Holiday Cottage Nightmare

[AuntySandrasDauphinois]

Please can someone tell me what you would do in this situation?

We arrived at our (much anticipated) holiday cottage yesterday to find that it absolutely stinks. I have febreezed every surface so many times and it still stinks. It's worse downstairs but still absolutely awful upstairs, so bad that I struggled to get to sleep last night. We have been out all day today and just got back and honestly I want to cry. More than £1000 we've paid for the week!

I spoke to the woman in the local shop (when I was buying the febreeze!) and she told us some of the local lads had been putting fish through the letterboxes of any known holiday lets. There was nothing to suggest that's what it was but the smell is very fishy/putrid. The village doesn't feel very welcoming to visitors- she also said last year someone had the wing mirrors broken off their car outside overnight!

The Cornish cottage company have been no help whatsoever- the woman laughed down the phone and told us the fish were an urban legend. There's no way to take a photo of the smell to try to claim a reduction. I don't even know if I can last the week. Currently sat in the garden having a glass of wine but I'm dreading having to go inside.

If anyone has any suggestions bar more febreeze please please let me know. I'm trying to be lighthearted about it but I'm devastated. We drove for 6 hours to get here, I'm so exhausted with it.

Why does everyone keep giving the OP tips on covering up the smell at her own expense and during her holiday time?

The holiday company/letting agents absolutely must sort this out pronto; move them somewhere else and compensate them.

@Trixiefirecracker

Agree. It's got to be down to the policy makers and responsible voting in each area to pull this back.

Snarling and getting pitch forky at families who have paid astronomical amounts of money to have 7 nights somewhere pretty isn't going to help.

The best thing you can do is give them bad publicity and make people aware of what's going on.

I hope OP is enjoying her day.

I was going to suggest finding someone neutral to come and have a sniff as well. Struggling to picture myself starting that convo. though. And i'm pretty good at shooting the breeze with strangers!

Well yes, I do research before I go on holiday. I am particularly aware of where I stay, and I am conscious of how I travel as many of us are now that Global Warming is such a terrifying issue. I haven’t been on an aeroplane in over a decade, and only twice in the last twenty five years.
It is difficult, of course everyone wants to have a nice holiday. I don’t want that to be at the expense of someone else though. It doesn’t take a huge amount of effort to make more sustainable choices. I think many people are used to doing that with food, clothing etc. There needs to be more of an awareness of tourism and the harms done. Often I think it is simply a lack of awareness.

@Laiste absolutely! Feel so sorry for Op that they are having this experience.

I agree with you, @SirVixofVixHall - it seems as if there's still a blind spot when it comes to holidays. There are threads on here with people planning upwards of three holidays this year, including long haul.

@SirVixofVixHall Here we are also a different ethnic group with our own language and culture.

I don't understand the point of this remark . Does it mean that you are particularly upset by visitors from a different culture ?
Sorry if I've misunderstood .

^Looking for a 3 bed house in village- avoid you are depriving a local of a home
3 bed conversion on a farm, 3 bed caravan or lodge them fine^

I want to stay in a house when I go away in the UK, not a flat, lodge, caravan, hotel or B&B, because there are usually five of us, with a large dog.

I'm not depriving anyone of a home. That would be the government and their housing policies. And I've certainly never voted Conservative.

I feel pretty awful that we've taken someone's home.

You haven't taken anyone's home OP. You booked a holiday and there is nothing wrong with that.

I just thought I'd leave this here .
www.facebook.com/groups/1827406157508686/about/

To console the OP if she can't get through to the lettings agency .What she really needs is contact with the owner .

@AuntySandrasDauphinois have you tried to get contact details of the owner ? Electoral roll? Companies house ? I could look on a genealogy site I subscribe to if you want to PM me the address of the cottage .Just a thought ,might not be successful ,but nothing to loose .

I think it’s a very complicated issue without simple answers. I’m from a touristy coastal area and now live in London, and costs are insane, but people need jobs and a lot of traditional work either no longer exists or is badly paid, so tourism is a needed ‘evil’. The lack of work is one reason I am now in London!
Re: the smell issue though, I really hope you got hold of the office op, and that they will come and check on it!

AirBnb came about because loads of people were like me and wanted to go away with family (and dog, in the UK) and stay in a house, not a hotel. Massive demand for that and not enough supply, and too many overpriced hotels. Also I remember before AirBnb going on holiday cottage websites and having to call to see if they were available on the dates you wanted, rather than being able to put in dates and search criteria. And even websites that did do that, they would only have a fraction which were pet friendly. I saw it as just a good, easy website to use that put me in touch with what I wanted.

OP I am really sorry this has happened to you. I wouldn't be surprised if this was deliberate. Last year we went to an overpriced AirBnB in Devon- our first music needed holiday in 2 years. We parked in the designated area next to the holiday home, and then went out for a walk. When we came back our car had massive dents and terrible scratches all down one side and lots of damage. We had a knock on the door and another holiday maker showed us a video and photos he took on his phone of a huge tractor deliberately crushing and scraping the side of our car. The farmer had loudly announced he was going to 'put his big wheels down' and cause maximum damage to our car as he doesn't like tourists. People were calling for him to stop, but he laughed and carried on. I feel sorry for people evicted from their homes, but there is no need for such spiteful behaviour. I thought tourism was really needed in the summer to get locals through the Winter months. However, we won't be going back there again.

I hope you get it sorted OP and cam reclaim some of your holiday.

A lot of young people leave Cornwall, always have done, make lives elsewhere, their parents die and the houses sold, the idea there are all these locals living in tents having made a fortune selling the family home is silly....

where do you think these locals your banging on about live?

I would start posting on their social media, and emailing and phoning. Of course they will deny the fish through the letter box thing if they know, they don’t want to lose money! I’d tell them to come and visit today or you are taking them to court for your full refund.
bicarbonate of soda sprinkled by the front door might help, leave for a day and hoover. Air fresheners will just make it worse. They need to come and clean the carpet. All windows open as long as you can but if you can’t stay then maybe leave and bill them

Christ i hope they went to the police?!

Woke up at about 2am to barking dogs and a car revving it's engine. Strange in a quiet village, you never know what goes on. It made me realise how intimidated I am

You REALLY need to get a grip. This is modern Britain you're talking about not a fucking war zone. Perhaps if you stopped "othering" fellow UK citizens, you might elicit better responses from those around you. People tend to give back what they receive.

I never imagined anyone living in tents 😂

Human nature dictates that the majority would sell their house (or parents house) to the highest bidder. But it would be hypocritical to then join in the rant about non-locals owning property no?

The point is: there is all this rage towards the non-locals who own the properties which locals used to own. But it must have been a local who sold it to them in the first place. A pp upthread posted about remembering locals laughing as non-locals paid 'over the top prices'.

Saying it's the holiday makers who at fault for the state of the place is misplacing the blame, and wasting energy which could be better used by helping to change the tide back to local ownership. (no pun intended)

I'm not sure how you think staying in an airbnb would make any difference.

My friend and her 3yo DD were evicted from their home after only 6 months of being there as the landlord decided he could make more money letting on airbnb. This is a normal terraced house in a small village, not coastal and not in the national park, but close enough to both for yet another home to be taken away from the local people.

Yes, I can see your point. In the case of our particular home it was inherited by the next generation (who had moved to Liverpool) and they decided to holiday rent. They have since bought a few other places in the village (just down the road from Ravenglass) as they've come up for sale.

One suggestion I have heard is that property should be first offered for sale at a reasonable price to local people, and only after a set period could it be sold at auction as a holiday property. Giving local families first refusal.

They do something on Jersey about it, I can't remember the details, but a friend who got a teaching job there had to wait years before she could buy.

Why blame the tourist? The greedy LOCAL landlord is causing the problem.

If there wasn't the demand and fiscal benefits, landlords wouldn't be renting to holidaymakers.

Is it worth trying to get the local environmental health officer to have a quick sniff?

i know they tend to be busy, but this may actually be a health hazard.

You could tell the letting agent you've reported it anyway - and leave a scathing and detailed review. It might help others to decide whether or not they want to risk a booking there.