A couple visiting Thornton Manor for their Golden wedding anniversary said they were disappointed after they shelled out £1,400 for two cottages they claim were in poor condition.
Alison Wood, 73, told the ECHO about her "shambolic" visit to what is described as "luxury" accommodation on the estate's website. The mum-of-three said the occasion was the first time she and her husband had managed to spend time with their children and grandchildren for the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic but it was blighted with a number of issues when they stayed between May 29 and May 31.
The former PE teacher from Wirral, who now lives in Cumbria, claimed the cottages she booked for her three children, two of their partners and their own children had a number of issues from a broken router to the paintwork peeling. She said: "My husband and I arrived first because we paid for the whole lot.
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"We went up to the Bridal Mews and immediately as I walked in I was really disappointed. The state of the floor was absolutely abysmal. It was scratched and dirty, it really wasn't good.
"Then there were a load of light bulbs that weren't working, the fridge hadn't been defrosted, the freezer section was full of ice and didn't have a proper door on it, the router was broken and the WiFi wasn't working and I needed to do some work while we were there.
"I did tell the staff about the WiFi and they came to fix it for me eventually. Then the rest of the family arrived and they went into the House Keeper's Cottage, there were eight of them, and immediately we went in and there was a big hole in the units with a door slung back.
"We thought it looked a bit odd but we didn't think much about it at the time. I didn't want to complain again so we just muddled on through. We had a nice walk and evening and then all night the shower in the Bridal Mews just went "drip, drip, drip" and we couldn't shut it off.
"When I went to see our family the next day, my son said they had a bit of a problematic night because on their double bed. They had a double duvet cover with a single duvet inside it. At that stage, I said I'd go and get it sorted.
"I went across and they apologised but I did say while I was there, although I wasn't complaining officially, I explained everything that was wrong with the cottage. They were in and out of the Bridal Mews and the House Keepers Cottage all the time we were there, trying to fix these problems.
"There was paint peeling off the walls and everything, if you look on the website it's absolutely beautiful and it just wasn't like that at all. There were holes in the settee, we found forks underneath the settee where it didn't look like it had been cleaned.
"I didn't want to make a fuss at the time and spoil the weekend. I honestly thought the staff were very helpful at the time, they did their best and they were really apologetic.
"When I got back I thought I would get an email asking for feedback and that was then I was going to formally say all the problems we had but it never came so after two or three days I thought they might offer some form of refund for what had happened and the poor quality and so on but nothing happened."
Since the stay, Alison says she has asked for a partial refund but said she is yet to have a proper response. She added: "I've heard nothing. I've given up. It's just appalling. When you look at reviews there are a number of bad reviews since the fire. This was planned with the whole family in mind but it was disappointing."
Thornton Manor was approached for comment.
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