Southrepps Lodge, Top Road, Southrepps, Norfolk, NR11 8XB

I am excecising my right to respond on feedback left my a previous guest.

My name is Julie, I look after the lodge for the owner.

All was well when I greeted the guests following their arrival. The heating was working. The first I knew of any problems was the next morning. I attended the property in person. I sorted out the water system problem immediately. This was because I had had a new radiator and shower head fitted prior to their stay and the plumbers had omitted to turn the cold water valve on.I tried to resolve the heating problem by overiding the system. This didn?t work so I contacted our heating engineer. He responded and resolved the problem within 2 hours. I knew nothing about the leak in the utility room until I read the feedback. This has now been resolved. Caused by a slipped tile on the roof. In 3 years of trading, no one has complained about the ?dangerous? stairs. These are clearly shown in the photographs of the house on the website. The house is nearly 200years old. The bannisters may be wobbly but they are safe and as far as I know are original to the house. I seem to remember apologising in advance about the flies. These are again part of an old building. Every old house in this area suffers from cluster flies in early autumn. I have had pest control around in the past but there is nothing can be done. As the kettle had been recently pat tested, I presumed it was working. This has now been disposed of. Heating in snooker room?.no mention during their stay or else I would have rectified it. As your holiday was for 7 days you had ample time to contact me about these problems instead of complaining after departure. All guests know I am very accessible as I live close by. Toys and games are just a courtesy. 2 toys had batteries, only one needed new ones, the other had to be switched on underneath The problems were beyond my control and not predictable. All electrics, heating etc are checked yearly but problems do occur just like any house which is continuously used. As Far as I?m concerned I attended to all the maintainence issues within a couple of hours or so, which given it was a Saturday, I think is acceptable

I feel quite upset that she failed to mention that the problems mentioned were fixed swiftly and efficiently. I live nearby and I am very accessible and responsive should guests need me during my stay

The people who have stayed since Mrs Bowles have all loved the house and had no complaints. In fact, last weeks guests left 100% feedback and have rebooted for next year!

Julie Stevens Property Manager Sykes Cottages

This house could be amazing but sadly it is marred by lack of maintenance and lack of cleaning. We had no heating in most of the house and no cold water on the top floor for the first day. The heating engineer who came out to fix the boiler must be a frequent visitor as he knew where the boiler was! The fuses kept tripping (usually at night and no torch to see to reset). The bedrooms on the top floor had loads of flies - both dead and alive and we had to move one of the beds as dead flies dropped down onto the pillows. The whole house needs a desperate clean, there was loads of rubbish as well as dirt behind and under every bit of furniture. We also had to wash loads of crockery and glasses before we could use them. Water gets into the utility when it rains. We paid extra for use of the snooker table but there is no heating in the annex where it is located so too cold to play most of the time.

On the plus side, the bedding and towels are very good quality.