Holiday disaster

[Citygirl007]

We booked a last minute holiday in UK for £450 a night for three nights. Arranged via agent, owner is abroad, property managed by agent. We had three young kids with us. Property was a victorian house.
We arrived just as cold spell hit a few days ago.
On arrival the temperature was 12 degrees and heating turned to that temperature.
managed to get heating as far as 16 degrees for the first night and it was still that temperature on first morning. To be clear, the radiators were fully working once we turned them on and heating was on non-stop. Problem we think was that property wasn't heated for a while and it took ages to warm.
Spent all first day dealing with the issues (there were few others, loo not flushimg etc).
By evening of second night, the house was at 20.5 degrees so decided to stay.
In the morning, upstairs is lovely warm, downstairs back to freezing. The massive extension has only underfloor heating so back to 16 degrees.
Kids in coats etc.
So we left 24 hrs early after spending most of the time there dealing with issues.
I obviously have documented all this via emails.
Just about to write a complaint.
AIBU -we should have sucked it up?

We have stayed in lots of period properties and never had any issue like this 🙈

16? Wow, I would be roasting. We keep our house at about 14. Having to leave the front door open at the open as it’s too hot otherwise.

YANBU to leave a review reflecting your experience.

YABU to expect a refund. The fact your kids are SEN or your husband has Raynauds is neither here nor there.

If the heating clearly worked but it was taking time to warm the house YABU to stay in and wait for the housekeeper or maintenance man. The fact you missed your plans is on you.

This is not a holiday disaster.

I'm neither ND nor have Reynauds and I'd have been freezing (and pissed off) in 16 degrees.

There must be an awful lot if people who are sucker for a punishment of

• loving showers in 16 degrees
• putting a jumper and another jumper and coat and scarf whilst on holiday.

It's really eye opening. I must be missing a trick and book onky cold houses going forwards to break me in 🙄

I don't love getting out of the shower when the air temp is 16 bit it's not unusual here. It's momentary.

Yes I'd expect the heating to have been on for longer before you got there but I wouldn't have let it stop us going to the planned museums. That's a weird decision.

Gotta love Mumsnet

It's a balmy 12 in my house and I've stripped to my pants to cool down

Yup. Not like kids weren't up in cold night. All they wanted to do was curl up in bed in their coat.
Just because you like it doesn't mean everyone does.
I would expect as minimum to be able to be at comfortable temperature of MY choice since I'm paying for it.

Complain (state facts., dates times and then feelings),
Total Refund
Post review.

But why did you not go to your planned activities? That's odd.

I'd be pissed off to arrive to a cold house too.

😂😂

what part of cold thing you don't understand?
we arrived, it was 12. In the evening we went to bed cold. Kids woke up at night bc they were freezing. Had to hunt for coats etc.
then they got woken up by train (at 5.01am) that runs at the property edge. Single glazed windows so yup, you could hear them.
that was the wake up. Proceeded togo downstairs where blurb says 'the kitchen is warmest part of the house'.. yup, still 16.
adhd kid gets very wired on lack of sleep. so his attention goes.
if we had managed to go, you would most likely be complaining about that kid who is misbehaving. Or parents that are s**t. because adhd kid on lack of sleep is 🧨
I had been on about 5 calls before 10am. Because one side of agency didn't know what the others was doing.
Then I took shower where I froze.
Then it was almost lunchtime.
More calls in between. housekeeper came 12ish. in the meantime I was also looking for alternative accommodation as I wasn't going to have another miserable day/night.
then we went out for a walk to a shopping mall to warm up.

🙄

Are you a family of polar bears? 16 is bloody cold.

surprised you didn’t want to get out whilst the radiators warmer up the house… meanwhile you and children in warm restaurant or museum.

but you decided to stay in the house, cancel plans, and wait for radiators to warm up house

odd

Nope. read PP

oh yes… you walked around the shopping mall.

and then cancelled your other plans

sounds like a shitty place

but my word you didn’t make the best of it. spending hours looking for alternative accommodation as that radiators heated up in your presence

YANBU you go on holiday to somewhere at least as good or better than home or you might as well stay there.
Some of you are honestly bonkers with your under heating 😂 your houses will go mouldy 🙈. My aircon is set to 16 in the summer to keep cool !.
And at £450 a night ! Nah they are taking the absolute piss hope you get your money back it's just greedy

No, my plans were in the morning, which got cancelled because I dealt with the situation. That's when my tickets were booked for.

Had to hunt for coats etc.
then they got woken up by train (at 5.01am) that runs at the property edg

another reason why more than 3 reviews the last being more recent than 8 months ago probably best going forward!

I feel for you @Citygirl007, the radiators in our house have broken again so it was -5°c last night and I think it's 1°c at present.

Consoling myself with lovely hot cup of tea, cheers 🫖

Walks really do help when it's cold inside, you get back and it feels miles warmer!

you dealt with the situation.

So entire family stayed in cold property whilst you called around

each to their own but i would have bundled everyone up and got out for plans and lunch out. The radiators were on, and out for most of the day would have been decent by back.

and… if still chilly, take away pizza and smores cuddled up under blankets watching tv

Or because all the houses on that particular website have three reviews due to formatting of the site? Also reviews can be easily deleted.

It’s clearly the housekeeper at fault here. She should’ve turned the heating on a few days beforehand to get it up to temperature.

I have a Victorian terrace which I let out on an occasional basis to friends when not using myself. I set heating to 12 when I leave, and when I know people are coming, the friend who looks after it for me comes in a few days before to bump the heating up to 19 or so.

YANBU to ask for a partial refund. YABU not to have gone about your planned activities etc.

Gosh, feel for you! ☹️

not on air bnb!