What a beautiful property with potential to be five stars BUT alas our holiday was spoilt by countless flies and wasps in library bedroom. On arrival we noticed quite a few dead flies on the upper spiral stairs and my husband spent half an hour catching over 20 flies and removing outside, However there was no point - just couldn't keep up with the sheer numbers. To make matters worse, there were quite a few aggressive wasps which meant that we effectively couldn't use the whole top floor for our whole week stay. The upstairs turret bathroom also had loads of live and dead flies and wasps. I was afraid that my two young children would get stung and from a hygiene perspective I couldn't allow them to play upstairs. It also meant we were one bedroom and bathroom short the whole stay. Whilst I appreciate that due to unseasonably warm weather there could have been more flies around, the numbers involved here were unacceptable, especially with children around. Spraying the windows with fly killer just wasn't enough and as the housekeeper informed us, there were loads when she cleaned the gatehouse prior to our arrival and until they all hatched (nests in the window frames/beams) this was going to continue to be an ongoing problem. In all honesty it really spoilt my husband and my holiday as he ended up on the sofa and I ended up with the children in the downstairs bedroom. I just wish we had been told about this issue beforehand - it may not be an issue for some people but hygiene and safety are important to me due to the children. Also the underfloor heating wasn't working in the turret bedroom on 1st floor, The kitchen does need more plates/cutlery etc and there was a damp smell in some of the kitchen cupboards which needs to be resolved.
However some positives - the housekeeper was a blessing, So friendly and always helpful when around - a big thanks to her for coming once to hoover up the dead flies, giving us extra towels, doing some laundry for me (which was a god send with 2 little boys) and for helping us light a fire -FINALLY!! Thank you S - we appreciated all your kindness.
