7 Hope Road

9 Customer Reviews

• "Ifficult review to write as there was good and not so good, I'll start with the good."

  Great location, 5 minutes walk to seafront with parking at the rear of property. Kitchen was great, everything you could want and more and a lovely gas range cooker, towels and bedding good quality, showers very powerful, and a washer dryer which worked well. Living room, dining room and bedrooms on 1st and 2nd floor well decorated and furnished. Not so good. The outside appearance is shocking, at the front the decorative cornice between the ground and 1st floor has a big chunk missing 4 foot or so, which has fell into the front garden and has been left there with numerous weeds (I have taken some photos if you're interested). The back garden is very weedy with some 2 feet high and also 3 large hanging rose briars from the hedge are hanging to the ground, they must be 12 feet long! (again I have some photos). In all the information given online and at the property a lot was made of how unsafe the steps are at the side of the property so I was disappointed to find the gate that accesses them from the back garden swinging open in the breeze despite there being 2 bolts available to keep it closed. On closer inspection the gate has dropped so they didn't align, with a bit of persuasion I managed to get one to align and the gate is now secured. Similarly the top gate was also open with no means to keep it closed except a couple of broken paving slabs to wedge it shut, a couple of quid spent at B & Q on a bolt would rectify this. The ground floor has a very damp and musty smell, as there was only 2 of us we stayed upstairs apart from showering and using the washer dryer. The stairs and hallways could do with smartening up as the wallpaper is starting to come away in several places. Overall we had a very pleasant stay and most of the property met our needs, it's just a shame about the other things I've mentioned. Stephen Downing

  Hi Stephen, I am sorry that you had these issues during your stay. I will get on to our property management company and ask them to deal with them. I am disappointed and apologise that they hadn’t done this before you arrived. The damp smell is concerning and has been mentioned by other guests, we close for the winter so that will give us the time to investigate and resolve it. I’m glad that overall you were satisfied with your stay. I hope you will my return to view the improvements. Best wishes, Antony and Laura Property Owner

  Reviewed by Stephen3.4★Sep 2024

• "Well equipped kitchen which is a must for our family, well laid out, clean & comfy & plenty of room & close to amenities, very happy with our stay at Hope Road."

  Hi Lisa, thank you so much for your lovely review. We’re so pleased that you enjoyed your stay and hope that you’ll come again! Property Owner

  Reviewed by Lisa5.0★Aug 2024

• "This is a difficult review to write because some things about this house were really good."

  The kitchen was very well equipped and the first floor lounge was light and airy. The towels and bed linens were good quality and the location is very convenient for Shanklin seafront. However, the smell of damp in the ground floor is overwhelmingly strong. Clothes left in this area smelled strongly of damp, despite running the dehumidifier and keeping the windows open, whenever possible. The master bedroom is nicely decorated but the furniture is cheap and again, there are damp patches on the walls of the landing and peeling wallpaper in the twin bedroom, due to damp. Several of the windows were faulty and the double glazing in the back door is starting to blow. All in all, the house looks nicer in the photos than it actually is and maintenance is not being kept up. Also, I was a bit worried about the state of the electrical wiring, given the dampness of the house and the flickering main light in the first floor sitting room. Also, whilst the location is very convenient for Shanklin seafront, it is also very noisy - even during the night time. My children were both at the back of the house, so slept well, but my husband and I didn't get a single night's full sleep. My son also complained about the boiler in the downstairs bedroom, firing up in the night time and I could imagine this would be much worse, if you had the heating on. This is not a bad house and I want to be fair, but considering the extent of the dampness and the long list of maintenance issues, it is overpriced.

  Thank you for spending the time to highlight the issues you found. They have been duly noted and measures will be taken to address them when we close for the winter. Property Owner

  Reviewed by Fiona3.1★Aug 2024

• "The garden was in an awful state, but I messaged Liz and it was clean and tidy next day."

  Just a shame it wasn't like that at the beginning. Downstairs bedroom had a boiler right next to bed, which was noisy. So after our friends went to bed downstairs, we found out we couldn't flush upstairs toilets, run water or even the dishwasher. The downstairs door to garden....well the stairs were dirty and not clean, all leaves and debris left there, even after someone came and cleaned garden. The rest of house lovely. Clean and tidy. In kitchen it would help if there were more plates. Outside of house dirty. Inside lovely and clean. Lovely place to stay Frances

  Thank you for your feedback. I’m glad that you enjoyed the house. We had no idea that the garden was in such a state so please accept our apologies. I have spoken with Liz about it and it has been thoroughly cleaned a couple of days ago. Going forward it will be cleaned before the season starts. The boiler downstairs is noisy and we are looking at ways to reduce the impact on our guests for the future. We will ensure there are a few more plates, though it’s never been an issue before given that there’s a dishwasher. I’m very happy that you thought it was a lovely place to stay, we do too! Thank you Frances. Property Owner

  Reviewed by Frances4.1★Jun 2024

• "The house is in a very good location but the track leading to the parking space is not signposted and is very narrow, overgrown and in a bad state."

  The steps leading down to the property are steep and not suitable for people with poor mobility or young children. The outside space needs a good clean and the garden chairs need replacing. The lower floor is quite dark and smells damp but luckily we didn't need to use it as there were only 4 of us. The sofas in main living room could do with updating and the property would benefit from some small additions i.e. towel rail and toilet roll holder in upper level shower room. It was very warm during our stay and there didn't seem to be a way to turn the heating off

  Thank you for your feedback. The house is in a great location, close to the village and a short walk to the beach. The house I’m sure you would agree also has a huge amount of space being three storeys. The track was in a bad state and although it doesn’t belong to us, we have paid for the foliage to be cut back and the holes filled. A sign by the entrance to the driveway is a great idea and we shall install one soon. The steps down the garden are steep and we mention this in the description. The outside area will be thoroughly cleaned this week due to a cancellation. The garden chairs are good quality and have been serviced. The ground floor doesn’t get a huge amount of natural light but there is ample lighting throughout the area. As to the damp smell it probably needs a good airing. I’m sorry that the sofas are not to your taste but we felt that the Laura Ashley white Chesterfields were in keeping with the style and age of the house (they are also being deep cleaned). We shall add a toilet roll holder and a towel rail to the top floor shower room. The Nest heating is really easy to use and any issues can be easily fixed with a quick search on Google. I’m sorry that you weren’t completely satisfied with your stay. These small issues will be remedied quickly. Our Housekeeper Liz is amazing and happy to help with any little thing, a quick call to her could have remedied most of your concerns while you were there. I hope that despite what you’ve mentioned that you had a great holiday. Property Owner

  Reviewed by Claire2.5★Jun 2024

• "1/ The track up to the parking space is very overgrown and looks as if it has never been maintained."

  There is a crater on the left-hand track which would damage any normal car. I have a medium SUV and the front and back scuff plates touched the ground when dropping into the hole. The track isn't wide enough to avoid it. Once at the top there is enough room to park, but turning is limited especially if a car is parked in the space next door. 2/ On arrival we first noticed that the furnishings in the first floor lounge were very tatty, there was a large tear in the centre cushion of the leather settee and the other two, white cloth settees, were stained and marked. 3/ We found that the WiFi password provided in the welcome book would not work for any of our devices. I phoned Liz (the contact for any issues), she could only suggest that we switch the WiFi off then on again. This resolved the problem but the Nest thermostat in the lower lounge disconnected from the Internet. 4/ My 8yr old granddaughter was looking forward to playing in the children's room under the stairs. The fairy lights in that room did not work. I found that the batteries in the control box had leaked acid and the contacts had been eaten away so they could not be fixed. It was too dark in there for her to play. 5/ On Monday the boiler on the first floor floor stopped working so there was no hot water to the upper floors once again phone Liz and she got an engineer out who played with the Nest thermostat and those on the boiler and eventually got the hot water working. There was no hot water again on Thursday. I managed to get the boiler working again by repeating the actions of the maintenance man. 6/ It rained Tuesday evening and we found a slug on the downstairs bathroom wall. Had no idea where it came from until Friday when it rained again. The down stairs back door is not used because of the steep steps up to the patio. The wall around the door is very wet and the plaster and paint work are bubbling and stained. At the base of the door was another slug so I assume they come in via the wall or a failed door seal. 7/ We used the washing machine once and although it washed OK there was a leak from inside which flooded the floor. We dried it up as best we could. The fan in that room does not work which would have helped dry it out quicker but the machine needs to be fixed or replaced. 8/ Finally, our daughter her husband and granddaughter had the upstairs bedroom and we had the ground floor one. The ground floor bedroom is cramped and too close to the boiler cupboard. The boiler fires up at varying times through the night even when the heating is turned down. If you are a light sleeper this will keep you awake. The mains water feed also seems to route through this cupboard and if anyone upstairs uses the taps or toilets the noise of the water rushing through the pipe is horrendous, just like standing next to a jet washer. We were woken several times with a jump. It was most disconcerting and we never got a good nights sleep. The boiler cupboard also has an amount of black mould on the wall so this is worrying for anyone who may have a lung condition. I honestly do not believe that this room should be allocated as a bedroom. The welcome pack was nice and the kitchen was OK. The location is good, just up the road from the beach, the weather was good and my daughter and granddaughter had a good time so the holiday was not a complete loss. As the rental costs are always inflated for the holiday period my wife and I found the condition of the house for the price extremely disappointing and would not recommend it to anyone. It definitely does not live up to the pictures on the Sykes website. and we cannot see how Sykes rate this at 4.4 stars.

  Thank you so much for taking the time to feedback about your stay. The track up to the parking space is regularly maintained, however, I am sorry that the change of season meant that it was overgrown and appeared not to be maintained. I have informed our gardener and this will be rectified. The track is bumpy, which necessitates careful progress across access we do not own. However, we use the track ourselves, as do others and have been able to navigate a variety of vehicles safely. To a certain extent, this sort of approach could be considered part and parcel of enjoying a holiday home of this type. Parking is admittedly tight but to have this facility so near the sea is an advantage that many other similar properties do not enjoy. We were very disappointed to hear your impression of the upstairs drawing room was impaired by the furniture. We were not aware of the damage to the Chesterfield or the staining to the other sofas and this will be rectified very soon. The WiFi is usually very reliable, I was surprised to hear that you had an issue but pleased that it just required a reset. We were so sorry to hear about your granddaughter’s disappointment with the fairy lights. We will have them replaced and ensure that they are checked on a regular basis. The house was built in 1880 so unfortunately there are probably a few crevices whereby slugs etc may find their way in. However we will check the door seal and thank you for bringing this to our attention. The washing machine is newly installed and has had little use. Thank you for flagging this very concerning issue. It is admittedly a small machine as it is a washer/dryer and is easy to overload. It will be investigated and resolved quickly. We were concerned to hear that you found the ground floor bedroom noisy as this particular problem has not been an issue in the past. However, we are most concerned to hear about the black mould and the area has been thoroughly cleaned. Property Owner

  Reviewed by Peter1.9★May 2024

• "This was a great place to stay!"

  It was pristine & everything we could possibly need was available to us. We were able to relax in comfort. We had a black dog with light coloured carpets so it would be helpful to have an accessible vacuum cleaner. The cleaning company were very thoughtful & sorted this for us. The Smart TV dropped out of the signal regularly but could be turned off at the mains & it always obeyed when switched back on. The location was excellent & we enjoyed great walks & explored the Island with enthusiasm. There are many steps in the garden & lots of stairs in the house, so bear this in mind if you plan to stay here but it was absolutely fabulous for us!

  Thank you for your great review! I’m so pleased that you had a fabulous stay! I have taken on board your comments and in future a vacuum cleaner will be available for guests. I will also be updating the Satellite box this year. There are, as you say, a lot of stairs in the house but having a double bedroom and a bathroom on the ground floor is ideal for anyone who find stairs difficult. Thanks again and I hope you will come and visit again in the future. Property Owner

  Reviewed by Barbara5.0★Mar 2024

• "The property is excellent."

  The best equipped holiday home, in terms of items in the kitchen, for home cooking in all those we have previously stayed in on the IOW over the years. The house itself is very comfortable and it is situated very close to the seafront and the shops in Shanklin. All easy to walk to. Off road parking is really only for 1 medium size to large car. 2 cars on the parking area would be a bit of a squeeze. The track at the rear could do with a little bit of maintenance due to a large hole staring to appear on the track which needs filling. In the house information booklet, it states Friday is rubbish collection day. Its not, it is Thursday. This needs amending and it was only by luck that i heard the rubbish collection being made on Thursday morning, so managed to get the rubbish out. A couple of things though:- 1/ The downstairs heating (from the boiler in the bedroom) is very difficult to operate. It needs to be much simpler to operate to turn on and off when required, especially in cold weather. 2/ The steps to the rear parking area are very slippery in wet weather and need to be cleaned and scrubbed. I did slip over myself at one time going up the steps in the wet, but luckily no harm was done. 3/ One of the radiators in the downstairs rooms was not working at all. This had the radiator cover in front of it. It was cold in the house when we arrived as the heating had not been put on or come on automatically and could do with being on in the winter months if guests are expected. 4/ I did notice the distinct lack of fire/smoke alarms in the property. As it is such a big property on 3 levels, you might not be aware that there is an issue in another part of the house. This needs immediately addressing for safety reasons being a holiday let. 5/ A few more cups, plates, etc would be good, as with a dishwasher, you tend to fill this up before you put it on. The house itself was spotlessly clean and a very pleasant place to stay for a week on the IOW. There were only 4 adults and 1 small dog staying but we very pleased we stayed in this property. It is tastefully decorated and has a very homely feel. Overall, a lovely property..............

  Hi Martin, Just to let you know that I’ve added six new smoke detectors to various parts of the house and a heat detector in the kitchen. I’ve also cleaned the steps in the garden so hopefully no one will slip over. The information pack has been updated too. Thank you so much for taking the time to write your review. I’m happy that you had a good stay. I have noted your concerns regarding the driveway and smoke alarms, it was already on my list to be done in readiness for this year’s season along with cleaning the patio area (so sorry that you slipped there). I will update the information pack regarding the refuse and the downstairs thermostat (it’s really easy to use when you know how), there should be no need to adjust the boiler in the cupboard. We’ll look at adding some more crockery too. The parking is tight for two cars but not impossible, parking in the area is extremely limited so we feel very lucky to have off road parking. Thank you once more and I hope that you’ll come and stay again sometime. Property Owner

  Reviewed by Martin5.0★Jan 2024

• "Don't go by the photographs, this property was cleaned to a reasonable standard for our arrival but some equipment and fittings needed urgent attention."

  From the handle on the front of the oven, almost hanging off because the screws were very loose (I tightened them) to various light switch pull cord acorns missing, making use of them difficult (I replaced the acorns) to the totally ridiculous back garden layout, which resembles the Himalayas, with quite frankly, dangerous steps when wet and a state of disrepair throughout the upper floors of the house. Two of the three showers had to be fixed to make them useable (again my repairs) as the shower heads kept dropping. The mattress in the King Size bedroom has seen better days and has a huge dent, permanently on the side nearest the door. The parking is best describes as VERY tight as the driveway to it is very overgrown, resulting in scratches down the side of my car and the actual parking area is "ok for two medium sized cars", yeah if they are small cars and you have a crane to put them there. The location is ok but expect lots of up and down hill walking. Overall I would rate this property as around 7/10 now, after I did minor repairs to make it work for us. The owner needs to visit and carry out permanent repairs and not just rely on the cleaners to make the house shipshape...some misinformation on the welcome pack book regards putting the bins out too, Thursday, not Friday....and good luck trying to work out the central heating!....oh and the Welcome Pack was most welcome, thank you, very useful.

  Thank you for your feedback, it is extremely helpful. I was unaware of these issues so thank you for taking the time to let us know about them and for taking the time during your holiday to fix what you could. I have spoken to my gardener about the over grown driveway and they assure me that it has been dealt with. The mattress in the master bedroom is quite new so I will be contacting the supplier to remedy the issue. The central heating system should be easy to use although we were aware of an issue with the wi-fi connection to the upstairs boiler which has now been resolved. Parking two cars is tight but we have always made our guests aware of this. Yes the garden is a strange layout but necessary given the location and elevation between the house and the driveway . We haven’t had any issues with the steps being slippery but there are handrails where needed. I will update the welcome pack regarding the bins and any other useful information I can think of. Thanks again and I hope you had a good holiday regardless of the issues you encountered. Property Owner

  Reviewed by Kevin3.1★Sep 2023

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