Disappointing
Dorset Hideaways review (The Old School, South Perrott, near Beaminster).
*** out of 5
Beautiful gardens, lovely location and fabulous kitchen, BUT it was badly let down by Dorset Hideaways’ lack of customer service.
Just as we were setting off for the pre-booked 3-nights 4-day break, they phoned to say that one of the toilets was out of action, which left only one available toilet - on the ground floor. In a two-storey property that sleeps 6 people, described as ‘luxury’ and with two bathrooms, this was a problem that should have been given urgent attention. Dorset Hideaways treated it as anything but urgent and there was no offer of a discount or refund as, in their words, ‘Well, we did tell you’ !!! Yes, on the day of our arrival when it was too late for us to cancel or arrange anything else. It still hadn’t been fixed by the time we left on the 4th day.
There were other more minor problems, which we might have been prepared to overlook if it weren’t for the unhelpful attitude of Dorset Hideaways. The mattresses were lumpy and had seen better days, one bed had not even been made up, the dishwasher was smelly, there were numerous dead insects on the windows sills and in the secondary glazing tracks, an abundance of cobwebs, the kitchen curtains were frayed, the Venetian blinds were bent and distorted, and the roller blinds had sticky chains, some of which had been cut too short so that only a taller person could reach up to let the blind down.
On our journey home we received 2 calls from a different holiday lettings company, both of which were intended for the plumber about sorting out the toilet. So they must have had more guests going into the property even though the toilet was still not functioning. Dorset Hideaways however never did call us again after our complaint call about the toilet, during which they said we could post whatever we liked by way of review.
We would have loved to give this place 5 stars but lackadaisical housekeeping and the careless attitude of Dorset Hideaways were just too much of a letdown to overlook. So the reality of the property did not compare well to the official photos and description.
19 September 2021
Unprompted review