“The house is spacious and pleasant, if a little dated, with large rooms and plenty of parking.”
There are outdoor green spaces, though they are not really usable for ball games etc. due to low walls fronting onto a busy road. As well as the main road, it is worth being aware that the property is next to a large industrial facility for a catering service that operates around the clock. The rear of the property cannot be seen from the facility, but you may be aware of goods vehicles coming and going through the night. We did not really find it a problem, though.
What we did find a problem ...
There are outdoor green spaces, though they are not really usable for ball games etc. due to low walls fronting onto a busy road. As well as the main road, it is worth being aware that the property is next to a large industrial facility for a catering service that operates around the clock. The rear of the property cannot be seen from the facility, but you may be aware of goods vehicles coming and going through the night. We did not really find it a problem, though.
What we did find a problem was the swimming pool. This is heated to 28 degrees, which is spot on for an adult recreational pool where users are maintaining a high level of activity, but is too cold for adults to relax or for children. This spoilt our whole holiday. My wife went in the pool once and never wanted to again because it was so cold. The children (7 and 8) were keen to keep going in but quickly ended up shivering with blue lips and chattering teeth. It was a struggle to get into the pool and felt a struggle to keep using it. They would be far better heating it to 30 degrees, which is the standard for leisure pools, if not 31 degrees (the standard for kids' pools). Had the pool been warmer, we'd definitely think of booking again in future. As it is, we're not so sure. Other places we've rented in the past have had warmer pools that weren't so off-putting.
The other main problem is the woefully under-equipped kitchen, which makes making or even eating meals a struggle. There are about seven plates, knives, bowls, etc. The bare minimum to get by for a meal. You spend the whole holiday running out of glasses and cutlery and bowls and constantly putting the dishwasher on -- made worse by the fact that the dishwasher is not very good. The Beko's stacking capacity and flexibility is not a patch on a Bosch, and many of the wine glasses you end up having to resort to using for kids' drinks are too tall to fit in it at all. The door for the tablet compartment is also faulty and trying to get it to shut is like some kind of Crystal Maze challenge. It can take 20 attempts to get it to close!
The pans are of very poor quality, and all the non-stick ones shed their non-stick content into the food. My wife wouldn't let me use them, so I was stuck trying to use the one and only stainless-steel pan. She was even considering buying a set of new pans to use there until we found the slow cooker. If you're planning on making your own meals, this is probably the best way to do it.
No glassware is allowed in the swimming area, of course. In other places we have stayed they have provided plenty of plastic "glassware" so you can still enjoy refreshments around the pool. It would be great if this property included some.
The fact that the jacuzzi was not in operation was also disappointing and seems to be a long-term issue.
