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.

You do realise it is possible to blame two groups of people simultaneously.

The landlords, who may or may not be local are one part of the problem, the tourists who choose to holiday in what is clearly residential housing, are also part of the problem.

Sorry to hear of all your hassles, OP. But don't feel guilty about booking a holiday in good faith. If locals are outraged about tourism and a dearth of affordable homes, they should target the actual people who turned these village homes into a business cash cow. Who chances are, are locals like themselves.
No real practical advice, sorry. Except that if it's affordable, would a local solicitor be willing to put their name to a statement about the vile smell?

Be sure to mention the barking dog and the sound of a single car in the middle of the night, call the police, there was probably a murder!

I love the idea of the local mayor being approached to sniff the unfortunate holiday accommodation. It's Monday, they are at work, it's not fucking Trumpton.

And this is the conflict between your needs as a tourist, and if you are in a 'normal' Cornish location that is actually full of families running dot-com companies, working in schools or can't say because it's GCHQ. Most of us upstanding citizens don't work in tourism (I think only a third of the economy is tourism).

But the grim in the winter, glorious in summer, perfect for holidays type areas, get that letting agent out, you've paid a fortune.

Good point to all the people frothing about the holiday let's the houses must have belonged to locals at some point 😂 they chose who to sell to they could have chosen a local family but money talks so the locals are just as bad blame them.

Exactly, it all started somewhere!

The people who bought next to us said they would be permanent residents in the village but they are not. They keep it as a holiday home. They just lied. It’s not easy to check these things.

No, I am sorry I wasn’t clear. It is that the huge increase in holiday/second homes, plus the movement of people here in search of the rural idyll, means that many places that were welsh speaking until very recently are no longer primarily Welsh speaking, historical house names are changed from the Welsh, our ancient culture and language are affected. This is absolutely not an issue with people from other countries who are on holiday here in a sustainable way, eg walkers, campers, caravaners etc.
Cwm yr Eglwys
See the article above.
There is a growing movement against this in Wales with multiple rallies, and local governments are being pressured into taking action.
It doesn’t actually help tourists either, if the Coastguard and Fire service have to travel a considerable distance because they can’t afford to live in their communities. Emergencies in or near sea can be fatalities very, very quickly.

Anyway OP I am sorry for the derail. My money is still on a dead rodent, and your holiday company should sort this out as a matter of urgency or find an alternative.

Can I just say (again for the millionth time) that the posters on these threads and their impression that Cornwall HATES tourism are just a bit irritating and misleading. Most of us are nice. Most of us realise that a third is quite a fucking lot when it comes to talking about proportions of an area's income. Most of us realise that there is a world of difference between second home owners and people who come down here and rent a cottage for a week or two.

Actually this year is far quieter than last year. I was on the beach yesterday and there were only a handful of other people and I had zero problems getting there or parking.

The most negative attitude to tourism comes from when it takes an age to get anywhere and a concern about health infrastructure in the summer, but that's a few weeks a year. Most local people in August just put their heads down and get on with it, and come September draw a breath and enjoy the autumn.

I'm sorry about your cottage experience OP. The woman on the phone dealt with it very unprofessionally.

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

Jersey has different classifications for accommodation (it's similar in Guernsey too). So if you are very wealthy, you can buy there; and they have a few (expensive) new build flats that "outsiders" can buy too. But otherwise you need to have lived there for ten years. I am not sure, but I think even if you inherit a house there, you can't live in it and have to offer it to a local family - I am not sure I necessarily agree with that if you wanted to live in it full time yourself. Not that the system is stopping the population from growing all the time - they still have a housing crisis - and they don't have enough workers either!

It used to be more extreme, you couldn't rent, either, and effectively had to live as a lodger.

I’d have to leave this sounds awful. I’d definitely speak to the manager of the letting company to complain about being laughed at when you initially complained and demand a refund and the cost of a hotel overnight if they make you wait until tomorrow before they’ll come out and inspect the property. Absolutely unacceptable. If they don’t cooperate then name and shame the letting company on social media. Naming and shaming them on here is a good start.

@Cyw2018
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.

She didn't say she wished she had stayed in an airbnb. She said "I wish we'd just stayed in a bnb." You know, as in Bed and Breakfast.

So sorry you're going through this, OP. its's awful. I had a problem with Sykes Cottages a while back and I used Twitter. It was when they were refusing refunds for people whose holidays had been cancelled. A lot of other people were in the same boat though, so it wasn't just me. Definitely put this of social media if you can and do try to get independant witnesses to the awful smell.

You say greedy landlords as if it's a bad thing. But what's wrong with wanting to maximise your income/investment? Landlords don't owe anything to random would-be tenants.

We avoid school hols and pay about £300 for a week in a static; that's on a basic site with no other facilities, which suits us fine as we like peace and quiet.

So you think it's right do you that families are made homeless so the landlord can make more money? It's not it's disgusting.

Were they locals that lied?

Fish through the letterbox of holiday lets is a genius idea!! Wish I’d thought of it through lockdown when 90% of the houses in my town were unoccupied (apart from when owners fancied a holiday). Sadly they are never empty long enough now for it to be worth it.

I live near a lovely seaside town on the northeast coast, it’s lovely, I can see the sea from my bedroom window but it is very popular. A new private housing estate is being built five minutes walk from my house, 250 houses of 3 and 4 bedrooms. A friend was interested in buying one, the site agent told her most of them have been bought off plan as second homes or holiday homes by buyers from down south. It’s pushed the house prices up in the local area, it’s not only in the seaside towns, buyers from further south were offering silly prices after Rishi Sunak lifted stamp duty. My house was valued 240k last year, next door has hers up for sale for 349k.

I think that's neither here nor there. Landlords are allowed to get the most out of their investment. As are all business people.

But…. Why?! Wasn’t the peace and quiet nice during lockdown, and the ability to get in to a supermarket without queuing for 3 hours first?

I am so sorry you are going through this. I didn’t know this is how locals were behaving (I am a local btw!)

Are you in St Agnes or Portreath? (Or near?)

revving cars IS normal for Cornwall actually! We have quite a big boy racery / shit loud car scene here - especially the closer you get to St Austell or Redruth.

I really hope you get it sorted. Leave an awful review as well.

Can anyone else who is “Cornish bashing” please remember that we too have holidays that aren’t in Cornwall? That there is good and bad in ALL groups and types of people.

#boycottcornwall is so funny.

there was a thread here a few years ago when one user kept changing their username to slag off Cornwall repeatedly. And threatened to “boycott Cornwall”…..We never found out why but Mumsnet HQ had to get involved and delete the thread.

So can other users please keep in mind that while it seems like a few people have issues with Cornwall - it may actually just be one very vocal person with too much spare time on their hands.

OP feel free to message me. Happy to share all the best beaches and attractions xx hope it gets sorted

Aww that's sad😢 they are talking about clamping down on second home's being rented out. There's been a few posting on Reddit saying they turned up to look at a house they're interested in. Only to be told it's gone to a cash buyer.

90% were empty, the supermarket must've been a breeze!

What's a cash buyer got to do with second homes?

Sadly @Alexandra2001 I know of locals forced out of their homes and living in tents, sheds, barns, boats etc. You might find the idea hysterically funny but for some it is a tragic reality. I'm not sure what is worse your ignorance or arrogance.