The Old Barn, Farley, Staffordshire, ST10 3BQ

Firstly, a perfect place for a large family gathering; we could all eat together in the kitchen and there was ample space for relaxed evening seating and games in the evening, with outside

space to play garden games, too. Plenty of plates, dishes, cutlery, mugs and glasses which was a bonus, although there could be a better hob and oven, and oven dishes might be useful. Supermarklet delivery is simple to arrange in advance.

We all had a great time here, with no problems...and it was easy to relax with no worries about 'precious-looking ornaments' that might be damaged.

Ok, one might add that it is not in pristine condition throughout, but it's certainly sufficiently clean to have no worries staying...

Not worth the price when comparing to similar sized properties.

Positives: 5mins walk to Alton Towers. The beds and sofas are comfy.

Negatives:

Very unclean and dust everywhere. It is apparent the cleaners are not doing their job properly and the property itself needs a deep clean (I've seen this mentioned on prebious reviews). Mould around windows, sinks and showers. One of the bathrooms has its windows sealed shut and hence any smells or condensation cannot be let out.

Property itself needs redecorating and renovation including new kitchen furniture. Windows and front door do not lock properly and some can't be opened properly. Cupboards and furniture misaligned or falling e.g. kitchen cupboards and dining table.

Unclean utensils in kitchen cupboards e.g. an oven baking tray was covered in grease and clearly not washed properly.

Dining chairs do not fit the dining table properly i.e. too low down

Lack of small things like washing up cleaning sponge, soaps, etc.

When stripping the bed, noticed a boot mark on an underlying sheet and yellowing pillows.

Shower doors were loose and had to complain as they could have fallen off if our children were not careful with them.

Unsure how the property passes safety checks for example, light switch close to the shower, loose boiler cover.

No proper front drive. The front drive is a step covered by gravel which makes driving up it very difficult as the opening is narrow.

As mentioend, not worth the price compared to other similar sized properties I've rented. The owners clearly show no pride in maintaining the property and will definitely not be using this company again for rentals.

Totally agree with most recent review. Property dirty on arrival, we had to ring owner who came over and cleaned along with my husband and myself before the rest of our party arrived.Property advertised as been deep cleaned and arrival was 5pm to facilitate extra cleaning in the current covid pandemic. I pointed out many broken items,as we had to pay a �100 bond, but she said she was aware of them all... which begs the question why weren't they fixed. At �2011 I expected an outstanding luxury house as advertised. Would definately not recommended this property. such a shame as it could be lovely.

General Lack of kitchen equipment- no chopping board, no mats for the floor in bathrooms, furniture falling apart especially in the ground floor bedroom, no ventilation in the ground floor bedroom( no opening window and patio door locked shut with no handle) blinds didn?t all work, filthy in between cushions on sofa, windows filthy esp in the main bedroom, outside benches on their last legs, the tv in one of the bedrooms didn?t work, kitchen doors were hanging off, shower door was loose, toilet seat came off, the general cleanliness was poor.

Positives - it could be a lovely cottage if the above issues were improved, it was a good size and the outside space was lovely and an excellent location. We felt that for almost �2000 for a weeks stay that the standards would have been higher. We would not stay here again. We did request a fan when we arrived for the ground floor bedroom and the owner brought 2 over which was appreciated. Alton towers is literally on the door step and lots of places within a 30-40 min drive, we loved Matlock bath and Cannock chase.

At a cost of over �1800 for a week in August we arrived expecting to find as per the Sykes Cottages description 'first class accommodation'. From the outside the property looked promising BUT that's where it ended.

A large 5 bedroom property with just 1 smoke detector situated upstairs to me is a big safety problem but lets add that to this further compilation of unacceptables that make this property unworthy of it's description and cost.

The house was filthy with ingrained dirt from previous renters down to cobwebs inside next to the non existent door handle on the french doors in the downstairs bedroom.

There were cupboard and drawer doors hanging off and the downstairs toilet door wouldn't shut due to warping. 2 out of 3 toilet seats were ill fitting and slid around on sitting down. Bedroom blind strings were broken and repaired with bits of string, cord holders hanging off along with holes in the actual blinds. Black mildew in showers and at back of sinks. The duvets and pillows were obviously ancient being full of lumps with areas of nothing. The water boiler broke down and we had to wait most of day to be repaired, it turned very cold that week and we attempted to put heating on, it didn't work another day of waiting for repair and even then did not heat downstairs. Handle broken of upstairs bedroom with a scribbled note of apology so unable to open and let shower/bath steam out. Several ceiling light bulbs blown. The wood was rotten and falling apart on many of the window sills. Sitting room wooden coffee table had varnish peeling off with drink stains. One of the sofa arms was broken and hanging off with stuffing protruding. Although property description mentions open staircase there are other elements that make this property totally unsuitable for young children and toddlers and should be noted in description.

For a property advertising suitable for 12 people it's impossible to cook on the tiny electric hob along with 1 nonstick frypan large enough for only 2 eggs!!!!

All the above and more was related to Sykes Cottages who have been unforthcoming making the comment of 'if you'd let us know we would have got cleaners in'!!!!.....should at the cost we have been expected to have to do this? I gave them fair chance for a decent acknowledgement but have been ignored so compelling me to write this review.

Therefore I would suggest you do not waste your money by staying at this property or use Sykes Cottages.

Happy to provide numerous photos.

Wow. What a lovely place to stay. There was 12 off us. We never felt like we was on top off each other once. Lovely cottage everything you need is there. Lovely big court yard. We even watch the fireworks at Alton towers which the kids loved. Was great having 3 bath rooms too. I?m sure we will be back soon.

This house was a perfect base for visiting Alton Towers; closer to the gates than the resort hotels! It's spacious and great for large groups!

The description makes this house sound very grand and upmarket, but is in need of a deep clean, maintenance and attention to detail to live up to those expectations. For example there is no breakfast bar, no hairdryer or full length mirrors. The bathrooms were mouldy, one of the showers was stuck on scolding hot and a number of light bulbs were blown.

Being able to come home from Alton Towers for lunch and a little rest in the middle of the day is a revelation. The WiFi was decent and the kitchen well equipped.

I would stay here again next time a group of us want to visit AT.

We stayed at The Old Barn for a weekend to celebrate a very important birthday as a family, stretching over three generations, and it worked very well. The property is located nearly at the entrance of Alton Towers and you really would not know it. The bedrooms worked really well between the adults and children, clean and very comfortable. Everyone had good nights sleep and had more than enough room for 9 of us. We enjoyed the comfortable living room with space for all of us to enjoy, even the children on a very wet afternoon. A highlight for them was wa

We first chose this house because of it's closeness to Alton Towers, but it was so much more than that. It is a home from home. It has everything you could possible need for a 3 night stay or longer.

All the rooms are a good size and plenty big enough for the 3 generations that were in our party.

The kitchen is fully equipped, The pots and pans are big enough to be able to cook for a large number of people. A big farmhouse style table that was great for all to sit round and enjoy meals and chats. Plenty of crockery and glasses, (bit like being at home and m

We stayed at The Old Barn from 14th to 21st June 2013, I completed the feedack form and emailed Sykes Cottages with our complaints, although they acknowledged reciept, the advertising remains the same, I would hate others to be as disappointed as we were, so here goes. The Old Barn was advertised as being 'luxury' and 'stylish' and '4 Star' I would describe this as BASIC - VERY!

Here are just SOME of the issues we had with The Old Barn:-

First impressions, drive and garden overgrown and neglected.

Doors and entrances filthy, walls, paintwork etc in need pa