The Maltings, Blackbridge Road, Freshwater, Isle of Wight, PO40 9QJ

Nice, spacious cottage, well located with Freshwater bay just 5 minute walk, or lots of walks available in countryside.

whilst we didn't have great weather, the outdoor decking area to front of house was a nice suntrap, ideal for eating breakfast peacefully in morning. We chatted to the neighbours several times who were very friendly and gave good suggestions on places to visit, beach tide times etc

I disagree with some of the other reviews, the cottage certainly wasn't 'dirty', but probably could just do with a deep clean of less obvious places such as under furniture, inside cupboards etc.

I did find it a bit odd that several cupboards, drawers etc appeared full of personal possessions, particularly kitchen. Suggests the cottage is 'lived in' for a portion of the year. We were left unclear if such items were left for use by us. Perhaps a good de-clutter of cupboards and drawers would be good.

Both bathrooms/showers worked well with excellent hot water. Downstairs shower room, turning the head slightly away from the door prevents the water escaping all over the bathroom door, as we discovered over course of the week.

Overall, a really nice, spacious cottage suitable for a family of six

only 4 reviews of this property and none since 2018, so here is an update.

first some positives - the parking issue has been fixed by the creation of a parking space at the front of the house. the location remains excellent with the beach a short walk away, as is the excellent Piano Bar and the local shop. Freshwater village and other beaches are a short drive. On arrival, the new dishwasher didn't work, but was fixed a few days later (no cutlery tray though)

But many of the observations elsewhere are still valid. The house does need a proper deep clean, both to remove dust/dirt but also to help air the property. The downstairs shower is excellent, but in desperate need of a shower curtain. the bath mat was constantly soaked.

The main bedroom bed is simply not fit for purpose - a very thin mattress and a noisy spring bed everytime one of you moved. A new bed would have made all the difference. The upstairs doors all squeak, as we found out during the night - a simple dab of WD40 should fix this. the red sofa in the lounge really needs replacing and the DVD remote control is still missing. (see feb 17 review)

this property could be so much better with some major (deep clean/new bed/new sofa) and some minor (shower curtain / replace the missing DVD control !! / WD40 on the doors) tweeks.

hopefully any review next year will show some progress.

I have just returned from staying at this accommodation - we were a group of four.

At first glance we were very pleased with Location and the accommodation.

Location was ok, it was quiet and within reach of Freshwater bay, Freshwater village and local shop was approx 20 mins walk away.(only mins in car)

There is plenty of space, towels were ok (beach towels were also included )

The patio at front was a good use of space as the space at back was for your car only. Fresh flowers were a nice touch. Beds comfortable. Main bedroom had en suite. The other t

We should have followed our first instincts and turned straight around and gone home. After complaining to Sykes Cottages we got ?100 compensation. This was such a disappointing holiday. The house could be lovely but has been left to moulder (literally, in the case of the lean to, downstairs bathroom). The stair carpets and two small bedroom carpets were badly moth-eaten. The cobwebs in the hallway and downstairs bathroom (around the toilet) were hanging with dust. Over ten pieces of crockery were badly chipped, and others were cracked. there was opened pack

Apart from the odd blip in directions to get there and park, the service was very helpful. We really loved the space, even though weather not good enough to use the patio. Location was perfect as we could reach everywhere without having to use the car. Pity we only had one bicycle with us!

The fixtures and fittings,carpets and furniture were worn and dirty. There was open packets of food left in the cupboards and fridge/freezer, mouldy vegetables in the vegetable rack. Most of the crockery was still in the dishwasher when we arrived and most of the kitchen utensils, cooking pans, oven and work surfaces needed cleaning before we could use them. There were no towels on our arrival and the barbecue was missing. We enjoyed the Isle of Wight but we would not stop here again.