“First impressions do count and in this case these were negative.”
When we arrived:
- The apartment hadn't been cleaned (certainly not hoovered) properly. There was sand, rugs had bits on and not sure when the ceiling vents in the bathrooms have last been cleaned. This was mostly (note to owner on ceiling vents) resolved with a call to Sykes and the cleaners returning but not something I have ever had to or should be doing when arriving.
- Internet wasn't working properly in the apartment until later on Sunday, fully resolved on the Monday.
- Hob didn't seem to work.
- A couple of maintenance issues with blinds.
- Note to Sykes to actually respond to emails in a timely manner as they never bothered to respond to two separate enquiries to pass on the above.
That's the negatives out of the way, on the positive side.
- Apartment in great location for easy access to main beach and good parking.
- Beds are very comfortable. Pillows were a bit too squashy for me and my wife as we're side sleepers though.
- Back bathroom is superb with a nice big shower.
- Kitchen is well kitted out despite the hob issue.
- Lounge has a great corner couch and decent TV.
- Front patio is a sun trap and the hedges have good privacy from the pavement on the other side, which is handy for drying washing.
So, all in all despite the initial negative experience, we did overall have a decent stay. I would recommend a bit of a refresh as some elements of the apartment felt a bit tired though.
Thank-you for your feedback. As we have already conversed via e-mail and apologised privately for your issues I will once again say that we are sorry for your dissatisfaction. When the apartment is cleaned on guest turnaround - the cleaning company send us multiple pictures of the work in every room, it certainly looked prepared and clean to us, but unfortunately we cannot see if sand is present. We arranged for cleaners to come again and they were with you within an hour and a half of your complaint. The Cleaning Manager from the company was apologetic and said you were happy with the apartment after the second visit. The internet problem as you are aware was related to the buildings hub in the apartments atrium - and outside of our control as this is management company issue - one of the residents who live on site explained that they would run line diagnostics with BT - and they then followed Bt advice to re-programme flats 5 and 1 in the building on Monday (after being chased by us, which you are probably unaware of). On Thursday night you sent an e-mail to the us (the owners) privately saying there was an issue with the hob and blinds which had not been responded to by Sykes for two days - we saw this on Friday morning and this was dealt with by the handyman who cleared up the issues found by 5pm that day. I’m sorry we couldn’t deal with issues earlier if we are not aware - and have raised the lack of response with Sykes - if anyone does read this note - I would always advise them to ring Sykes\Menai as it is the owners who are responsible for the accommodation being satisfactory not Sykes, e-mails can get lost or overlooked in peak Summer season. Thank-you.
Property Owner