Old Roost Farmhouse

4 Customer Reviews

• "Basically a comfortable and welcoming property but."

  ..... Parking is only for two cars, next door neighbour was understandably irritated if you use her unmarked space. Coat hooks and boot space next to the unused front door, not the one everyone uses. A redundant dresser in the dining room means you cannot really seat eight round the table. China and glass completely inadequate. I do not expect to have a celebratory meal of miss matched plates and glasses. Constantly having to wash up mugs. In fact we had to wash pretty much everything in the kitchen as none of it was properly clean. When we arrived the cupboard contents were all over the place. Comfortable and roomy lounge, but log burner with no instructions for safe use. Cleaning had been pretty superficial, under the settee was grim, sweet wrappers in a bed side table drawer dirty flannel on the downstairs bathroom floor. One bathroom recently refurbished but not finished off. Even taking into account that this is an old building with certain restrictions, the upstairs floor plan was not adequately described. The four foot high door from the main bedroom to the nearest bathroom not mentioned. The steep and narrow staircase from the kitchen to the main bedroom .The fact that the two double rooms each had two doors, one for the other stair case, one for the nearest bathroom. The fact that from the twin room access to a bathroom was via another bedroom or downstairs to the other end of the house. Some of the upstairs doors didn't shut properly or, if they shut, were difficult to open. The down stairs bathroom was adequate but far from the luxurious retreat suggested in the description. In spite of all of this, and most of it could be rectified pretty easily, we had a very happy family week, but I would not stay at the Old Trust farmhouse again unless I was sure that things had improved.

  Sykes Cottages are aware that parking is for two cars and they have told us that they make guests aware of this. Dependant on car size, you can squeeze a third one in. Providing three spaces is quite rare within such a close proximity of York City Centre. You should have also been made aware of our neighbour’s parking space, we have also detailed this within the guest information folder in the house. The coat hooks are in the front hallway, hardly a 5 mile hike from the back door. You can seat 8 people around the table, we did at Christmas as have other guests, without complaint! China and glass completely adequate, as many owners do, we have experienced, breakages/theft from guests. We cannot replace this weekly but restock periodically. We did not feel that we needed to write instructions on how to light a fire. Sykes again advise that they send out instructions that Kiln dried logs need to be used. In this day and age, any and all instructions can be found on the internet. We have spoken to the cleaners as the cleaning should be of a high standard. The property is being updated in order to improve the guest experience. Sykes are aware of this, everything in the new bathroom is usable and they confirmed that this is totally acceptable. The house was built in the 1600’s and is quirky, the layout is unconventional but the majority of guests agree that it adds to the charm of the property. There are three functional bathrooms in the house. We were surprised to read at the end of this incredibly negative review to hear that you had actually had a happy family week! We always strive to improve and welcome constructive criticism, however the above appears to be mostly unjustified and unfair. You state that you would not stay with us again and whilst we would always welcome returning guests, in this instance we would rather you didn’t! Property Owner

  Reviewed by Ruth2.5★Dec 2024

• "Lovely homely cottage."

  Good size for the seven of us. Quirky layout to get to the first floor bathroom from two of the bedrooms.Kitchen was very well equipped, mind you took five adults to work out where the light switches were in the kitchen. Hiding under the cupboard. Good location especially with the bus stop being opposite, worked out really well to get to the centre each day

  Reviewed by Maria4.4★Sep 2024

• "A beautiful, historic house, with its period charm unspoiled and a lot of eccentric original features!"

  The rooms were large and comfortable, and we particularly appreciated the separate family dining room. The upstairs bathroom which has a door in a row of cupboards could easily be overlooked - we found it, but a "bathroom" sign on the door would be good. We struggled with the induction hob - it only works with certain types of pan, and some of the pans provided were the right type, but some not. The situation is ideal, opposite a lovely pub with good food and on a bus route into town with frequent buses.

  Reviewed by Eve4.7★Sep 2024

• "A beautiful old property in a good location with many quirky features."

  There’s plenty of space for a family and the bedrooms are comfortable. Mostly well equipped but a few necessities missing:- tea towels, shower attachments for bath taps and bins in bathrooms. There was also no clothes horse/airer for drying clothes after using the washing machine. Unfortunately our stay was blighted somewhat by a continual problem with the boiler (on arrival a note said it was an ‘intermittent’ issue but this was not our experience!) which meant for the first night and following morning we had no hot water! Sykes were quick to respond to my call for help and we then had contact with the housekeeper/owner. She also responded quickly to try and address the problem, as well as organising the purchase of a new kettle after the one in the kitchen failed to work. A plumber came to reset the boiler but for the rest of our stay we encountered the same problem and had to reset it ourselves at least twice a day to get hot water. To be honest, I felt stressed and turned into a boiler bore (!), worrying about whether everyone would get a hot shower - not exactly what I wanted for a carefree break with my family. During my conversation with the owner she admitted that the boiler probably needed replacing so I did wonder why this hadn’t happened before I spent a sizeable amount of money on a four night break.

  Reviewed by Jacqueline3.8★May 2024

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