Donian
Hertfordshire | Couple
The holiday home was a new build in 2015 and thus everything is relatively new; it appears to have been designed with quality and a luxurious feel in mind, hence a premium rental cost of course. However, the outside woodwork is now looking tired and could do with a refresh of oil varnish to keep its luxury curb appeal appearance intact.
The location is very rural and thus quiet but it is not isolated as there are a handful of properties on the opposite side of the lane, as well as another holiday home [The Turkey House] at the rear of the property up about 10 steps from the side and then the farm itself beyond that. The parking location is up the steps and shared with the other holiday home; initially you do feel you’re parking in someone else’s driveway but it’s not an issue once you get used to it. There are some outside lights to the property and the parking area, as not surprisingly, there is no street lighting and so otherwise is very dark at night.
The rear garden also accessed by the steps and is on 3 levels and as such, each level is fairly small. Whilst it’s not a secure garden for dogs or young children, it could very easily be converted into a secure garden by installing a few gates and repairing the fence; perhaps this could be food for thought as a future enhancement to the property. There is a small selection of garden furniture; a table and chairs. It’s mainly laid to lawn and perhaps could be a little better maintained if I were being critical. The garden is not accessible for those with limited mobility, although there is a small patio by the street door which is accessible.
We were expecting some rural farm noises but the animals were obviously very well behaved as they hardly made a sound at all the entire 2 weeks. There is also a wide bridleway next to the holiday home leading to a small parking area to access the “Hangers”, as well as the farm and the other holiday home. It’s not busy by any measure but a surprising number of people, dogs, horses, cars, etc frequent the bridleway for such a rural location. Naturally, the owners also frequently visit their farm so some farm traffic is also present at times.
There is only 1 door to the property which is at the side [opposite to the bridleway], this is accessed from both the 10 steps at the side and/or the lane itself. From the lane, the door can also be accessed by a ramp so very helpful and accessible for those with limited mobility. Once inside, it was very clean and tidy, it’s an L shaped open planned lounge, diner and kitchen combined, all with a large tiled ground floor throughout. Off the lounge is the ground floor Double Bedroom, plenty of storage space for clothes, and a stylishly designed en-suite wet room, shaver point, lighted mirror. This contains a large and powerful shower. Again, this bedroom and en-suite would be accessible for those with limited mobility. The window has a roller blind but no cord to operate the blind. It should be noted that the en-suite shower is the only shower in the property, although there is a hand-held shower attachment to the bath upstairs in the family bathroom but that is not really a shower in the real meaning of taking a shower. Plenty of hot water throughout.
Generally the property has been well decorated in a neutral colour, although in some places the paintwork is showing signs of age, with scuff or grubby marks and other blemishes. As is some of the internal woodwork and wooden furniture, which in places could also do with a refresh of oil varnish to give it that “cared for” luxury look again. The open plan ground floor has a very large full-length window, so you are a little on display to those passing by and vice versa . There are no openable windows downstairs [except in the bedroom/en-suite] so it can get a little stuffy in warm weather.
It has a well-equipped kitchen with a good selection and quality appliances. The TV in the lounge is wall mounted and large, but disappointingly, it is not Smart so has no facility for iPlayer, Netflix, etc. Whereas the small TV in the main upstairs bedroom is Smart with iPlayer, etc. The Wi-Fi connection throughout is excellent but a mobile phone signal was difficult most of the time.
The stairs to the first floor are carpeted and there is a Velux skylight. Upstairs consists of a stylishly designed bathroom, shaver point, lighted mirror, roll top bath with handheld shower attachment, Velux skylight. There is a carpeted Twin bedroom with lots of clothes storage. The carpeted main double bedroom is fairly large with loads of storage space for clothes. The King size bed is very bouncy and comfortable. At some stage both the bedrooms have been tastefully decorated with window blinds but they have all broken and either now don’t operate at all or have been replaced with ill-fitting curtains.
Please don’t get this out of perspective or context but in my view, this is still a very nice holiday property but needs a little TLC here and there if it’s to continue to be described as a 5 star “exceptional with a degree of luxury” accommodation, where of course a premium rental price is paid and thus a higher level of quality is expected.
Hope this helps potential renters, and helps to keep/improve the standard originally set.
The holiday home was a new build in 2015 and thus everything is relatively new; it appears to have been designed with quality and a luxurious feel in mind, hence a premium rental cost of course. However, the outside woodwork is now looking tired and could do with a refresh of oil varnish to keep its luxury curb appeal appearance intact.
The location is very rural and thus quiet but it is not isolated as there are a handful of properties on the opposite side of the lane, as well as another holiday home [The Turkey House] at the rear of the property up about 10 steps from the side and then the farm itself beyond that. The parking location is up the steps and shared with the other holiday home; initially you do feel you’re parking in someone else’s driveway but it’s not an issue once you get used to it. There are some outside lights to the property and the parking area, as not surprisingly, there is no street lighting and so otherwise is very dark at night.
The rear garden also accessed by the steps and is on 3 levels and as such, each level is fairly small. Whilst it’s not a secure garden for dogs or young children, it could very easily be converted into a secure garden by installing a few gates and repairing the fence; perhaps this could be food for thought as a future enhancement to the property. There is a small selection of garden furniture; a table and chairs. It’s mainly laid to lawn and perhaps could be a little better maintained if I were being critical. The garden is not accessible for those with limited mobility, although there is a small patio by the street door which is accessible.
We were expecting some rural farm noises but the animals were obviously very well behaved as they hardly made a sound at all the entire 2 weeks. There is also a wide bridleway next to the holiday home leading to a small parking area to access the “Hangers”, as well as the farm and the other holiday home. It’s not busy by any measure but a surprising number of people, dogs, horses, cars, etc frequent the bridleway for such a rural location. Naturally, the owners also frequently visit their farm so some farm traffic is also present at times.
There is only 1 door to the property which is at the side [opposite to the bridleway], this is accessed from both the 10 steps at the side and/or the lane itself. From the lane, the door can also be accessed by a ramp so very helpful and accessible for those with limited mobility. Once inside, it was very clean and tidy, it’s an L shaped open planned lounge, diner and kitchen combined, all with a large tiled ground floor throughout. Off the lounge is the ground floor Double Bedroom, plenty of storage space for clothes, and a stylishly designed en-suite wet room, shaver point, lighted mirror. This contains a large and powerful shower. Again, this bedroom and en-suite would be accessible for those with limited mobility. The window has a roller blind but no cord to operate the blind. It should be noted that the en-suite shower is the only shower in the property, although there is a hand-held shower attachment to the bath upstairs in the family bathroom but that is not really a shower in the real meaning of taking a shower. Plenty of hot water throughout.
Generally the property has been well decorated in a neutral colour, although in some places the paintwork is showing signs of age, with scuff or grubby marks and other blemishes. As is some of the internal woodwork and wooden furniture, which in places could also do with a refresh of oil varnish to give it that “cared for” luxury look again. The open plan ground floor has a very large full-length window, so you are a little on display to those passing by and vice versa . There are no openable windows downstairs [except in the bedroom/en-suite] so it can get a little stuffy in warm weather.
It has a well-equipped kitchen with a good selection and quality appliances. The TV in the lounge is wall mounted and large, but disappointingly, it is not Smart so has no facility for iPlayer, Netflix, etc. Whereas the small TV in the main upstairs bedroom is Smart with iPlayer, etc. The Wi-Fi connection throughout is excellent but a mobile phone signal was difficult most of the time.
The stairs to the first floor are carpeted and there is a Velux skylight. Upstairs consists of a stylishly designed bathroom, shaver point, lighted mirror, roll top bath with handheld shower attachment, Velux skylight. There is a carpeted Twin bedroom with lots of clothes storage. The carpeted main double bedroom is fairly large with loads of storage space for clothes. The King size bed is very bouncy and comfortable. At some stage both the bedrooms have been tastefully decorated with window blinds but they have all broken and either now don’t operate at all or have been replaced with ill-fitting curtains.
Please don’t get this out of perspective or context but in my view, this is still a very nice holiday property but needs a little TLC here and there if it’s to continue to be described as a 5 star “exceptional with a degree of luxury” accommodation, where of course a premium rental price is paid and thus a higher level of quality is expected.
Hope this helps potential renters, and helps to keep/improve the standard originally set.
Published on: 2022-06-01