Rookwoods, Yeldham Road, Sible Hedingham, Halstead, Essex, CO9 3QG

Our first day of a five day stay was completely ruined as the log fire did not work, there wasn't heating in the main bedroom and the WiFi wasn't working! Worse still, Sandra Robinson, the owner, refused to take phone was eventually calls and would only text which was very inconvenient and inhospitable. To my shock, I found out the next day that she was holidaying in South Africa and had not even bothered to delegate hosting to her housekeeper/someone else in her absence!

As a result, we tried calling and texting at 6.30pm on Day 1, but did not get any 'help' until 8.30am the next morning (a very brief and unhelpful text message from an owner too busy holidaying to worry about our plight).

By this time, my vulnerable, heavily pregnant wife, who suffers from sinus issues and is used to very warm rooms, had to sleep in a cold room we weren't able to enjoy even the basic amenity of Wifi and watching a movie on Netflix. We would have been 100X better off staying home!!!

When we text back to explain she hadn't solved the problems, she took another 4 hours to reply!

Claire, the housekeeper, eventually arrived in the afternoon of Day 2. She couldn't solve the kindling issue. It was only after we rang around friends to get ideas and suggested getting firelighter cubes that we were able to finally get the fire going at 3pm.

Claire was brilliant. She would answer the phone and respond to messages within minutes. She fixed the Wifi, got us an electric heater for the bedroom, etc. She was the hostess Sandra should have been and salvaged the rest of our stay.

Naturally we demanded a refund for our completely wasted and stressful first day and night when the owner was not available and was not able to solve our problems until well into Day 2.

To our utter shock, she point blank refused to issue a refund, sufficing with the briefest and most indifferent of apologies ('I'm sorry for your trouble but...').

We were equally disappointed with Sykes who refused to refund from their ample coffers and don't even have the power to enforce a refund in such circumstances (even when their agents sympathetically agreed with us that the owner ought to refund). Pathetic.

In 20 years of regular cottage holidays, I've never experienced such negligence or indifference from the owner or company. I just hope this review will warm holiday goers to steer away from Sandra Robinson, and I hope Sykes revise their ridiculous policies on this issue. They're more than happy to profit from our bookings, but stingily avoid responsibility when the holiday goes horribly wrong.

The cottage is everything we hoped for - comfortable beds, nice furnishing, a perfectly adequate kitchen and generally a lovely and cosy space. However, the real treat is the garden, which is very large and secure making it ideal for our puppy. The garden faces woods and fields - the sun setting directly facing it. Walking past the beautiful listed house and stables is a pleasure. There's a woodland walk just round the corner - the owner seems perfectly pleasant. We hope to return soon.

Weekend breakaway with our dog ... Arrived late afternoon. The sign to the entrance road was missed, it's very small and faded. On entrance into the cottage first thoughts "oh this is lovely", ok so it's January you expect it to be a little chilly, we were advised that fuel for the log fire was available in the cottage, logs plentiful for a day, but with no kindling to light the logs ?. There was one wall mounted heater that despite its best efforts was not sufficient .. Needless to say back into the car in search of kindling to get fire started. More logs available from owner at extra price. Underfloor heating in bathrooms .. Yes ... We took the duvets from upstairs bedrooms for added warmth overnight as no other form of heating main bedroom. With the beautiful surrounds, it was a shame we could not wander around ... But if you take your dog the back garden Is the only place they can go, or a quick on the leash march through the owners land. It's not really the ideal place to take your dog unless you are prepared to drive out ... It may have been better in the warmer months, but way too cold to stay during winter with inadequate heating .. Needless to say we left a day early as was spending a small fortune on log fire

Beautiful main ensuite bedroom with under floor heating. Very comfy beds in both rooms. Shower room and boot room also have underfloor heating. Cottage comfortably warm, we didn't need to light the fire. Hairdryer in the drawer was a nice touch but difficult to use as it has a continental plug. Kitchen poorly equipped with unmatched crockery. Only one sharp knife. Nearly useless tin opener. A soup plate cracked when we put soup in it. A casserole dish would be a good addition. There is a microwave but not simple to use. Hardly any cupboard space and fridg

We had a nic Easter week at Rookwoods with a family of four (with two kids aged 9 + 11). The scenery was very quiet as the house is on the edge of the little town of Sible Heddingham and dthe garden looked into the countryside.

We could park our car in front of the house - no problem.

The kitchen equipment was OK - less than you have at home, but normal for a rented cottage I assume.

The only strange thing to us was that we never got to know the owner, although she seems to live on the same property...

Whilst this looks to be a lovely cottage it did not live up to the write up in Sykes brochure. There was no microwave, a rotten bench was all that consisted of the so called garden furniture. It sleeps 4 yet had only 6 wire coat hangers, and no attention to detail for example no matching chinaware, not even any place mats, settee was old and worn out. I could go on, but to put the positive side the bed was comfortable and the two bathrooms lovely, and has nice views. We had to cut our stay short as to get to and from property meant passing owners lar