We booked a weekend break for our 40th wedding anniversary. £375 for 3 nights at 8 Kents Bank House, Grange over Sands. After our first night my wife saw a bug under her pillow, it scurried away behind the Bedford. That day we both started to notice bites mine on my back and on my wife’s legs. We decided to leave and tried to get the owner or her agents to call at the property while we were still there so we could show them the evidence. No one would come. When we got home we contacted Sykes by online chat and were told someone would ring back first thing Monday morning. No one did. After a few days of hearing nothing from Sykes I rang them to make a complaint. I was astonished to be told that they had spoken with the owner, that there were no bugs at the property and that we would not get a refund. I explained that we had photographs of the bites and that this had been our ruby wedding anniversary and is not something we would have wanted to ruin. They reluctantly agreed that I could send them the photos but it was clear that they had already made their minds up. Thanks Sykes for making our ruby wedding truly memorable

The inside of the property is lovely & has everything you need for a comfortable stay. The back of the house is impressive, but the front is a different story. It's like looking out on a busy street where you live, overlooked by neighbours. One caused us a huge problem, which we have evidence the owners knew was a prior safety issue. I don't know whether the property is aimed at children or adults. If children, the glass cabinets and open, toddler-height glass cupboard, need to be removed urgently - as do the lights, candles and wax melt burners. If it is adults, please correct your advert, because the beds are barely double. & in the room with the single bed, it’s a ¾ adult bed at best. False advertising. The issue with this property is the outside space & neighbouring properties. On the first morning of our holiday, a neighbour’s trampoline landed on top of our cars, parked on the driveway. This caused over £2000 worth of damage to 2 cars, including a completely smashed windscreen on one. I have written confirmation from the owners, they knew this had happened twice before. Sykes confirmed they were never notified of this. The property needs a warning about high winds & potential safety issues, for all current guests who are booked in & future ones. We spent the first five days of our holiday trying to fix damaged cars. As a family we were stressed, upset, anxious and worried about the out-of-pocket costs. The owners & Sykes were no help whatsoever & offered for us to leave the property (whilst they were aware we still had a smashed windscreen on one car) for a partial refund, of the days we wouldn't be staying! This only added more stress & upset to our family, including my four-year-old child. It's fair to say we won't be staying at this property ever again, due to a genuine concern for safety on the driveway. And we will never book with Sykes or any of their affiliated companies again.

Malt House, Windrush, Gloucestershire. When you invest £3000 for a week’s holiday in the UK for your family you expect it to be something special. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. Gasping for a cup of tea after the long journey only to find kettle in a disgraceful state so I ended up having to descale it before use. My grandchildren wanted a cold drink, but the glassware was filthy so that too required cleaning. A kitchen drawer was full of water and some of the utensils inside were rusty. The washing machine had mould growing around the door evidence yet again that a proper cleaning regime wasn’t in place. But worse was still to come. As the first day wore on, we were besieged by thousands of wood lice in both the living areas and bedrooms. We were constantly using the Henry to vacuum them up. The grandchildren were terrified and wouldn’t sleep, the lice were crawling out of the loft hatch and falling on to their beds, they ended up sleeping with me and their parents. My son contacted Sykes only to be told it was just “nature” and that they would disappear when they learned that humans were there. This was rubbish and just a pathetic attempt to placate without doing anything. A holiday should be for rest and relaxation but was anything but. We toughed it out for a few days, vacuuming several times a day but in the end decided to come home early. Sykes were totally disinterested and did nothing to help. Sadly it would seem we may have to legal action unless Sykes respond positively

Sykes Holiday cottages run an apartment in the building where my mother lives. Neither the cottage owner nor Sykes clear away the refuse or put it out for collection after the cottage has been used, with the result that rubbish piles up by the property and rats are becoming rife. When questioned by others in the property Skyes refuses to address the issue themselves or raise the problem with the cottage owner, demonstrating a complete lack of consideration for other homeowners in the property. I can only feel desperately sorry for the next set of people renting the property, who face a mound of rubbish and vermin when they arrive.

I would never book through Sykes Cottages again. A very untrustworthy company, I am still waiting for the infantry list, and a receipt for a repair that I believe never took place, they took £40 from my account without showing me the evidence. Our family holiday was in October 2022. I tried to complain, and the lady from Sykes, came back to me with what I thought was a well scripted answer. IF YOUR NOT HAPPY YOU WILL HAVE TO TAKE US TO THE SALL CLAME COURT!!! I answered, I suppose, you do this a lot,as not many people would follow this through. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

I agree with a comment someone else stated that they do not print every review.I had a holiday in Margate, garden was awful place was not like home from home There was no wifi no instructions for any machines or waste No hangers in second bedroom which was the only one with a wardrobe. Bed was hard to get into was designed for younger people. Found a plate with green mould in dishwasher had to clean washer and dryer before use. Sykes gave it four stars it was only worth two that was because it was on a bus route and good position.Usually we go by reviews this property was new for rent and we must have missed this somehow. Could be a nice rental Will not recommend will try to avoid Sykes again

Shocking customer service who are happy to take your money and run! They do not represent or protect the customer from any property miss representations or take any responsibility. They expect the customer to know everything about the property before booking, when this is Sykes job to be accurate and honest! Upon arrival Property stunk of wet dogs (attempted to mask with 4 air fresheners). Customer service said well the property accepts pets! They suggested they could look at getting a cleaner if I was to take photos and send them to them to prove the smell was an issue... What??? There was also a used dummy and toothbrush on the floor along with copious amounts of flies. Customer services again wanted photos to lodge a complaint and contact the property owner. Property was Located 5m from a very loud and heavy single carriage way, which had trucks, tractors and commuters. Property vibrates with some of the heavy trucks. Customer services said, we state you "may hear some noise" and it was my job to establish the specific location of a the holiday cabin on a holiday park and to know the local information! I'm sorry this is the responsibility of Sykes Cottages to establish the precise location, local knowledge and represent properties accurately! I advised that I would not be staying upon arrival and requested a relocation... they refused... I requested a full refund and I'll find alternative accommodation, they refused. I requested a partial refund, they refused. My eyes and my 2 year old daughters eyes flared up with the smell. My 36 week pregnant wife would not be able to rest or sleep with the noise level. Disaster! I will never use this company again to look for a holiday and will advise all to beware. I've stayed at many hotels across the World and if I've ever had a problem they have always been resolved or compensated Paid for 4 nights stay and we didn't stay one! Customer service both disappointing and disgusting. Profit not customer service driven

We stayed at a well situated property in Cornwall which on first glance looked well presented and furnished however there were multiple issues with the property. The issues included rotten decking and broken guard rails in the garden, broken garden table with sharp protruding metal and broken sharp tiles in the bathroom. My 6 year old granddaughter fell through her bed on the second night as it was held together with rubber bands it was replaced after 2 days with a folding bed, no appolgy was received. I tried to contact Sykes regarding the property but they don't answer emails and give the impression that they don't care. They have blocked the feedback I left on their site I assume they don't want other guests to know the dangers of the property

We arrived on Saturday 17th June at 3.15pm for 7 nights at Sunshine Lodge, Stogursey, Somerset which is a Sykes lodge. We were meant to stay for 7 nights however my wife wanted to go home after 1 night. We finally decided to leave at 10am today Wednesday 21st June. Safe to say the place could do with a decent clean. Never have we stayed somewhere so dirty. Not only that but hearing the lodge owners dogs barking every morning between 6am and 7am isn't acceptable. Staying so far from shops and the nearest supermarket you expect to have a decent size fridge and freezer. The freezer barely fitted 2 microwave meals and an ice pack. Glasses covered in grease, radiator in the bathroom filthy, a mouldy shower mat, hairs on the bathroom walls, the double bed mattress just falling apart, cheap wardrobes barely worth having with no doors, a review 2 weeks ago stated a disgusting mop covered in bits outside which was still there, oven hob disgusting, grease on kitchen doors, several left food items well out of date (Dec 2021 on the pasta ????), air fresheners left plugged in and on with nothing in them, bathroom shelf barely hanging on the wall, toaster was disgusting and doesn't work properly, fridge freezer pointless. Oh and we found a frying pan in the drawer just disgusting with grease/oil And rust on the shower rail that I believe someone left a review about in August 2020 Sykes have said they won't be doing anything about it. Not surprisingly really. They received their payment and couldn't care less

We stayed at Aurora, "managed" by Sykes Cottages in Sheringham, North Norfolk at the end of May in 2023. The house itself wasn't too bad except for the slow drainage issues, missing lightbulbs, broken radiators in the downstairs and upstairs bathrooms, no instructions for heating or WiFi, no emergency contacts and no oven gloves. All of these issues were raised in the visitors/maintenance books in the property itself dating back to March and this was the end of May and they were still unresolved. That said, we were largely ok but because of our party having visual impairment we had to keep odd lights on to make sure our family was safe because of the missing lightbulbs. My OH is registered blind but is able to navigate a place once they know their way around but the broken lights made this more challenging. After arriving at 4pm on Sunday, we were shocked and appalled to receive a phonecall and an urgent message stating that complaints had been received that we were "smoking illegal substances" on the property and "we" were to stop immediately or else the owners would call the police. Considering we don't smoke ANYTHING.. we don't even vape.. we were absolutely stunned. We told them this was absolutely definitely not us but received no response. Even though we knew we had done nothing wrong, we half expected to find the police waiting for us every time we came back to the house. We had been really looking forward to a short break after a year of medical emergencies in our immediate family. We had some nice times in Sheringham but we were on edge and stressed about being accused of taking drugs on the property when we had done nothing of the sort. We didn't really relax the whole time we were there. To date (mid June 2023) we have not had a word of explanation or an apology from anyone at Sykes. If it was a leftover complaint from a previous rental and Sykes had been open about that then we could have relaxed straight away. But we have literally no idea who made the complaint or when or why. To add insult to injury, they have sent us a circular to ask us how they "dealt" with "our issue." As you can imagine, this is enough for us to never stay at Aurora again and never use Sykes for a holiday booking again. If you have had a good experience with them, I'm pleased for you. If you have had a bad experience with them, I believe you and you have my deepest sympathy.

Rented Gratton Grange cottage via Sykes. House required a deep clean and some love and care to restore to standard. No blinds on sky lights. Black mould in bathroom and bedroom door/windows. Empty cafetiere box - no cafetiere!. Hoover dust housing broken, held on with tape that's lost it stick. No response from text to owners sent prior to arrival. Fridge door shelves missing so limited storage area. Front of cutlery drawer falling off. Food stuck in sink upon arrival. Stairs need attention as heavy clunking noise when walked on due to excessive movement. Sent a complaint to Sykes with photos. They sent to the owner, no response after 2 weeks they closed the complaint and said i would need to go to small claims court. They are still advertising the property. I wasnt asking for a refund I was asking that the property be put into good order and am amazed that they did not resolve if for their own good name. However having not done some furthe research I can see that they dont have a particularly good name. I wont be using Sykes again.

Have booked through them many times before but never again - always been bordering on inflexible at the best of times but the barbarically aggressive nature of the no deposit refund in any situation is ludicrous... I get the desire to avoid convenience cancellation, but months before with a very legitimate reason and not a pound back. Sure Sykes got tehir pound of flesh with the £990 deposit, but we never rebooked the trip so the rest of the money was never secured and nobody from our group of 6 adults will ever book with them again - ludicrous system which you would expect to have a human layer of compromise behind the rigid surface rationale. . . . . Just worked themselves out of tens of thousands of pounds worth of business for the next 10-20 years just to crunch £900 out of someone you could have just given back as credit to use on Sykes - awful system, terrible business model.... P.S YOU CAN FIND MOST OF THEIR PROPERTIES ELSEWHERE - DON'T BE FOOLED - THEY WILL LIKELY BE AVAILABLE ON SITES OFFERING MORE FLEXIBILITY AND AN OVERALL BETTER SERVICE

I have booked a dog friendly property for this year. When I came to pay the balance I noticed a review that was complaining about the rules found on arrival about dogs not being permitted to toilet in the enclosed garden attached to the property. Really how can a property be dog friendly with this rule that you don't find out about until you arrive. I spoke to Sykes who have said that this rule is not unreasonable and it doesn't need to be included on the details of the property so that other potential visitors can make an informed decision about weather to stay with a pet or not. No option to cancel the holiday Be warned before booking any dog friendly property ask the question about additional property rules that aren't included in the description before you book.

Arrived at 69 Wellington St. Matlock. Christmas booking. The property was freezing cold, temperature 13.5 & 16.3. No response from Property Management or any of the Emergency phone numbers in the property information guide. After two and a half days of no heating. The owner did eventually do something but because he has a remote device fitted to the boiler he controls the heating from a distance. So the heating was going on and off and completely off at 9:30pm. No other secondary fire was available. Sykes Cottage brochure photo of the property does not show you all of the very steep steps to this front of the property or the very steep steps at the rear of the property. They were slippery and great care needed to be taken going up and down holding on to the rail at all times. Definitely not for Families with children The property is not enclosed at the rear with a passage running down to the very busy front road with double lines. Parking is difficult and for only for one small car. All off road parking on the Surrounding roads are double lines or surrounding properties had taken any little space available. Photographs and information was sent to Sykes Complaint procedure who did very little.. The owner offered a £134 refund being 10% of the total. This offer was refused as the whole Christmas holiday was ruined resulting in our leaving after 3 days. Sykes Cottages then stated it was for me to take the complaint up with the owner. Sykes Cottages have blocked me from filling in the Feed back section for this property. Avoid Booking with Sykes Cottage or staying at 69 Wellington Street. Matlock

We have booked four properties over the years with Sykes. Descriptions of three of the properties have either missed important details, such as access is through two farm gates and a field, or simply been inaccurate. When you complain it then becomes obvious that they rely on the decription and photographs given by the owner. They don't visit even when a new property has three really bad reviews from the first visitors. Sykes seem to have no interest in sorting things out instead they hope that things improve and refuse a refund! Learnt our lesson this last time and we will never book with them again.

We booked 9 Pen y Ghent - Tosside near Long Preston, Yorkshire Dales via Sykes Holidays for a 5 night stay in July. On arrival we noticed that the accommodation was dirty, dead flower in a glass on the window sill, vet medication which was over 6 months old left in the kitchen cupboard, broken ornaments on the fire place, all pots, very very old and well used pans, cooking utensils etc dirty and all needs to be cleaned. The welcome pack left contained out of date and mouldy bread, the decking didn't have furniture as advertised, and what was there was rusty and old and decking was filthy. There was nothing in the accommodation to enable us to use in the oven so no means of cooking an evening meal. Tried to contact owner on number given by Sykes, tried several times, no answer. Following day called Sykes to be told owner lives in Canada so struggling to get hold of him. Shower in ensuite couldn’t be used as door was off the rails, no toilet roll not bath mat. All magazines left were ripped and over a year old. We reported all of the issues, which there are many more than I have listed, to Sykes and stated we wanted compensation. Owner finally got someone to call to fix shower, and we asked for some oven pots so we could cook food which he brought 1 x baking tray, 1 x bowl and 1 x lid from a Pyrex bowl. The shower door came off runner as soon as we tried to use it so it wasn't fixed. Sykes contacted owner and owner doesn’t think that anything is wrong and is not prepared to offer compensation, how does he know if everything is ok when he lives in Canada. Sykes have backed the owner and basically said the complaint is closed so nothing can be done and that is that. It seems that although we are Sykes customer and paid them good money for this holiday they don't actually care about our experience and only interested in the owner of the accommodation. They took our money for a substandard accommodation and now basically we can't do anything about this and we have to shut up and go away as they do seem to only care about their client the accommodation owner and getting their money from good honest people who save hard to have holidays. Sykes, remember you are there to help not only the accommodation owner but also to help and ensure that hte holiday maker who pays good money also has a good time and the accommodation and holiday experience is a good one and if it isn't then support the holiday maker as well and as good as the owner of the accommodation as it does seem you don't care about the holiday maker.

Whatever you do, do not and I repeat DO NOT book anything with Sykes Holiday Cottages, they advertised a property that was still under construction and when we raised concerns about this we were fobbed off with "We wouldnt advertise somewhere if we thought there would be any issues", guess what 4 weeks from the date of our stay and they cancel it as there was a problem on site even. Bunch of clowns, avoid like the plague.