The Boskins - Sabden

Eoghann

We booked via cottages.com and we were expecting to get a review link from them upon our return, but it appears the property is no longer for let via that source, nor indeed by any other popular sources for the time being. So I am leaving our review here instead. cottages.com seems to have a rather poor customer service standard and contacting them is difficult, so I gave up.

We booked for a week in mid Feb 2025 as we had plans for visiting family in the area. Whilst the property was clean and tidy and also had a nice welcome pack, there are a couple of gripes that we had about the property, the main one being not about the property itself, but the approach road.

From the moment you head off the main road to access the property, there then follows probably around half a mile of very narrow road, and, for the first 2/3rds of the road, it mostly consists of potholes. As others mentioned in their reviews elsewhere, there is a very tight hairpin bend which requires a three-point-turn to negotiate. This hair-pin bend probably doubles as an awkard and tight passing place, I reckon, as once committed on the road, there is pretty much nowehere else to pass others. So, in additon to the narrow, steep and potholed road, my concern was what would happen if we did happen to encounter oncoming traffic, as somebody is potentially going to have to reverse a long way, maybe even 200-300 yards or more, and that might be in the dark and on steep sections of narrow road or in an area where there is a steep unfenced slope downwards on one side. I am sure the owners don't have any issues with the road as they use it every single day, but visitors, in my view, need to be wary of the narrowness, lack of frequent passing places, the steepness and generally poor condition of the road.

The property itself is very nice, but I personally would not use the word "luxury" as I saw in one advert. We liked the log burner and the kitchen area, and the hot tub, too, of course. But the electric shower was underpowered and underwhelming, and the bathroom door would not close properly. The main bedroom door had a chunk missing from it on one side. The property was neat and tidy and very clean.

The main entrance door needed a forceful upward push on the handle to allow you to lock the door. And then a good downward push to allow you to unlock it again. I'm sure if just needs a minor adjustment, though.

We had no direct contact or in-person welcome or farewell from the hosts. In fact we never saw anyone whatseover for the duration of our stay. We did get a couple of queries answered by text message, though.

Frances J. G.

Arb