Staycotswold Reviews 36

Very disappointing experience with StayCotswolds, particularly their customer service.

The property we booked was advertised as the “perfect place for a romantic getaway,” but in reality there was an occupied annex directly beneath the accommodation causing noise disturbance, and it was positioned right beside the main driveway and gate, so it did not feel private as implied.

When I raised this as a formal complaint, StayCotswolds refused to offer any compensation and hid behind their terms and conditions. Communication was slow, dismissive, and ultimately unhelpful.

Based on my experience, once they have your money, do not expect them to take responsibility or resolve issues fairly.

I had the misfortune to book a property with this appalling and rude company. I was asked to pay for the property in cash at their Stowe office. I do not live in the UK or have a bank account. The owner Fergus Mitchell questioned my honesty and motive for renting the property. In 40 years of travelling and renting properties I have never been treated in such a disrespectful manner. I would strongly advise anyone thinking of staying in the Cotswold to avoid this company.

Avoid booking through this company. They use the ‘non refundable’ element of the booking to extort further fees from you. I was left with the choice of either not attending a £566 two night stay in the accommodation or to pay £80 fee for my dogs. They hid pet terms in the fine print and doubled the cost from £40 to £80 claiming it would be “double the cleaning” for two dogs. I wonder what they charge for big dogs?
They also attempted to take the funds from my card without authorisation which I found rather unusual.

Really soured my surprise for my pregnant wife’s birthday which they seemed completely immune to.

Their reply implies they encourage you to read the terms, but they use misleading terms like “pets” plural and they hide the fees in the legal terms section rather than displaying it in the many areas of the landing page where they could advertise the cost for bringing dogs.
They also say fees “may be applicable” to add ambiguity, I can now see this is deliberate.
I asked them politely to let me out of the reservation so I could go elsewhere, but they chose instead to extort £80 for the dogs in a venue advertised as pet friendly. I have even offered to pay £40 for both dogs and this too has been declined so far.

Avoid StayCotswold – Worst Experience Ever
I booked The Roost through StayCotswold for a peaceful countryside break, but what I got was the complete opposite. From the moment I arrived, the property was surrounded by active roadworks, heavy machinery, barriers, and constant drilling noise. It was unsafe to walk my dogs, impossible to park as advertised, and I was effectively trapped indoors. None of this was disclosed before booking, despite their pre-arrival email promising free on-street parking and easy access.
To make matters worse, the local pub and café – key reasons I chose this property – were closed for refurbishment, again without any prior notice. The property itself had issues, including a leaking toilet, adding to the stress.
When I raised these concerns, the company’s response was dismissive and completely lacking in empathy. They refused a refund, hiding behind terms and conditions, despite clear breaches of consumer protection obligations. Their communication was rude and unhelpful, and they showed zero accountability for the misleading information provided.
This stay left me more stressed than before I arrived. StayCotswold is the most unpleasant, unprofessional company I have ever dealt with. They do not care about their guests, and the owner was equally indifferent. If you value honesty, safety, and basic customer service, avoid StayCotswold at all costs.

I’d give zero stars if I could

Reply

Thank you for your response. However, I must clarify that at no point was any care shown during this situation.

The property manager arrived abruptly and before your email was even received, interrupting an important work call and giving me no time whatsoever to secure my dogs, who naturally began barking due to the unannounced visit. This was entirely avoidable and showed a complete lack of consideration.

Regarding the roadworks, your cleaner would have clearly seen them, and I have since confirmed that official notice was issued to residents back in November, which is also publicly available online. To suggest that no one was aware shows a lack of accountability.

The interactions throughout this process have been unpleasant and unnecessarily rude, resulting in a significant waste of my time and money. Your response does not reflect the reality of how the situation was handled

I would not recommend this company at all, stayed for a 3 week break with friends in December, when we arrived at the property it was filthy, there were dead wood lice in all the bedrooms, the main shower upstairs was disgustingly full of mould, and couldn’t be used, the whole house needed a good clean, the downstairs toilet wasn’t working, there was big stains all over the carpets, all the surfaces in the kitchen where disgusting, the table in the lounge was covered in sticky stuff,and the fireplace hadn’t even been cleaned, there was nothing for us to burn on the fire, we had to go out and get our own firelighters as there was nothing to light the fire with.

I have been going to the Cotswolds for many years and have never experienced anything like it, I have put a complaint forward but they only seem to pass it on and say it’s down to the owners, and they only advertise the property, I sent photos over not heard anything back, but I paid them and booked it with stay Cotswold, the cottage wasn’t fit for living in.

My friends and I will never book with this company again, it ruined our Christmas break. Your reply is also not accurate because everything was reported to the manager, company is a disgrace please do not book either these people, they also tell lies

We stayed at The Old Stables at Broadwell Manor. The transaction was seamless from booking the stay till checking out of the property. The property was in a perfect location for everything we had planned. The Fox Inn, was a couple of minutes walk away, and a perfect cozy pub. Top service and communication from StayCotswold - would highly recommend using their service over other platforms. 5 stars 🌟

I arranged a last-minute trip to Stow-on-the-Wold to visit family and booked the Cosy Cross Keys cottage on 4 November. However, on 7 November—nine days before my stay was due to begin—I received an email from StayCotswold informing me that my booking had been cancelled by the owner without any explanation.

After requesting clarification, I was told there had been an overlap between my reservation and the owner’s need to block the property for maintenance. When I contacted the owner directly, I was informed that the cancellation was due to Christmas decorations being installed throughout the week. I was also told that, because I had only booked a few days earlier, cancelling the reservation “wasn’t an issue.” Although the owner offered a 15% discount on alternative dates—which I appreciated—it was ultimately unhelpful, as my arrangements were already in place and the experience left me unwilling to rebook.

StayCotswold did provide five alternative property suggestions; however, three did not accept dogs, and none were located in Stow, so the options were not particularly suitable.

In addition to the cancellation issues, I discovered that a £250 security deposit had been reserved on my payment card on 10th November AFTER the booking was cancelled, which took 10 days to be released back on my card.

I also experienced problems during the initial booking process. When I first attempted to book the cottage online on the evening of 3 November, I immediately received a cancellation email despite the payment being taken. I submitted an online enquiry and waited for a response, but by midday the next day I had heard nothing. When I called StayCotswold, the representative mentioned he had seen my email that morning, which raised the question of why no one had contacted me. They proceeded to confirm the booking, and payment was processed but maybe I should have taken this as a sign that the booking was not going to be successful.

Overall, the experience was disappointing and fell well short of the communication, reliability, and professionalism I would expect.

Would 100% NOT recommend this company!!! We booked a 3 night stay with them to a property that stated it had an enclosed garden as we were taking our small dog. We arrived to find this was not the case, so we left. Contacted StayCotswolds who were totally uninterested, and frankly quite rude. Thankfully, after submitting countless emails to them, I contacted my credit card company and they reimbursed me. Rude company, never again will I book with them - be warned.

We have recently enjoyed a fabulous few days at this most stylish and exquisite property- Gislebertus House in the centre of Stow-on-the-Wold.
It has been beautifully decorated and furnished by an Interior designer, with 2 bedrooms, both with ensuite bathrooms - including bath and shower in each, also
luxurious bathrobes and towels were provided.

Although an apartment concept all on one level, it is amazingly spacious with high ceilings, very modern comfortable furnishings and thoughtful touches such as a games table and bar!
The kitchen is incredibly well equipped for any length of stay.
Everything about this property is exceedingly stunning, spotless and such a pleasure to spend time in.
We popped into the offices of StayCotwold with an enquiry and to register our delight in staying at such a gorgeous property.
It appears the the property is currently For Sale and so future bookings may or may not be forthcoming.
However, we shall stay in contact in this regard, as we would very much like to return to this beautiful place.
Judith & Geoff

I had the misfortune to stay at Cub Cottage from the 6th of October. We booked for 4 nights but left after the 3rd. The cottage needed a good clean - living room and kitchen particularly. It was impossible to set the clock on the Rangemaster, so couldn’t use main ovens. Biggest issue was the noise the radiators made through the night. So bad we couldn’t sleep. The path from “garden” area is completely overgrown and impossible to use as a shortcut to the car park.
I made Kevin (he manages some properties) and Staycotswolds aware of the issues and all they do is re-iterate that they are not authorised to make decisions regarding compensation. So, 3 weeks later I’m still waiting to be contacted by the owner.
Terrible customer service.

Having used Stay Cotswold a few times previously we rebooked a cottage we've stayed in before.
Only when trying to book local restaurants and pubs we found it was the same week as the Stow Horse Fair.
When finding this out we tried to change our booking. The customer service was terrible, there were no options to amend the booking, to change dates or anything. The staff could not care less and did not seem to think it was an issue. Their attitude was terrible. We were told theres some small print which states this, but it needs to be more obvious and as stated, we stayed before so why would we re-read all of this info.
Safe to say we will not be using them again.

Good communication from Stay Cotswolds
Beautiful Greenview Cottage in Little Barrington,
Problem with oven door not closing properly, had to prop chair against it. Power cut for whole day, no note left. Guest unable to get online to work.
Broken blind in bedroom, left on floor. No kindling or firelighters left as stated. Enjoyed stay nonetheless.

Stayed The Farmhouse, Aston Somerville, 4th August 2025.

We were a bit concerned that a property that always seemed well booked only has 5 reviews on the Staycotswold site for 2025. When you try to review on their site you realise why. Reviews are by invite only and if they think you have had any issues then you don't make the invite list! My advice is don't believe review scores on their site while they continue to adopt this dishonest practice which keeps review scores misleadingly higher. Hence this review on google and trust-pilot (where they hope nobody notices!).

Upon arrival it appeared the cottage hadn't been cleaned as there were stains on the kitchen floor, food crumbs on the work surfaces and generally a bit dusty in most rooms. We checked with the owner who assured us it had been cleaned so we just accepted we had different ideas on cleanliness and gave it a clean ourselves. This was after we had purchased our own anti-bac wipes, jay cloths and washing up sponges. There was 1 jay cloth and 1 washing up sponge provided but they were disgusting and went in the bin. The untidy utility room has cupboards jammed with items but we couldn't find any of the above.

I appreciate that Staycotswold aren't responsible for the properties but they are marketing them and should be responsible for the pictures on their website which are obviously out of date.

Starting from the outside the pictures show a nice carport and parking for 4 or 5 cars. The carport has been boarded off and used to store what i assume is the owners junk which obviously limits parking to 2 or 3 cars. The window frames are in desperate need of refurbishment and the bolts on the main doors don't match up and can't be used. It will take you a while to work out the keys as the locks are fiddly.

The pictures also fail to show-
A cluttered kitchen with hardly any space on the work surfaces, who needs 4 coffee machines especially as only 1 is usable with a couple of pods provided. The cupboards are full of items you won't need including food items obviously left by other guests, some of which are out of date.
The garden is generally untidy with the bottom part being unusable and overgrown with nettles.
The utility room is really untidy with items such as a hoover just stacked in the corner. Not sure of the point of the pool table with the ripped cloth stacked in the other corner. There isn't enough room to play and it's too heavy to carry anywhere else.
The living room is OK but could do with a new TV stand to replace the one that is falling apart.
The upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms appeared cleaner (barring the stain in the roll top bath left by the greasy head of a previous guest) but there are no dressing tables, TV's or drawers in the bedrooms. Just a wardrobe in the main bedrooms which is propped up with wooden blocks to combat the really uneven floors. There is also a tasteful elastic band holding up the shower head in the main en suite.
Plus points include lovely views from the back terrace although take sun cream as there is no shade/umbrella. Also some nice touches with flowers, alcohol and a food hamper although only use the items in the hamper or you will have to send it back or pay £50 for another one LOL.

A mug got broken in the dishwasher so we were charged £18.50 to replace it! It will look a bit out of place next to most of the other chipped mugs. A bit of a sore point seeing as we spent more than this amount on cleaning items plus our first hour cleaning the kitchen.

Unfortunately disappointed on the whole with our 4 night stay, although not all bad, it wasn't good value for the price paid.

We have stayed in cottages in the Broadway area for several years but wouldn't book with Staycotswold again. Previously we have stayed in cottages run by hotels such as The Fish and the Broadway Hotel. They are immaculate and cleaned to hotel standards. These types of rental companies bind you to the owners standards so will not always suit.

An honest review but looking forward to the usual Staycotswold defensive reply denying all of the above!

We stayed at Nepenthe in Stow on the Wold. First impressions were good, bed linen excellent quality. However in the kitchen which has a tiled floor & also living room floor which is wooden, we kept finding our footprints everywhere! There was a mat at the back door and a mat leading into the kitchen from the living room. They were both saturated with water. There was literally a trail of water carrying them outside. Where we left them to dry. There was a further large mat in the living room which was also half wet. Not sure what had gone on here, but having to mop up water off a floor is not a good start to the holiday. The recycling bin in the kitchen was full, along with one of the bedrooms that also had not had the bin emptied. Tiny garden needs some TLC, not a fan of baskets with dead foliage in them. Could not find a key to open side gate to put the recycling and bin out. However on the Thursday of our stay two people came walking up the entrance which was accessible by the side gate, to do some gardening for next door. These people obviously had a key, it would have been polite to knock on the door instead of giving us a fright through the kitchen window. Parking is a nightmare. Apart from this Stow is a lovely place.

I would not recommend Walltree House to anyone, especially dog owners. The listing was incredibly misleading and full of hidden fees. Although it clearly stated that three dogs were included in the price, we were later told they weren’t and charged an outrageous £160. This kind of pricing feels deliberately deceptive.

The house itself was not dog-friendly at all. There were no carpets, which meant our dogs were slipping constantly on the hard floors. This could easily lead to injury. If you’re travelling with pets, this place is absolutely unsuitable.

To top it off, the WiFi signal was extremely poor throughout the property, making it difficult to stay connected or plan activities.

Overall, a very disappointing experience. The property listing is inaccurate, the charges are unreasonable, and the house is unsafe for pets. Proceed with caution.

WOULD NOT RECOMMEND
We stayed at walltree house,
Steane NN13 5NS.
This stay was very poor starting off with the bed being broken, bathroom door trim was snapped, screws risen on floor boards, wasp nest outside bedroom window not allowing any air ventilation causing a very uncomfortable sleep the description on the house states that it is dog friendly but the garden is not enclosed and stairs have no carpet causing the dogs to slip and fall multiple times luckily no injuries were caused. Overall I’m not very happy with my stay at the walltree house and will not be visiting again.

The advert clearly stated the price included dogs however after the stay we got charged extra, I’m very disappointed with my stay at the walltree house at staycotswold.

Avoid this company if you possibly can and their properties. I booked one of their properties in April 2025 for a walking holiday called the Pool House in the Cotswolds via Airbnb.
All went smoothly at the beginning and they were very efficient. A few weeks in the owner said a neighbouring property was having a party and I might be disturbed by the noise. There is a law in England about noise after a certain time so I said fine these are the only dates I can do, I want this house, the area to go walking in and there is no other house nearby which is similar. I was then relentlessly harassed about my decision until I stopped answering their messages. Today they cancelled the booking!! Shame on the owners of the Pool House, shame on Staycotswold and shame on Airbnb!

Please everyone read the NUMEROUS one star reviews and avoid this company.

Our stay at Owls Roost in the Cotswolds, managed by StayCotswold Ltd, was extremely disappointing. On our first night, we experienced a complete power failure that lasted into the late morning. We were advised after we left the property that had it been fixed. This is a substantial property that is run off of a spare from the owners house as opposed to having its own supply.

With family arriving and a fridge full of perishable food, the lack of electricity was a major issue. We had no heating, and despite contacting the owner multiple times, we were met with no information about the cause of the failure and no clear indication of when or if it would be fixed.

StayCotswold Ltd's response was equally frustrating. Instead of providing any type of solution, they were very rude and suggested we put a log on the fire to stay warm. The property itself was nothing like the pictures—very rundown and poorly maintained. We had specifically asked about the hot tub and were assured it would be available, but it was freezing cold and unusable despite our efforts to heat it.

With no other accommodation available, we had no choice but to check out the following day, losing hundreds of pounds in the process. We intend to take legal action to recover our money, as StayCotswold Ltd has shown no responsibility for the issues we faced. The owner offered us a refund of a partial day rate which is wholly unacceptable and inadequate.

I dare say that the typical response will follow to this from StayCotswold Ltd. I’ve no intention of reading it but would highly recommend you avoid this company and any of the properties that they rent out.

Our stay at Lower Barn, Chipping Norton was excellent. Beautiful cottage very near High Street, so can walk everyone. Stylishly decorated and all furnuture to a high standard. Nice welcome pack and the People who manage the property were great. Had 2 issues that were dealt with quickly. A nice base to explore the area. Has 1 parking space which is a bit tight if the space next to it is occupied, but a small inconvenience. We spent 28 nights there and loved the Barn and the area. Stay Cotswold were very informative and helpful.