Little Gate Cottage, North Bovey

We arrived to a newly decorated and well furnished character cottage, nestled in the centre of North Bovey. It had everything we needed and the central village location gave us the chance to walk to all the amenities....ring o bells pub (excellent), village green, stepping stones on the river and hiking in the locality. I would highly recommend this cottage. Just one downside: the garden wasn't really useable, but with the village green was so close, that it wasn't really necessary.

We had to abandon this cottage after just 2 nights (we had booked to stay for the whole week) because the sopping wet carpet, damp in the dining room and smell of urine on the floor was completely unacceptable. The freezer was so overdue a clean, the frost had built up to the point where there was no space left to put any food in the tiny freezer compartment of the fridge. When we opened the kitchen cabinets, the bowls in the cupboard had been put away with dirty cheese and pasta sauce on them, sticking them all together - we had to put everything through the dishwasher before we could cook on our first night. There were logs advertised as being useful for lighting the log burning fire with, but in reality the logs were mouldy and soaking wet. Actual mould and fungus was growing out of the logs which we were told on the phone by the owner had been "kiln dried". They were unusable, we spent hours trying to coax the fire to life as the cottage is very old and very cold in the evenings. A builder was sent out by the owner to try and sort out the leaking sewage pipe which was making the dining room floor wet and smelly - we went out for the day to give him space to work and when we came back, he had removed the carpet, stacked up the table and chairs (some of which were broken) so the room was unusable. That was the point when we realised our 'relaxing break' was not going to happen in this property. We had actually booked through Sykes, who were not interested in the issues at Littlegate and didn't send anyone from their team to inspect the situation, they simply moved us to a different cottage in a different village. After our week was over, their customary email inviting a review did not arrive - this makes us realise that their online review system is an absolute sham. If they know guests have not been happy with a property, there is no opportunity for those guests to give online feedback to tell the truth and honestly let other potential customers know what to expect. We were not offered any financial compensation - just a bottle of wine and small box of chocolates for a disrupted and disappointing week away. We will never use Skyes again. Be warned !!!

Looks lovely in the photos, but the reality doesn't live up to expectations. These pictures must have been taken years ago when all was fresh, as the garden is now an inaccessible jungle with rotting furniture and a dangerous path. The house itself is nice but a little sad, with flaking paint and crumbling plaster. The utility room...doesn't bear mentioning, enjoy battling through the undergrowth to reach this filthy outhouse. Plus side the Village and people are lovely, and the pub is literally on your doorstep with some great beers and food.

So disappointed in what looks like a perfect chocolate box cottage, when you pay £60 extra to take your dog's on holiday with you, the very least you expect is somewhere for the dog's to go but, not in this cottage, you have 2 rooms with beigy coloured carpets, perfect if you have been on a long country walk in the mud and rivers! There is not even a back door to let the dog's out, no back garden, there is a side garden down the road which looks nice in the photos but, in reality it is very over grown and can't really be used. I would not recommend this cottage, especially if you have dog's.