I had very mixed feelings about this property...

Let me start with the pros:

- Great layout

- Kitchen very well stocked with utensils, cooking equipment, a good size fridge, and great coffee / tea maker

- Comfortable bed

- Decent shower with good pressure

- Great to have the added extra's like TV, WiFi, outdoor area & BBQ as well as laundry facilities

- Good location to the town (10 min drive), close by grocery store and take out’s

Now the cons:

- Its right alongside the highway, meaning it is EXTREMELY noisy at night with or without the window open. I eventually bought earplugs (I guess I should have reviewed the EXACT location of the house more closely, so this is my bad).

- There is a street light that shines directly into the bedroom and no blackout curtains to compensate meaning it’s never fully dark in the room.

- The a/c unit in the room is like having a generator running i.e. again if you want a good night’s sleep you can’t have this on. Having the window open is not an option as it’s even noisier from the passing traffic. I reported the a/c issue to the rental company who in turn reported it to the owners, and the owner’s only response was, “Oh we’ve never had a report like this before”. No attempts on their part to send someone to look at it. The rental company, however, very kindly loaned me their office fan so there was at least some air circulating through the room.

- I found it really, really odd that on arrival there were half used bottles of toiletries in the shower, half used (and outdated) condiments, sauces and wines in the fridge and clothes and shoes in the wardrobe. I get this is someone’s house, but I’ve used vacation rentals before and never experienced this. Every other rental we have arrived at, has been immaculate with no trace of prior occupants (be it owner or tenant), and they have not looked as if the owners had to vacate in a hurry and didn’t have time to tidy up their belongings. Does not make for a very welcoming / homely feel.

We chose this property as we wanted a self-catering facility and somewhere “homely” where we could unwind and relax for four nights, but in hindsight I wish we had stayed at one of the motels in town. So despite some excellent pros, would I stay here again or recommend this property? Sadly not.