during the stay was excessive noise from neighbours or their car, reported to a member of staff! Apologies, but if we are not made aware of any issues, then we ae unable to assist.
Hot tub noise –The owner has been made aware of the complaint and has advised that for the light sleeper, the Hot Tub can be turned off at night! However, this may affect the temperature of the Holt Tub and it could take a while to regain the required temperature the next day.
Noise from strimming - the grounds staff were strimming the bank opposite Gentle Tide, about 100m away, but as the Lodges are based on a caravan park with grounds, there could be lawns cut and banks strimmed, as part of our essential maintenance programme. We do try to ensure that grounds maintenance is not carried out till late morning or early afternoon.
Our team have worked exceptionally hard throughout what has been a particularly difficult start to the season, considering the effect that the bad weather has had on trying to maintain the grounds to a level which all our guests and owners expect and can enjoy.
Smell of the drains – The day the complaint was registered, we arranged for an engineer to visit the Holiday Home to check all the plumbing, seals and traps in the Lodge. The drains outside the Holiday Home were also checked for blockages, and the engineer reported that there was no fault evident with any of the plumbing works or the sewage drain. He has however, made a minor alteration to the plumbing system to aerate the pipework, and we will monitor this closely.
A member of staff treated the toilets, sinks and showers in the Lodge with a chemical solution to eradicate the smell, but does not have any recollection of making the comments suggested in the review.
There were no further complaints , so we presumed that the issue had been solved. If there had been an ongoing issue, we had already made provision to offer an alternative Lodge, if required.
Leaf blower comment – The grounds team did use the leaf blower for less than 10 minutes on the decking area of the Holiday Home next door, to get rid of some pine needles, in preparation for the new Guest arrival. Pine needles are very difficult to sweep up, so a leaf blower is more effective and quicker.
The review states that windows had to be closed for a ‘short while,’ so we are not really sure why this would have been so disruptive as to have been included in the complaint?
Property Owner