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"T is a lovely house in a wonderful position."
It is well appointed with good quality furniture & fittings and good quality linen/towels. Accordingly a stay at Tregoninny should be a lovely experience - but alas it was not! It is let down by 3 things: (1) Lack of proper management/maintenance (2) Poor channels of communication (3) A complete lack of instructions in the house.
A list of the main problems we encountered on arrival:
(1) No heating on in main house. No information on where to find the controls. On finding them it was clear the managers had turned on the hot water but the heating was completely off.
(2) No heating in the dining room & annexe bedrooms. Again no instructions anywhere. We had to use electric heaters until heating engineer came (2 days later) & found the boiler had cut out. Why was this not noticed before our arrival?
(3) On the 1st evening the dishwasher leaked. We reported it. It got worse on the Saturday morning - so we stopped using it. All week we had no dishwasher & nobody made any real effort to solve the problem quickly. That was 17 of us all over age 70 washing up everything by hand!
(4) There are no keys for 2 of the bedrooms in the barn. It means they cannot be secured when people are out. This was mentioned & it appeared this had been the case for some time. Why have new keys not been cut?
(5) There were masses of dead flies in the rooms upstairs in the farmhouse. They were in most bedrooms & the games room had at least 100 mainly on the window sills. Lots of "dopey" flies too which were easy to kill. Clearly all these flies started life inside the house & were trying to get out. Clearly nobody from the property managers had been anywhere near the house for some time (& certainly not on our day of arrival as promised).
(6) On the Sunday the conservatory roof leaked badly. We used towels & a bucket. Friends visited during the week & they had stayed at Tregoninny the previous autumn - the roof leaked then! Clearly nothing done about it. Likewise with the nails protruding from the conservatory chairs mentioned in a previous review.
(7) The main cooker didn't work on arrival. After 2 phone calls it transpired the isolator switch was off. We had hunted everywhere for it. It is on the opposite wall about 12 feet away! No instructions again.
We contacted Sykes on Friday about the heating. They promised a call back from either themselves or the owners. Neither called back. We also told the management company about the problems but they said they'd let the owners know. Thankfully the vineyard manager lives onsite & though it wasn't his job he was the only person who did anything - got the heating engineer & the maintenance guys to visit.
Message to the owners: We see occupancy rates in 2024 have been low even after you reduced prices. The property is very good. All it needs is a bit of TLC by addressing the 3 issues at the start of this review. That wouldn't cost very much & you'd see a much better occupancy rate.
Reviewed by Terry1.9★Oct 2024
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"I have to be honest that we were a little apprehensive before arriving at this one, unlike all other Sykes bookings we had no direct contact with the owner and we were very disappointed with the communication with the management company and also with Sykes when trying to check on progress since some of the negative items in past reviews."
I had decided to close my account with Sykes at the end of the year due to this but after speaking to 2 separate lovely members of staff from Sykes while at the property I changed my mind.
The bottom line is that all my fears were laid to rest once we got to site.
I think Sarah’s review in May 2024 is almost the same as our feeling but a few more things to add.
The place is old, it’s not shiny and new but its clean in the places that matter, yes we saw a few flies, midges and spiders, a few cobwebs but you are in the middle a wood (and such a lovely peaceful place to be) but the bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen / dining areas were spotless, this is a real home from home and very accessible for the elderly members of our family.
The drive was another worry, yes its long, narrow and a bit of a dirt track but we had a very small front wheel drive that managed just fine as well as a very large front wheel drive van. I would just suggest not trying to take a caravan or large motorhome up.
When we booked it said we could hire a hot-tub at an extra charge (£350 for 14 days) which the management company were dealing with but that was a disaster and a week in we were still waiting, in the end they allowed us to hire from a local company called Duchy (lovely people, professional service, 1st class hot tubs), I would recommend doing this if you can, it’s the perfect spot for one ! (just make sure this will be OK before you book).
We had no problems with the pans or the hob and more than enough kitchenware for 17 of us. We did take a small fridge and a camping fridge for the cold drinks and glad we did, there is no mention or pictures of the utility room but this was a lovely surprise, old but commercial dishwasher, washing machine & tumble dryer as well as an American Style Fridge Freezer.
There was mention of the boiler in here, it’s not run by gas, the fuel is oil and you always get a harmless smell with oil.
We didn’t manage to get to the Cyder farm but plan to do that next year, 2 weeks went in a flash.
Because we had many questions which were not answered before we arrived, I would be more than happy to share more of my experience with anyone wishing to visit, we learned a lot and now we know the place we can’t wait to get back again.
As others have said 5pm is very late for an arrival and 9am is very early, we ended up leaving a day early, I appreciate a large place like this would take a lot of cleaning but one solution would be to provide a chargeable early access to part of the building, its big enough to manage that so customers could at least get a sit down and a cuppa after a long drive, all it takes is some communication once in the area and would have made a big difference for our large party.
One other thing we would suggest is if you have some camping chairs take them to sit outside and watch the lovely sunsets.
Reviewed by David5.0★Aug 2024
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"The chairs in the conservatory have nails poking out under the cushions , not ..."
The chairs in the conservatory have nails poking out under the cushions , not enough induction pans for the hob and the boiler leaks gases and sets the fire alarms off if you don’t have the door shut , however if you don’t get told you would not know , the property is cosy and spacious and we all had a fabulous time
Reviewed by Russell3.8★Jul 2024
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"Tregoninny is a beautiful place to spend quality time with family and friends."
We didn’t know what to expect at this farm house but when we arrived, it was a home from home. Thank you so much. The place was warm and clean. We managed to get ourselves settled in as soon we got there.
Our favourite places were the conservatory and the kitchen. More than enough cutlery plates dishes glasses mugs to use during our stay. The welcome cleaning pack came in very handy with the dish washer tablets. Only challenge was the induction hob. Please provide instructions to assist users. Shops are very close and we managed to visit Land’s end and some beaches during our stay.
We had an amazing weekend, I would definitely recommend the farm house and we plan to come back next year. Thank you for the complimentary voucher to visit Healy’s Cornish Cyder Farm. That’s was an amazing experience and we had an amazing day.
It would be nice to check in before 5pm otherwise our experience was a memorable one. Thank you.
Reviewed by Sarah4.4★May 2024
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"This property has the potential to be an amazing place, however, it needs a lot of attention to bring it up to an acceptable standard for future guests."
On arrival the property was 12 degrees!!! The manager kindly told the owners, but they control the temperature from base. The dining room heating did not work at all for the duration of our stay. We had to leave 2 electric radiators on constantly and light the fire in the afternoons so it was warm enough to eat in dining room in the evenings. It was too cold to eat breakfast/ lunch in there. But because the hive was telling them it was 18-20 degrees they assumed all was ok even though we notified them again a few days later it wasn't. Thank goodness we took a large supply of logs with us!!!! There is only one dishwasher, not enough for a party of 22. There is only a small double frigde/freezer. We did not have enough fridge space to put our food shop in. We had to store all our vegetables, fruit and drinks on the kitchen unit. The chiller for drinks only went down to 8 degrees. The cookers were not clean. Some pans worked on the induction hob, some didn't even though they were from the same set. The cupboard areas were not clean. The kitchen area particularly behind the cookers was dirty, the spalshback was covered in cobwebs and looked greasy, the walls in general looked dirty due to runs from cooking and more cobwebs. The cover to the boiler was broken and was not attached, this is dangerous for very young children. The hoover was fixed together with parcel tape, there was no floor brush and the mop was disgusting and worn out. Lots of long black hairs were found on the wall in the the master suites ensuite. There were cobwebs galore in all rooms and in windows with dead flies. A lot of mouldy food was found under one of the beds in the barn, some head boards were not attached and broken in some cases. Skirting boards were very dusty. On arrival we were told we had full run of the place and nobody else was there, however, the vineyard manager lives above the barn and there is no sound proofing between. You can hear children running up and down in the middle of the night, adults heavy footsteps, coughing laughing, toilets being flushed, light switches being turned off and on and you even get woken up by their alarm clock every morning before 7 and they press the snooze button so you get to hear it more then once. Photographs were submitted to the owners during our stay. To be fair they did offer to send cleaners out to clean, however my family were not happy to have cleaners deep cleaning with all our food on the kitchen units and moving our belongings. This property is advertised as 5 ticks, it certainly is not 5 ticks at the moment. The welcome pack mentioned about -we hope you enjoyed your complimentary drinks and found your cream tea voucher, but there were no complimentary drinks or cream tea voucher, however after discussing the issues found to the manager, he told us that if we go to Healy's Cyder Farm, we will be given a tour and complimentary cream tea. To finish on a positive note, the house is in a beautiful setting and has incredible potential. The games room was enjoyed by all. We really appreciated the lovely gesture of the tour of the Cyder farm and complimentary cream tea. The team at Healy's Cyder farm were amazing and so welcoming. The tour was enjoyed by all 3 generations and the food in the restaurant was delicious.
Reviewed by Elsa2.2★Feb 2024
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"We had a family Christmas holiday from 18-22nd Dec 2023, there were 18 humans and 4 dogs."
This property was amazing and perfect for a large family get away, I was abit worried about room allocations before as it wasn’t clear in the information but it worked out ok. There are 3 interconnected rooms with a living area and bathrooms out in the barn conversion and then two separate rooms with bathrooms in the annexe area at side of house. (One room with 3 single beds) the main farmhouse has a big master bedroom and two bedrooms with twin in both. Downstairs there is a double and a single bedroom.
We loved the massive dining table and log fires, we were able to enjoy a family Xmas lunch together and retire to the conservatory to play games and talk. The kitchen was great, plenty of oven space. The only problem we found was that you had to find pans that would work on the smeg, not every pan would but it was fine as there was another oven we used for hob. Having the washing machine and dryer was a bonus too!
The games room was a great addition and kept the children entertained!
What we didn’t realise was that a lot of the land surrounding, was off limits which was disappointing. However, there is a loop walk around the property you can do which we all enjoyed, the garden is large and there are plenty of beautiful places to visit near by!
The only negatives really for us were that check in is really late so you lose a day and check out is really early, so we had to pack and tidy the day before, essentially losing some more of our holiday.
We were also disappointed at not having a Christmas tree and decorations added, that would have been a good touch especially as the property would look amazing with a massive real tree and the log fires in the dining hall.
There are bits that need updating and fixing but you can’t complain really, it’s a massive property that is perfect for large gatherings! We really enjoyed our stay, we made some great memories.
Reviewed by Jade3.8★Dec 2023
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"Hi
I would like to leave a review but I fear it may not be a favourable one."
The house was not entirely clean when we arrived, the bathrooms in the annex were very mouldy and the shower curtains were covered in mould.
One downstairs toilet made a terrible noise when flushed so we stopped using it, the other downstairs toilet wouldn’t flush at all, maintenance turned up on the Tuesday to fix the issues but it was still very inconvenient to not have the use of these facility’s for most of the stay.
Some of the keys we were told by the cleaning lady were lost by the previous tennants.
The hot tub really was a joke not a hut tub at all but an inflatable lazy spa.
It was not up to temperature on the first day so could not be used, the guy came to check it again on the weds and again it took a full 24hrs to get back up to a usable temperature, also it kept switching off and coming up with an error code which was very annoying.
A lovely house and location but very let down by the issues noted above, I can only say really not worth the premium charged for its use.
Disappointed and would not stay again.
Mike
Reviewed by William2.5★Sep 2023
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"We had a fantastic time at Tregoninny !"
A couple of points worth mentioning:
1/ No welcome pack / No vouchers despite being mentioned in the book which had minimal information.
2/ The Hot Tub- this was not switched on when we arrived (malfunction? ) so wasn’t usable initially . Also we thought it was far too small given the size of property & we thought £250 on top of what we were already paying was a little harsh - it was in fact only used once.
All in all we all had a great time made even better by the weather & would love to return in the future!
The house , conservatory & scenery are indeed spectacular!
Many thanks!
Reviewed by Jonathan4.1★May 2023
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"Great place to gather with groups."
All facilities available to make the most out of your stay in Cornwall.
Reviewed by Marcel5.0★May 2023
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"The property was amazing and we enjoyed every minute."
So lovely we could stay as a big group. The dining area and conservatory was the reason we chose this property and it did not disappoint.
Lovely to walk the circular route around the property and we visited Healeys Cider and several beaches.
We did have a lot of rain and conservatory’s roof leaked and we had to provide our own wood for woodburner.
But a lovely holiday property for all the family
Reviewed by Shirley4.7★Jan 2023
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"A fabulous house and beautilul surroundings."
Spacious and comfortable for a large group. The huge dining room & conservatory were much appreciated. A few snagging issues/minor repairs requied (which we have shared to the owner) but did not detract from our enjoyment of the house. The caretaker/cleaner was helpful & courteous. Massive garden was great for the dogs to run (although it is not fenced/enclosed) The last section of steep, loose gravelled approach road proved too difficult for one of our party- who arrived in a motorhome-but we were able to park the van off road lower down the hill safely * if more of the steeper sections of road were tarmaced, the appproach would be much easier!
If a plan of the bedrooms could be provided and/or the photos on Sykes description could be labelled - this would help allocate rooms prior to arrival.
Overall, we had a wonderful week in an excellent house!
Reviewed by Sarah4.7★Oct 2022
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"Wonderful property."
Fantastic location.
Would have been great to have more cleaning product (i.e Bin Bags) as standard.
Reviewed by Jacob5.0★Sep 2022
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"We had a great holiday thank you and the property was well laid out with plenty of relaxing space for everyone."
The hot tub really wasn't big enough for 8 people nor even 6 but with less in we enjoyed it.
I would highly recommend installing a 2nd dishwasher. For the quantity of people just 1 isn't sufficient, added to which the larger dinner plates were too large for the dishwasher, they stopped the dishwasher sprinkler from spinning and so had to be washed by hand.
I tried using the mobile number in the Guest book to contact you three times to let you know that an item expected was missing, that the number for the keysafe was not as advised and then that we had spotted a problem with the pond pump. We received no response at all. Fortunately, we were able to let the gardener know about the pond pump which hopefully saved you having to buy a new pump.
Kind regards, Kate
Reviewed by Kate4.7★Aug 2022
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"We stayed at Tregoninny as a large family group of 17, the house and barns were spacious and comfortable and the kitchen was well equipped with everything we needed."
The large conservatory was a favourite spot for us all to relax in during the evenings.
The grounds were huge with stunning views and the children enjoyed playing in the garden….they loved the hot tub!
The house is quite remote so we had to drive everywhere. The only thing that lets this property down is the long steep driveway leading up to it! We had 5 cars between us and 1 of them got stuck going up so we had to push it part way and couldn’t use it for the remainder of the holiday and another got a puncture which was costly to repair.
It’s partly made up of stones with a sheer drop to one side so when you start skidding on the steep parts even taking it slowly in a low gear it’s quite frightening. The tarmac sections were fine but you ideally need a 4x4 to avoid damaging your vehicle.
Reviewed by Katie4.1★Jul 2022
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"This was a brilliant house for our four families and especially as my daughter is an electric wheelchair user ."
The house was fully accessible at ground floor level and had a choice of wet rooms in the barns and annex ( though two of the showers probably needed looking at as you couldn’t have the hand held shower on without the overhead shower going on as well - the very friendly maintenance man came quickly but sadly couldn’t rectify the problem.) Loads of space, fabulous dining room, big kitchen , great garden for playing croquet, rugby etc. All the bedrooms were a good size and the master bedroom and bathroom were fabulous. There was more space than indicated from the description , for example there was no mention of the small sitting room with log burner in the barns . A couple of suggestions - a floor plan or labelled photos on the website of which bedroom was which for planning purposes of who sleeps where would be so useful. It would also be nice to have a visitors book so other families can make recommendations of places / beaches / pubs to visit. Some of our party visited Healeys Cider farm and really enjoyed their tasting session. We visited a couple of beaches, one better for access for my daughter than the other. Lovely walks and our dog loved it there. We will definitely look to rebook.Thank you for a lovely stay.
Reviewed by Sophie4.7★Apr 2022
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"The property was perfect for us."
It had everything we needed as a family and we will definitely be returning.
Reviewed by Jessica4.4★Nov 2021
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"This was a brilliant venue for a long weekend celebratory family party."
Views unsurpassed , house not twee or alarmingly upmarket, just comfortable and friendly like an old cardigan. Vast kitchen, big comfy sofas for blokes to watch the rugby in the cosy living room. Loved the enormous conservatory and the hot tub (extra but well worth it) for young and not so old ! Table tennis table was popular . Encountered beautiful deer on the long driveway.
Would definitely rebook another time.
Reviewed by Sara5.0★Nov 2021
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"Fantastic place."
Really had the most amazing week.
Perfect for our hand fasting ceremony.
Everyone had a such a comfortable stay. Layout works perfectly for a large family or friends group.
Little shabby chic in places but adds to the beautiful character. One of the best weeks of our life’s.
Helpful staff all the way through booking and staying.
Loved the hot tub, looking at the stars. Well worth booking. A trip to Truro was a lovely afternoon.
A very big thank you. To you all ❤️❤️
Reviewed by Amanda4.7★Oct 2021
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"The holiday was great and so was our accommodation, but we did feel cheated out of the seventh day of our week due to not being allowed in till 5 pm and having to leave, after cleaning and tidying , at 9 am."
This would all have been okay had we not had 3 babies, 2 under 4s and an 88 year old.
Reviewed by Helen3.8★Sep 2021
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"Great time, lovely space"
Reviewed by Michael5.0★Sep 2021
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"Beautiful farmhouse, gorgeous setting."
Could be cleaner, kitchen needs a deep clean
Reviewed by Yvonne3.8★Aug 2021
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"Our large family gathering very much enjoyed our stay at Tregoninny."
It was well equipped, comfortable and attractive, and in a lovely peaceful environment
We did notice a few minor issues which need addressing, and have informed the owners of these. These in no way spoilt our visit, and we would use the accommodation again, and would recommend to others.
Reviewed by Maggie4.4★Jul 2021
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"Absolutely beautiful home and gardens."
We stayed the first week of July 2021. We were a large family and couldn’t think of a better place to share much needed time together.There is a pond so watch small children. I would love to return in the future!
Reviewed by Pamela5.0★Jul 2021
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"We had a lovely week away here."
It was booked last minute due unforseencircumstances which meant we were unable to get a hot tub sorted out for our stay. Also no stair gates were found as advertised.
The above were the only niggles we had during our stay. For big families or some who just want space, this is an ideal place.
Reviewed by Mark4.4★Oct 2020
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"Much more than we were expecting, loads of room for large parties."
Comfy and clean with everything that you need. The kitchen more equipped than mine at home. Views are amazing and you would not know that the town was only 3 miles away. The kids made as much noise as they wanted. This getaway was the best of 2020.
Reviewed by Elizabeth5.0★Sep 2020
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"Another wonderful stay at Tregoninny - 2ne year running."
We are a large family and made use of all the rooms!
The only issues were a blocked toilet and a powercut which are impossible to control really, but the maintenance team came straight out for the toilet and fixed it, and then the powercut is impossible to control as it was during Storm Ciara and it made it quite exciting (we had one last year too, so maybe worth noting it could be a regular thing in this area) .However they are well prepared with torches in the plug sockets which is a really cool idea!
Cream teas at Healeys a big success again!
Floorplan would be super useful on the listing - as so many bedrooms it gets SO confusing when trying to work out where everyone is going!
Reviewed by Salli4.7★Feb 2020
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"A very good property for large families and groups."
A bit of a scary drive at night to get to the property but worth it moon the less. Highly recommended it
Reviewed by Mehboob5.0★Aug 2019
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"Tregoninny farmhouse is a fantastic property and was ideal for our family group of 20 (plus three dogs)."
It is well presented throughout, with generously sized rooms, so, regardless of your party size, you never feel on top of each other. The garden is great for an active group and the woodland walk perfect for the dogs.
I highly recommend it.
Be aware that the track from the road is pretty rough and needs to driven carefully to avoid car damage, especially when arriving fully laden!
Reviewed by Mark5.0★Jul 2019
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"A beautiful location with fantastic scenery
House exceeded all our expectations
Great house for family gatherings and very spacious
The grounds are beautifully kept and the conservatory was the lace to be ."
Reviewed by David5.0★Jun 2019
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"A Brilliant holiday home for party of 14 senior citizens."
Lovely peaceful location; luxury comfort and facilities. Far exceeded our expectations plus all the unexpected extras especially flowers, cider and cream teas. All problems sorted out in a trice. Highly recommended
Reviewed by Pauline4.7★May 2019
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"The photos do not do this place justice!"
The space and layout ensured a sociable time and/or respite time throughout the long weekend. The gardens were lovely and the croquet set was put to good use.
One of the 4 dogs barked when left overnight and kept people awake when the (dog) beds were in the hall, but once put in the conservatory no-one could hear him which gives an indication of the size of the place!
The Owners were very accommodating - they even allowed us to bring the caravan and park it out of the way so we could continue on into Cornwall and were very helpful and patient when we got stuck half way up their drive!
Walks from the house and into Truro if you had a mind.
A very nice National Trust Property nearby (the name escapes me) who's grounds sweep down into the estuary and onto very pretty riverside walks.
Could have stayed much longer!
Reviewed by Sarah5.0★May 2019
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"We had a party of 12 staying for three nights so we could travel to Penzance and watch the rugby whilst some went to the Tate
Train from Truro to Penzance and made a brilliant day enjoying the sunshine and the pubs en-route!"
Accommodation was perfect with good space and good facilities
However, you do need to provide some pint glasses!!! but apart from that we ALL agreed it was excellent!!
Reviewed by Clive5.0★Mar 2019
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