Walnut House. A 5 star joke.
Started off our holiday by waiting outside the gates 20 minutes past our arrival time, while presumably family members - left what we later learned was our pool area. We were told the cleaners hadn't left yet, and they never did.
Because there weren't any.
And a little taken aback by how close other properties were to the holiday house. All pictures and descriptions give the illusion of a very private, somewhat isolated home.
Upon first glance the property is beautiful. The rooms are accessorised to a very nice standard and the wallpaper in the living room is stunning. The layout of the house is perfect for large groups and families.
And the welcome basket was a generous and unexpected surprise. The view from the deck, although just a field - is absolutely gorgeous morning and night.
Unfortunately that's were the good bit ends.
On closer inspection, the rooms all had dirty, stained towels in that had been neatly folded back on their towel racks, the ceiling vents haven't been dusted in at least a year. The window sils were very dusty and grubby. Every en suite had a problem with low water pressure, a shower head that loosely swung in to the wall, no sealant round the shower doors or what was left had gone mouldy. The washing machine was mouldy. The dishwasher absolutely stank. The babygate is broken. We had no hoover for a week despite asking. The wifi was almost unusable when turned on - and kept being turned off. The Tvs are old and out dated. The reclining sofa doesn't recline and has seen better days. The living room rugs are slippery death traps with no grips underneath. The deck is falling apart and/or badly repaired in lots of places - the furniture out there seems in good enough shape, although no swing - we learned all of the pictures are at least 3 years old from the previous owners.
There's an ant nest under the garden table. The warning tape for trip hazards has all but faded in to oblivion.
The smell of chlorine from the hot tub - that has no working lights, is nauseating.
The changing rooms in the pool area have had fresh loo roll plonked in but haven't been cleaned in God knows how long.
The games room had no chalk for the pool table and a ceiling fan ready to take flight and break free from its fixtures.
The highchair was absolutely rotten.
The main attraction- the pool. Was nice and warm the day we arrived and got progressively colder to the point it was obvious it had been turned off. The filter was never on, the pumps were on once after several complaints. The water was filled with particles, murky and cloudy, stunk of chlorine and absolutely wasn't tested even once during our stay. In the end we simply had to stop using it 3 days in to our stay because we didn't want to freeze our children or give them e coli and legionnaires. The filter that had been turned off became a trip hazard and seriously injured an elderly womans toe. While every single one of us came down with red, itchy arms and rashes that were nothing to do with the sun. John told us we didn't understand that our bodies were making the pool seem cold and that 28 degrees is the optimal temperature for - which for a baby/family pool it is not. We checked and it was well under 20.
He also made claims to have completely drained and cleaned the hot tub - which would have been impossible in the timeframe before arrival. It hadn't been cleaned at all, the debris from the past guests was still floating around.
Not only did he ignore us when we made complaints or asked for the amenities we were meant to have, when he did turn up he was incredibly condescending, rude and argumentative. We asked to use a hoover twice and he just pretended we never asked, despite there being 2 in the locked room off of the pool area.
He also made a habit of smoking in the garden at night, making repeated visits when he didn't think we were in or awake, and wandering around downstairs. The fridges were all turned down so low they were practically off. Globs of dried cement plopped around the pool, the ceiling in the pool room is flaking off and the tiles are cracked and need replacing - on the stairs in particular where the children and us cut their feet several times. No BBQ as listed. The parking definitely wasn't private as multiple people had access. The garden is overlooked by another house and John likes the walk in whenever he wants to - unless you need him for something, then he is nowhere to be seen. Not great for all ages or abilities at all. It was hazardous to all of us.
We all felt uncomfortable, disappointed and misled.
We hadn't realised the house had changed hands and since all of the 5 star ratings, hasn't been awarded anything and in fact had been removed from lists that used to highlight Walnut House as one of the best places to stay. Every review mentioning problems is dismissed as malicious or outright lied about - both fridges in the kitchens have missing shelves and the main fridge has only 1 left.
Everything was made to appear clean but wasn't. Much like the pool.
Not to mention the paint cans, bits of wood with rusty nails sticking out and whatever else chucked beside the pool house. As for security none of the pool or game room doors lock which leaves the main house unsecured. And we set up a baby monitor after some suspicious activity and caught the owner and his family in and out of the house all day while we were out.
For the £2300 we paid, and the 5 star luxury we were expecting, it's a bitter pill to swallow. We'd heard of Walnut House years ago and had looked forward to a time we could all enjoy it here ever since.
What happened was not only false advertising but dangerous negligence. Our children could have been made ill or suffered injury. If this had been 3 stars and half the price, it still would have been too much and too many. In fact, I've stayed in 3 star Travelodges with much higher standards. Absolutely creepy and incredibly disappointing after all the years of waiting and the year of excitement building up to our visit. Perhaps John's aggressive behaviour comes from the fact he simply cannot manage this place, does not know how to maintain any of it, and does not want to put the money in to anyone else helping. They were given an amazing legacy and such wonderful foundations and instead of taking on the challenge with pride for such a beautiful property and fantastic location - piggybacked on the hopes that someone else's reputation will always be enough. It certainly is not.
Our last day was also marred by the fact the cooker kept tripping the electricity - which John also didn't know how to fix although knew it was an issue. Despite leaving the cooker alone from morning until gone 9 at night, turning the cooker on made a loud bang and sent us all in to darkness again. 5 stars indeed.
All bookings are direct with the owner 