Sykes Cottages Reviews

Name: Sykes Cottages
Address: Sykes Holiday Cottages Lime Tree House Hoole Lane, Chester
Rating: 1.20

1.2 Rating 1,536 Reviews

4 %

of reviewers recommend Sykes Cottages

Company Reviews

Metrics

1.2

Based on 1,536 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult
Returns Process	Could Be Better

Location:

Sykes Holiday Cottages Lime Tree House Hoole Lane
Chester
CH2 3EG

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Sykes Cottages 1 star review on 27th January 2025

Anonymous

Sykes Cottages 1 star review on 17th November 2024

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Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

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“If I could give 0 stars I would. Awful customer service and extremely unhelpful. What a shame they have the monopoly on what appears to be all holiday lets in the Lake District. I think it is case of they are so big they really don’t careless as long as they are getting your money. I will try to find a private let in future or will holiday elsewhere after many years of visiting since early 1990’s. Very disappointed”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 months ago

“Sykes Cottage's left us in a Cottage at the end of December on the North Pennine Moors with no central heating or hot water. They took 26hrs to respond to our situation- by which time we had tracked down the cottage’s owner and tried to resolve the situation. Unfortunately the heating/boiler could not be repaired and the owner was so sorry he promised a full refund. Sykes as the booking agent decided they had done ‘All they could to help us’ so are keeping their 1/3 of the total, they have also kept a one off payment we were forced to pay after booking- we still don’t know what this amount of £33 was for but unless we paid it we would’ve lost the holiday so had no choice. I can’t stress strongly enough to double check to see if you can book with someone else- better still try a direct booking. Sykes will take your money ONLY, as a ‘Booking Agent’ they have no use for you once you have paid, they are impossible to contact by phone unless you want to hold for an hour or so on their advertised numbers. Their customer service team is aggressive and uncaring. Beyond doubt they are the most awful company we’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with- BEWARE and book elsewhere.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 months ago

“Their customer services are shocking. Once you have booked a holiday and you have an issue, forget it. They will send you round and round on the website which will keep pushing you to contact via whatsapp. No-one responds on WhatsApp or when they eventually do after several days and weeks of trying to get.hold of them, they shut the chat down before you've finished. They don't respond to emails. They won't actually speak to you unless you want to make a new booking. The property i have booked is not as described as a customer review after my booking explains that it isn't. Sykes will do nothing to rectify the issue that the garden is not enclosed and there is a rat problem at the property.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 months ago

“This platform appeared trustworthy, but after I made my investment, I was unable to access my funds, and all communication with their support team was cut off. I was devastated, thinking my savings were lost forever. Fortunately, I came across: 𝘌𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭: 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵7 @ 𝘨𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 .𝘤𝘰𝘮 WhatsApp: +44 73-88-69-79-58. Their team was professional, didn’t require any upfront payments, and guided me through the entire recovery process. To my relief, they recovered my entire £277,400. I’m beyond grateful for their help and would recommend their services to anyone who has fallen victim to scams.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 months ago

“Shocking!! I reserved back on the first of October to stay in Lincoln for Xmas arriving the 22 nd of December for 5 nights a party of five of us, I received all the confirmations and then today the 20th of December received an email to say they had to cancel my reservation a they had a double booking!! no help and just when i eventualy got through on the phone they could only say sorry and they will reimburse me. Shame on them ruining our Xmas holidays.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 months ago

“Absolutely appalling. I booked for Christmas, received confirmation along with key collection and arrival details, only for them to cancel without any notice. They made no attempt to contact me or resolve the issue. Completely unreliable – avoid at all costs.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 months ago

“Shocking service from this company be you customer or owner! All they are interested in is your MONEY!! Nothing else matters. Dont answer emails, give confusing information very disorganised. My advice is to give them a very wide bearth!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 months ago

“Booked The Oaks close to St Clears in Carmarthen for 5 of us. The bungalow is beautiful. Although it is just off the A40 you cannot hear the traffic. Great pub on site and tasty food. Large lounge, kitchen, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Will definitely return.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 months ago

“Firstly trying to contact this company is very difficult you can use the contact facility ONLY if you’re making a new booking otherwise you have to rely on what’s app and wait for a response . They give no contact no although I’ve just found one online which I will now use. We encountered a difficult personal situation and all we wanted was a seven day extension to pay the second part of the deposit BUT we were just quoted the booking terns told we’d lose the booking if we didn’t pay!! I’m not prepared to lose the holiday so I told them we’d sit in the cold and cut back Xmas to do this to which they replied thank you for confirming that you will pay on time !!! What a heartless and callous company just concerned with money and no compassion at all !! Absolutely disgraceful attitude and I’d never ever recommend using them to anyone so beware this company DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS! At all !!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 months ago

“Please avoid. We booked a cottage earlier in the year and to be fair that went well. So we booked another one for our annual beginning of December break for a birthday . Couple of months in had a message to say the owners needed to do maintenance so wanted to cancel well actually they did cancel without even ringing us. Then we had a phone call to say it had been a mixup they weren’t cancelling for maintenance they wonder whether we wanted the cottage next door as an upgrade because someone else cancelled. I told them I was happy with the cottage I had. A week before we were due, I had another message to say the holiday has been cancelled due to maintenance. I rang them to which they replied. Oh it’s alright will give you £50 compensation. I think we all know if I’d have cancelled I would’ve had to pay about £180 fee, the £50 was towards another cottage. They won’t just give it me in cash. I think maybe the owner had someone else who wanted to have the cottage well just say that then instead of lying. Got a full refund and will definitely not be going with them again”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 months ago

“Review Title: Poor Customer Service and Unfair Charges I am extremely disappointed with how Sykes Cottages has treated me as a customer. I followed their guidance to request a simple date change for my booking, using their online system as instructed. Despite doing everything correctly and providing plenty of notice, my request was ignored. Instead of actioning the change, they charged me an outrageous £526 cancellation fee without any proper explanation or attempt to resolve the issue. What’s worse is the lack of communication and accountability. I tried reaching out multiple times to address the issue, but the responses were either unhelpful or nonexistent. This has caused me significant stress and disrupted my plans entirely. It’s unacceptable to penalize customers for mistakes or delays that are entirely the fault of their system or staff. If you value transparency, responsiveness, or fair treatment, I strongly advise against using Sykes Cottages.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 months ago

“We booked Cart Barn through Sykes Cottages, looking forward to a relaxing stay. Unfortunately, our experience was far from what we had hoped for due to a serious issue with wasps. Within 30 minutes of arriving, we discovered numerous wasps inside the cottage. We managed to let most of them out and immediately contacted the owners. They were on holiday and informed us that wasps might be "normal" for this time of year but promised to visit the next day to investigate. We stayed the night, but by morning, the situation worsened. There were even more wasps inside, and it was clear the cottage was not a safe or comfortable place to stay. At that point, we decided to leave. We contacted Sykes Cottages for a refund, and while they liaised with the owners, we were only offered a 5% refund and a future off-peak stay. Unfortunately, after this experience, we have no intention of returning. This was a deeply disappointing stay, and we feel the response from both the owners and Sykes Cottages was inadequate given the circumstances. We would not recommend this property to anyone unless the wasp issue is thoroughly addressed.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 months ago

“At the end of our stay at a cottage near Bath, we discovered while stripping the beds something resembling excrement between the duvet and duvet cover. We complained to Sykes. They did not respond but when we persisted they denied any responsibility and the owner of the cottage refused to do anything. Since we booked the cottage from Sykes, they should take responsibility for any problems but they claim that the contract is with the cottage owner. Basically if you have a problem, Sykes will do nothing - so my advice is, don't hire from them as they have very poor customer service.”

Sykes Cottages 1 star review on 8th November 2024

Helpful Report

Posted 6 months ago

“Please be careful, this company are scammers and i believe they have fake reviews on here. I have an ongoing court case with them for their fraudulent activity. I booked with them over 2 months ago and later decided to cancel the booking due to a family matter. The claimed i would need to pay over £700. I couldn’t understand it as i had no information on this. They said an email was sent, no such email was ever received by me and even if it did, why would i pay over £700 for an accommodation that will not be used and was cancelled 2 months ahead. I asked them to provide the reason for that fee and how they arrived at it, no response on that from them. I also asked them to provide a breakdown of losses incurred which was caused by the cancellation and evidence of such - again no response on that from them. So from what i gather, they just wait for people to cancel and that’s the lightbulb moment when they decide to pop out a random charge our of thin air with hopes that you’ll get frustrated and eventually let it go. To make matters worse, i was charged TWICE so about £1500 has now been debited. You can’t make this up i tell you. I will leave a review on every social media platform i can find until the outcome of the court case.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 months ago

“Really poor company to communicate with the property we rented was not as described and we left after only 1 night of a 7 day holiday after we received no help from the property owner and because we had returned home they were not interested and the feedback I left for the property was not posted ! Avoid this company is my advice !”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 months ago

“I am absolutely appalled at Sykes, my elderly parents booked a property thru booking. Com but managed by sykes it wasn't clear on the listing that the property was accessed by external metal fire escape type staircase , wasn't in property description, u physically have to click on the bit that says managed by sykes even tho it doesn't tell you to to get the info , on the sykes site it specifies the staircase but as my parents didn't book with them, they did not see the info until after booking & paying, I have been on phone calls & whatsapp to try to get a non refundable deposit, as I feel the info should of been there but wasn't, also no pics of the staircase so deserve their money back, sykes do not care that my parents can not go on holiday to this property as not safe for them to access & now losing £350 , they do not care about their customers, I will be taking this further I have included a pic of staircase that I found by searching the property from when it was up for sale”

Sykes Cottages 1 star review on 2nd November 2024

Helpful Report

Posted 6 months ago

“Booking Reference: A4CJD-24-EN We booked 5 St Michaels House in Lyme Regis in October 2024 over the phone with Sykes directly, paid for it in full and had confirmation emails where to collect keys and have a great stay etc... Fast forward three days later, and we're sent an email to say the house isn't available now, on closer inspection it now appears to have been booked for a longer period, that included the duration of our stay. So it would appear a better offer came along and we were simply cancelled, even though it was paid in full and confirmed at least three days before this stay was organised. We contacted Sykes, many times and wasted many hours trying to get through to them, they never apologised, they didn't offer any other solution or compensation. It's fair to say they didn't care. We eventually got through to a young lady called Heather, who said she would get the manager to call us, when we didn't hear back from the Sykes manager we called again, we were informed the manager wouldn't call as it didn't require a phone call and wasn't important enough, yes really. We have been booking holidays in Lyme Regis for at least 15 years, through Lyme Bay holidays which have always been fantastic, helpful staff, shout out to Mia and great properties. Now Sykes have taken over and after this awful experience we will never book with them again. The last older gentlemen my Mother spoke to, in a last ditch attempt to book a new property was so patronising and point blank refused to help her, he simply said your money has been refunded, though we're still waiting, it left her in tears, unforgivable! We're still going to Lyme Regis but will now stay in the hotels in the area. So the losers in all of this are the property owners, as clearly Sykes are so big they can afford to treat their customers with complete contempt. This area is crying out for a genuinely local holiday property company acting in the interest of customers and owners. I would urge anyone considering booking to look at the countless genuine reviews about how Sykes deal with issues, it's pure brand damage for a company failing its customers and property owners.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 months ago

“Before you consider renting this holiday house offered by Sykes Cottages, I recommend you think again. My family and I rented this beautifully situated house overlooking St Ives harbour – but the house had big problems and the service offered by Sykes Cottages was completely inadequate. The catalogue of problems included an overwhelming smell of sewage pervading the upper floor which meant that the bathroom could not be used and a gas leak which trickled gas into a bedroom where a 5 year old was sleeping which we, the visitors, had get fixed one night because Sykes failed to answer their emergency ‘out of hours’ service! The owners and/or the Sykes team clearly knew there were noxious smells in their property because there were 13 pots of room reed diffusers strategically placed around the house to mask the stench. In addition the fixtures and fittings hadn’t been looked after which resulted in the nuisance of a broken downstairs toilet seat, leaking coffee machine and two broken hotplates on the hob. I asked for compensation but the answer I received from Sykes was to completely dissociate themselves from the problems and to state that the owners refused to pay. However, Sykes must bear some responsibility for not even running an ‘out of hours’ service.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 months ago

“If I could give sykes zero I would...I accidentally book the wrong dates and realised a soon as I booked..so after checking to see if the dates I that I need was available which they weren't (this was for August next year) sp we had cancelled..with in several minutesbof booking . The very next day we tried to find contact details for them and find an email address which I wrote to see if they can so something with the deposit I was accepting all the deposits to be refunded but if they cake back and said the give us a partial refund we would have been happy as we were aware it our fault...however the reason for such a low score is the attitude and the lack of understanding and empthy..1 the biggest one is that we were told that that the problem is that we did the booking and cancelling online..if we did it booked by phone and cancelled by phone within 24 hours they would have been able to assist us..I am still trying to work out why if they are unable or do not want to assist anyone that makes the book and cancelled within 24 hours using thier online facility..if this is the case they why offer the option to book online???..we was also told to claim on the insurance we book foe them..however it doesn't cover this and to make a claim we need a policy number which we haven't recieved...we were also told that they could not assist us as 7 days had pass before we made them aware of out situation? When in fact we emailed them the next day and had recieve a response from the email as well as managing to speak to them three days after the booking ..and by the time we received the message stating its been over 7 days this was actually 4 days after the initial booking...so overall customer service is bad and to he honest I would have probably dropped it if they just said so no..but feel i am being unfairly treated just because i book and cancelled online rather than phone so is still fighting this..but do not go with them but if you do DONT I repeat DONT boom online”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 months ago

“Sykes cancelled our booking a week before we were due to travel and the replacement accomodation was dirty - clearly hadn’t been cleaned for a long time. Thick dust in many places and used bar of soap with someone else’s hair on it in the bathroom. When I complained I was told ‘soap is hygienic’ so I shouldn’t complain?! Also left my keys at the property - called Sykes the next day and they said they would speak to the owner and try to locate them but 3 weeks later I still haven’t had a response after 4 more phone calls ‘we will call you back’ and I’ve sent 3 emails all of which have been ignored. Absolutely appalling customer service, will never use Sykes again and encourage friends and family to avoid too.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 months ago

Sykes Cottages is rated 1.2 based on 1,536 reviews