Northumbria Coast & Country Cott Reviews 23

We have just got back from a weeks holiday at Avocet cottage in warren mill near Bamburgh. What a lovely cottage and area .

We hired Blacksmith’s Cottage, Ingram Rd, Bamburgh. There were a number of problems damp, sewage and filthy bedding. I contacted the agency 5 times. A plumber came once, he said the problem was fixed but then sewage started backing up.
The cottage was very, very damp. Humidity was at 68% by the end of the week. I asked for dehumidifiers. The bedrooms smelt vile either urine or beer and the master bedroom smelt of sewage. I should have asked for a different cottage. No one from the agency cared enough to help.
When we left we stripped the beds as per instructions. The quilt, pillows and mattress protectors proved to be filthy. This was not a case of oversize but long term neglect.
I left a review. The cottage was removed from the listing my review did not surface.
Previous reviews referred to these problems. The agency took the money as did the owners. We felt taken advantage of. No refund no apology. It verges on criminal knowingly letting a cottage not fit for use. They took advantage knowing that the problems could not be fixed in a week. Where was the agency manager? What were the owners doing to maintain the roof and gutter? Why was the cottage for rent?

I booked a property with NCC but realised within 24 hours I needed to cancel. Despite their policy, I could not cancel on the website, phone lines were unavailable, and their WhatsApp “AI support” put me in endless loops without resolving my request.
I provided all details (booking reference, property, dates) multiple times, but was ignored and eventually locked out of support. This is unacceptable when the holiday is nearly a year away.
They used to be great but now acquired by Sykes. Sykes’ failure to act promptly has lost them my goodwill as a customer. Unless resolved, I will escalate this through Trading Standards, my bank, and consumer protection channels.
Proceed with caution – their customer service systems ARE NON EXISTENT

We had a significant problem with our rented cottage, but the support and help from the lady in the Seahouses office made a world of difference in resolving the issue. I wish more holiday rental companies provided such good personal service

We have contacted Northumbria Coast & Country Cottages/Sykes on numerous occasions via WhatsApp, messages and telephone conversations, regarding The Boat House, Alnmouth.
We completed a form at the property, We popped into the Alnmouth office whilst there. We left feedback stating how cold the property was on arrival, to which the owners replied, they were sorry and could not understand why it was so cold, as it had been fully occupied.
In today's conversation with someone from Sykes cottages, we have learnt that the property had NOT been occupied for 3 weeks before we arrived and the owners had blocked the dates out.
We were very uncomfortable during our first couple of days stay and now we find out we were blatantly lied to.
Not a very good advert for Sykes cottages.

The property booked was nice, but the owners have lost interest. Bulbs missing, drawer knobs missing, inadequate glassware, ill-fitting sheets.
Sykes Customer Service was poor, they did not know the answer to my question, promised to phone back, and of course, no-one did.

Anyone using this company to book a holiday please be aware they remove any negative reviews on their website. I should have stayed at Swinhope View Hexham W/C 24th June. I tried unsuccessfully to transfer the dates. Even though the cottage was showing as available on the first occasion i had an email to say the owner had said no to the request. It was impossible to speak to anyone and I still have a text message from 18th June telling me someone would call me. No call ever came. I decided to try and transfer my holiday myself for the second time and I again picked a time showing available. I had an email on June 27th stating the owner wouldn't transfer the dates and my holiday would start on the 24th June . You couldn't make it up and I will never use this company or their owners Sykes again. Please be warned the reviews are not what they seem. I posted mine on Monday 1st July and it was removed after two days

They’ve been taken over by Sykes cottages so customer care is zero. Instead of a local number you now speak to a call centre in Chester but have virtually no chance of getting in contact with them. I rented through them and didn’t realise they’d been bought out by Sykes. They cancelled my booking 10 days before my holiday which is a common practice apparently. Used Northumbria cottages for years without a problem. Avoid at all costs. Worse than useless.

Up to now our experience of NCCC has been good but since being taken over by Sykes they seem to have gone down hill. There’s no personal service now and, for example, if you happen to leave something behind in a house, they are so unhelpful - and you don’t see it ever again. And our last experience of a house was that it was tired and a number of things just didn’t work. Very disappointing and not to be recommended.

We have booked with Nccc for many years and have previously enjoyed our stays and have always found the staff in the office helpful and friendly, unfortunately since the acquisition by Sykes all that has gone, the service is disgusting!
I previously left a review on their website regarding our disappointing stay in Seahouses in November 2023 and have since then been unable to get any help or an amicable resolution regarding our stay, in which four of our party left early due to the items I had raised in my review and subsequent complaint.
Every time you try and contact the Nccc office they just refer you to Sykes, who then can't or won't do anything about the matter,I asked to speak directly with Nccc but was told that now the office only deal with the property owners!!
What's even more annoying is that the concerns I'd raised have apparently been rectified,so obviously they were faulty:
A dodgy handrail on the staircase.
Obnoxious fumes coming into the property through the window, now vents have been installed to help with this.
Mould on the bed room walls, apparently treated and redecorated.
And still we haven't been contacted by Nccc, Sykes or the owner not even the decency of an apology or a amicable resolution.
They may have resolved the issue for future guests,but not with us!

Having used this company for decades I can speak from experience. This company has seriously gone downhill following acquisition by the Sykes group. If something goes wrong then as a customer you will be treated with total disregard.

3 trips to the local office whilst on holiday to report issues at a rental property, including 3 emails, no response.

letter sent to the directors of Sykes, finally got an unacceptable response, escalated and several phone calls made. Requested a manager to return my calls- no return call.

Avoid using this company at all costs, book at your peril.

Totally unimpressed with customer care and response to complaint re lack of Wi-Fi at property as was advertised( Rokeby Bamburgh). Our request that internet provider be contacted to check connection was totally ignored despite our assertions that the absence of Wi-Fi was not due to poor rural connection .We were fobbed off with ridiculous assertions that too many devices were in use whereas not even one device could be connected. E mails to customer complaints were not even acknowledged let alone dealt with. Literally banging head against a brick wall

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY OR SYKES COTTAGES. These companies left us for 6 out of the 7 days of our Christmas week holiday without heating and hot water! Horrendous customer care during the holiday, abysmally lacking in any form of professionalism, no apology given, no contact from any member of staff above a customer services assistant. It is shocking that they are allowed to walk away from their customer complaints shirking any kind of responsibility for their complete lack of customer care. If you experience any problems they are incapable of liaising within their own company, let alone sort our your problem! Their stock answer to dealing with your complaint is to give you the owners details and recommend taking legal action against them, even if the problem does not stem from the owner, but is due to NCCC and Sykes' woefully bad procedures in dealing with Property Management. Do owners who place their beautiful properties with them have any idea how guests in their properties are treated if they have an issue? Again, I say DO NOT RENT A HOLIDAY HOME FROM THIS COMPANY OR SYKES COTTAGES who recently acquired this 'local' company for their expertise, what expertise? Put them together and they are money grabbing numpties, stay away from them as you may end up having the holiday from hell!

New management. People are getting their bookings cancelled for fake reasons so they can put the houses back on the market again for much higher prices.

Last week we stayed in Apple Orchard House, High Buston near Alnmouth. We booked this through Northumbrian coast and country cottages. On arrival it was cold and raining outside on entering it was cold inside and the starter pack for the wood burner was not there. Sunday morning the 4 of us had a shower the last one was freezing cold. I phoned the owners who told me they were restricting the heating and hot water to 8-10 am 4-6 pm. This is not mentioned in any of the information that we received from NCCC and when visiting their office on Monday was told they did not agree with this but there was nothing they could do to help us. I am very disappointed with owners, the company and the CEO who as yet has failed to respond to my email to him. Not a holiday to remember.

Terrible cottage. Avoid at all costs.
Dirty, mould including black mould in bathroom, stinking shower drains. Disgusting.
No 4 St Mary’s Cottages, Low Newton is not recommended in any way.

We were due to holiday in August but had to cancel 2 days before as my husband contracted streptococcal pneumonia and should have been admitted to hospital. He had recently finished his chemotherapy and I wanted him to relax. Sent numerous emails to the company and called them several times. They refused to move my holiday to another date and wouldn't refund any money on the pretence that they couldn't re let the property. The service under the extenuating circumstances was horrendous. We will never use them again

I rented a cottage in Branton, which was really nice and in a lovely location, many hikes starting from the cottage. A nice touch was that there were recommended routes of varying difficulty in the information folder.

I have previously used Northumbria Coast and Country Cottages for cottages in Alnwick and always been happy.

One observation, they used to allow you to add on insurance against cancellation for a low price when you booked. This option is no longer available, you need separate cover or to take the risk.

I just wanted to share my recent experiences with NC as I don’t want anyone else to fall into the same trap. We booked the Two Castles cottage in Bamburgh in July. The location was great however the cottage/flat was not. On arriving at the property we noticed a lot of water damage on the ceilings and there was litter in two of the three bedrooms - not a great first impression. On the second or third day it rained - this is when our troubles began. The rain came straight through the ceiling and short circuited all the electrics. From then on we had intermittent problems with the lights and the fire alarm (the latter kept going off in the middle of the night). We had an electrician out three times to sort the issue but I suspect it’s a bigger job than a few quick fixes. We complained to NC and asked for our money back however it’s been over a month now and they won’t pick up the phone to us (strangely enough they will if you use someone else’s phone) and there has been no offer of compensation of any kind. Anyway I hope this has been useful to someone and you stay away from the Two Cottages - I’m sure their other cottages are lovely 😅

I stayed at Claremount in Alnmouth for the week beginning 12/03/22, I have rented from northumbria coast and country cottages previously and was more than happy with the properties I rented and the staff are very welcoming, helpful and friendly. I was born and brought up in the area and was home visiting family and celebrating a big birthday. Unfortunately the week at Claremount I was not happy with, what a lovely view in the pictures on the website, but when I arrived the windows were filthy and it was like looking through a fog. There has obviously been some historic damage in the property as the floors are badly uneven and there are many cracks in the walls, the wallpaper in the hallway is coming away from the walls, there is no soundproofing between the ground floor flat and the one above. The sofas are so old and uncomfortable to sit on and in such poor condition they are only fit for a skip, I ended up wirh lower back pain something I do not normally suffer from. I was very dissapointed that the company would risk their good reputation by having a property in such poor condition as this on their books.