Riverside Cottage in Whitby

Booked and stayed here via Vrbo end of August into Sept. Very disappointing experience as the property is in a poor state of repair and unclean top to bottom. We debated just leaving when we arrived and booking elsewhere but as we arrived late and local moor fires hampered traffic we decided to try and make the best of it. First option was to tidy the place up a bit ourselves. However, the hoover did not work so we were left with a dustpan and brush and dirty tea towel for this task. We struggled with the Wi-Fi throughout our stay; it copes with one device at a time but very slowly. That was constant throughout our 9 days. The carpets are heavily stained, which the host contacted us to say were marked by the previous guest and would be cleaned after we left. However, the marks looked quite established to us and were not recent. We were not in the mood to disturb our holiday further and left that. The stairs are extremly steep and narrow so be aware with kids, dogs or any mobility issues and the 1st and 2nd floors have creaking floorboards you have to witness to believe. There are numerous problems with this property and far too many to list but they all stem from a lack of investment. The host’s attitude is very; you are my tenant but I'm the landlord and not service focused as you would expect. From emails to in house booklets, noticeboards, heating restrictions, controlled lighting and feedback to complaints its very clear they see themselves as the senior party in this arrangment and lack a certain respect to their guests. It was inferred we got a special price for the stay and our dog as though that excuses renting a home in this state. Whereas in fact we just booked at the sticker price via Vrbo. Complaints are dealt with by obscuring the facts and inferring that the guest is exaggerating. Check out my other reviews and you will see I'm very happy to review generously but, in this case, sadly it is not a business or host that I could.

The location is nice next to the river and convenient for the town. However the property is very dirty and poorly maintained top to bottom. For example the floors throughout the 1st and 2nd floor creak so loudly that nobody can sleep once you get up. The Wi-Fi speed is glacial, best we got was 1.6mbps. The heating system is limited on temperature and duration so if you hit a cold spell or need to dry clothes be advised. The washing machine says it requires payment to operate but does not seem to be actually linked to the meter and works regardless. The hall and landings have automatic lights that do not turn on correctly. leaving you to navigate the steep stairs in the dark or bizarrely turn on in the night because you move in the bed? You can't override these by the switches. The front door jams and the patio door does not close securely. The bedding is musty and the beds are queen sized contra to description. Towels are not included unless you pay extra and that includes even downstairs loo. The tea towel they did leave us had a sticky blob on it so we discarded. The dish cloth was also very used and we replaced it. Bare bones is the best description and pretty unpleasant what is included. Almost every piece of furniture for storage is broken. The list could go on and on but overall we'd definitely not recommend. The one star is for its location but there are plenty of other houses to rent in the estate. Some we actually saw and were in much better condition. Previous complaints for the same issues have been framed as the guests personal sensitivity so attached some pictures to demonstrate clearly this is not the case . The host has an odd way of communicating to put it mildly and retaliated to our honest Vrbo review so best be forewarned on that. The focus is not on taking on board honest feedback and improving the business but a regrettable reaction such as this.

Very nice accommodation and great location within walking distance to Whitby

We have just spent a week at Riverside cottage. The property sits in a truly beautiful location with lovely views, well maintained grounds and lots of parking. Whitby is easily accessible by foot along the cinder path. The property it self is a good size with all the facilities any family group could wish for. I've only given the property 3 stars due to the fact it really does need a deep clean. We had to tidy our selves before feeling comfortable due to high levels of dust, lot's of crumbs in the kitchen drawers and around the sofas including a pair of gents boxer shorts that were next to one of the sofas. It's also worth mentioning that the house suffers with huge levels of flooring noise when moving around the top 2 floors which actually wakes you up if someone uses the toilet at night. This could be remedied by re fastening the floor timber correctly. Overall the location is perfect and the property is very well priced for a week's stay however the property is so very desperate for a deep clean and some maintenance.

After booking a 3 night stay a Riverside walk, we arrived to be very pleased with the outside looking very picturesque! Sadly, this was then very much let down upon entering the property. We were welcomed by a foisty, unclean smell, not the freshly cleaned smell we should of been greeted with, especially as we couldn't enter the property until after 4pm. We found the foisty smell to be from a "clean" tea towel that had been left out for us. Needless to say we did not use this, and luckily took our own. Our first impressions of the property were not good, it looked as though it had not had a deep clean in ages. Looking very grubby in places, and in need of some TLC throughout. It felt as though it had had a general clean a few weeks prior, but then not touched inbetween. We then found the bedding smelt extremely foisty, not the duvet and pillow covers, or bottom sheets ( as the owners tried to blame this as the problem) but, the actual duvets and pillows themselves. This was on all beds, including one our son slept in and told us "smelt funny" the next morning after our 1st night. It clearly needs some new duvets and pillows. Cutlery, crockery and work surfaces were sticky and very grubby, I had to wash these and wipe surfaces down. Kitchen cupboard handles, inside of the fridge door, utensil holder either covered in sauce splashes, bits of food or crumbs ( inside the fridge ). The outside table was covered in muck and leaves, clearly not being cleaned in a while.As the weather was pleasant, we felt that this couldn't be sat at without us cleaning it first yet again!! We cut our break short by 1 night as we felt the house was just too grubby and could not settle. Upon arriving home, we had other plans as it was our week away from our own business, so emailed the owners on the Monday. We informed them of the issues we had, they said they would get back to us in a couple of days. They did, and after asking previous and current guests what they thought, had mixed reviews. Some agreed with some of the issues we had raised, the owners then changed these apparently, and now with it helping them and future guests, were happy that we had told them about the issues. We on the other hand did not want this response only, we raised these issues for them to acknowledge the problems we raised, and to provide a gesture of good will, this did not happen! It was a case of, thank you for your input, have a nice day! We ended up saying that we were not getting anywhere, and we will not be leaving a good review. If you are wanting a place to stay, we recommend trying anywhere but here, Whitby has some beautiful places to stay ( which we have before, and not had any issues like this ) Next time, we will book through an agent not direct, as atleast we may of got some where with them. So to sum up, if you have standards, and want somewhere clean and relaxing, then do not book here!!