Welcome Cottages Reviews 

UNWelcome Cottages - I would like to give an update on our refund. We ended up ringing them. The 1st woman we spoke to was extremely patronising & condescending. She said they had in excess of 30,000 emails to go through & ones, requesting a refund, which were sent before 1 May, when the company we're forced to give full refunds not vouchers due to the Competition and Markets Authority getting involved, would NOT be looked at imminently & that people were required to ring. We said we wanted a full refund she said she would action it, eventually, she then put me on hold, then the phone went dead. We phoned back & I spoke to a lady, please note the difference, 1st was a woman the 2nd a lady. She was extremely helpful & said she'd worked for the company for a lot of years & could not believe how the company was treating it's customers. We had a nice chat & she informed us the refund had been actioned. She also apologised for the attitude of the previous woman we spoke to. The 1st woman & UNWelcome Cottages scores 0. The 2nd lady 5 stars. The money has been refunded now, in full. My advice, ring this number 03452680505 tell them you want a refund & persevere.

Another great cottage provided by welcome cottages, we stayed for a week in Wales in March before lockdown and werent disappointed, used this company many times and have always found them helpful and professional. I would like to be able to review the cottage but didnt seem to receive the email as yet but I can understand that you are probably working with skeleton staff during the current climate so the main thing is you are all keeping safe. Thanks again and looking forward to booking again with you.

Tried to contact welcome cottages due to my holiday been cancelled due to covid,sent them 10 e mails asking for a refund instead of a voucher,no replies.tried to phone them numerous times unable to contact after an hour on the phone

I would give no stars if I could. I can't believe that I didn't check into this company further before booking! I paid a £20 deposit in January for a holiday in June. I sent them an email in March saying that I was cancelling our holiday due to the lockdown and I got a reply saying that I could move the date. I said no thanks because we were vulnerable no-one knew what was going to happen and I thought that would be the end of it. They sent out a reminder to pay the full balance which I ignored but they used the same credit card that I used to pay the £20 deposit to take the full amount of over £1,000! I emailed them again stating that I had already cancelled and I got a lame excuse amount automation and that they'd refund the money less £300 that apparently was yet another deposit! They said that I had ticked a box saying that the could take the money from my credit card - that is a bare-faced lie! There wasn't any tick-box on their site, I know this because I would have ticked it rather than having the stress of trying to remember when to pay the balance and marking it on my calander as a reminder! They have stolen our money!

THEY ARE NOTHING BUT THIEVES !
IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A REPLY, I HAVE BEEN GETTING CONSTANT “WE WILL REPLY WITHIN 24/48 HOURS FOR OVER FIVE WEEKS , IMPOSSIBLE TO GET THROUGH ON THE PHONE
I. AM GOING TO CLAIM CHARGEBACK FO SERVICES NOT RECEIVED!
I HAVE NOT CANCELLED, THEY HAVE NOT SUPPLIED THE SERVICE THEY WERE PAID FOR
MUST BE THE WORST COMPANY IN THE GALAXY!

We have got a holiday booked for June 2020. Welcome Cottages have now written to us to say that we can transfer our holiday by downloading the e voucher. A simple process allegedly. The e voucher will not download.

I have tried 4 times this morning to phone them and been left in a queue. The first time the line just cut off. The website states open 10 am - 5pm. Was left hanging on the phone when it cut off at 11 am and said that the lines were now closed and would re-open at 12pm.

Appalling customer service.

It is not the customers fault that these holidays are having to be cancelled.

I have always used Welcome Cottages but will not use them again. I think this company should think very seriously about how they are treating their customers because they will very shortly be finding themselves and their staff out of business and it will be their own fault.

I would like to stress to everyone to read the terms and conditions first like we should of done. Our holiday was cancelled (due to COVid19) and they will not refund out money. They have offered 60% refund or vouchers towards another holiday - Customer service terrible (no one will speak on the phone). I have been furloughed and the wife works for the NHS so the refund would of been greatly received. They have told us that if we cancel, there is a 60% cancellation fee - Is it our fault that it has been cancelled?

Beware - part of cottages.com
Read the reviews for the above company and stay away.

Mum paid a deposit of £25 for a holiday for my sister from Australia who was coming over to care for her whilst I was supposed to be on a break to Turkey with my partner for his 60th birthday. We cancelled today having booked in Feb for June. We were still outside the 70 days arrival at destination date but still they made up pay another £175 cancellation fee. Mum is 87 years old, this absolutely made her day. So if you do book, PLEASE PLEASE take note of the small print. If you need to cancel they can still take a 1/3 of the holiday price from you.
Disgusting company!

We stayed at 2 penrhiw cottage Abercych was, cosy snug characterful cottage fires lovely to come home too after a, day exploring the beautiful countryside even had hot water bottles with hand knitted covers for each of our beds. A beautiful cottage stepped in history and charm lovely host sterling next door and lovely home made flapjack

We stayed at The Linhey, Emmet's Grange, near Simonsbath, Devon.
Oh where do I start....?
To get there, follow the long, pot holed drive (go slowly not to damage your car).
On.first arrival I thought The Linhey was quite charming, a log burner freshly laid, a cute little kitchen and bathroom, clean linen, towels and tea towels, a radiator plus 2 panel heaters. In the bathroom a lovely heated towel rail plus some complimentary toiletries.

On closer inspection however, the cleanliness wasn't up to my standards (I am a professional housekeeper) so things stood out at me, mainly mould in several areas of the kitchen, cobwebs in corners and curtains requiring hanging correctly in the lounge. Empty wine bottles had been left in bedside and kitchen drawers too, plus faulty dripping taps left watermarks on the sink and bathtub. These had been there a while, so to me, it had not been checked prior to guests arriving. To be fair, it looked cosy, but more attention needs to be paid.

Outside, the patio overlooking the tennis court, once maybe a beautiful area, is now quite unkempt, a wooden gate hangs off its hinges and there is a broken security light. The whole outdoor space needs a complete overhaul to make it look welcoming because at the minute it's sadly just not, it's dark and neglected.

Anyway... we set off enjoying our long weekend but accidentally set the fire alarm off boiling potatoes for our evening meal. We had no phone signal so couldn't contact the owner, however, it turns out they live in the adjoining property to ours as the lady owner came out. She knew where the fire panel was but did not know how to turn the alarm off or even where the panel key was kept.
She stated that the noise was making her stressed - we were all stressed, soaked by the rain as the siren was too much for our dog to handle, and a bit spooked by how pitch black it was as there was no exterior courtyard lighting and the main house was deserted.
Events then turned more bizarre as the owner practically then begged for alcohol from my partner to help her cope with the noise!!
We did give her a nip of our brandy but then she asked if we had any lager or wine!, even suggesting we drive out to get her some!! Honest to God! Who does that??
Anyway, she said she'd wait by the phone, presumably to hear from her husband owner but didn't come back out.

Meanwhile with the siren still sounding, surely heard by everybody and everything, we decided, effectively left alone, that we had no choice but to take another look at the fire panel ourselves, located in a pitch black unlocked entrance at the far end of the main house, by pure luck found the key above it and reset the system. Relief!!
I knocked on her door to tell her we'd managed to reset it, she said thankyou smoking a cigarette but didn't seem too concerned that her customer's sorted out and got access to her fire system, just more glad the noise had stopped. We though, were left rather staggered.
I've read other reviews (on our return stupidly) about guests being burgled by the owners, because of an adjoining interior door. Now we very thankfully didnt experience any theft, but just knowing there was this door made me uncomfortable and didnt aid my sleep, although on owners return home our sizeable dog let everyone know he was there, so all good.
Would we return?
Not at this point, but if serious changes are made, then it would truly be so lovely.
Oh. And the kitchen needs a few good knives to make life easier!
Out of 10, we give it 4.

The Hill Top cottage was very clean and the welcome pack was very much appreciated.Lots of nice pubs very near for very tasty food. The weather was brilliant.We did the cliff top walk to Beer very enjoyable still very pretty.

On arrival,very warm welcome.We were shown round the cottage,very very impressed.Spotlessly clean,beautifully decorated.Everything provided from every kitchen appliance including all cleaning materials.Ironing board and iron,washing machine tablets and pegs.Clothes airer ,hairdryer.Very peaceful surroundings, outside Chairs & Table, extremely large garden and very friendly chickens,very vocal.Joy to see them free range! Mr & Mrs Clarke very helpful and friendly.Would Highly recommend this Holiday Retreat, a total pleasure to stay there.Will love to return in the future.

I am a cottage owner advertising with welcome cottages.
Further to my previous review complaining of the poor service from this company, nothing has changed, my entry on partner sites is still incorrect and shows my cottage is not available to book for 2019/20 and I haven’t received any bookings for 2019. I first told them of the problem on March 6 and, in spite of many apologies from them and assurances that everything possible is being done to correct it, nothing has happened.
I have therefore cancelled my advert with them as I cannot put up with this any longer. I have always used BOOKING.COM and HOMEAWAY and what a difference - you actually speak to someone who can and wants to help you and things are done very quickly and they get you enquiries and bookings.
I would advise any owner thinking of joining this group of companies (Awaze) to be very careful and use Booking.com or HomeAway instead.

We stayed this Easter weekend in Glendene, High Newton, lake district. Beautiful cottage, very spacious and very well equipped. 5 minute walk to local pub that did excellent food. 10 minute drive to Cartmel or 20 minutes to Bomness on Windermere. Great location, would definitely recommend and am sure we will be going back.

Swallows Nest near Matlock.

It was a superb cottage to stay in. It was fully equipped with everything you need. Bed was very comfy!

There was a field just outside the cottage where you could take your dog out for a walk.

Excellent place for walks. Matlock just 10 minutes away.

We hope to return in the near future.

The owners of the cottage couldn't be more helpful.

From Steve, Angela & Sam (the dog)

Booked for Swallows Nest in Lynton for break between Xmas & New Year. Paid £400 for 4 nights. Property was awful, everything was dated & bed linen looked worn & shabby. Even asked to pay an extra £25 winter fuel supplement !! We were so disappointed, we left after 2 days of our arrival. Would not recommend.

We have just had the most wonderful weekend away at field crest in sea palling. The owner made us feel extremely welcome . Lovely quiet cottage right next to the sand dunes. Very clean and everything you could possibly need for your stay. Dogs absolutely loved it especially the homecooked biscuits left for them. Mummy liked the cake too!.. will definitely be booking again. What a little gem. Hope we can go again next year

Just Stopped at sunny beck and it was absolutely fantastic, couldn’t fault the cottage and the photos don’t do it justice at all.

Booked a cottage (dump) in wales for school holidays, took two 13 year old boys and dogs, arrived on the Tuesday, the cottage was more akin to a student house, dirty with unkept garden to the rear, we had a clean when we arrived then went out for the day, arrived back to the dump early evening, tried to cook but the oven just smoked, we had to open all the windows to breathe, a smoke detector was directly above the cooker, that screamed at us for an hour, so we decided to shower and eat out, the shower did not work, contacted the owner who said have a bath instead! Two adults and two children waiting for water to heat for 4 baths, took 3 hours just to get clean, cut a long story short we had 1 bath each in 3 days then decided to abandon the holiday and leave for home just to get clean, welcome cottages were very unwelcome in their handling of the matter, no apology or refund for a holiday from hell in a cottage from hell!