A week or so before we arrived we received a phone call to advise us that we were being moved to a different lodge as our booked lodge had been closed for maintenance. As it was the same type of lodge that was OK.
As we arrived via the decking, we noticed huge amounts of grasses etc from the mini lake spread over and through the decking railings. Completely unkempt ad preventing us from reaching parts of the edge of the balcony area.
The hot tub cover was so filthy, we didn't even consider opening it to see what it might have been like inside.
We walked into the lodge to find that it hadn't been cleaned as throughly as it might have been. Remnants of breakfast from the previous occupants remained on the dining table. Two drinking glasses were cracked. No kitchen scissors. Several of the individual vertical blinds fell off their runners as soon as we tried to open or close them; others were twisted. The result was we couldn't close them as night drew in. This resulted in a degree of loss of privacy. Several of the Roman blinds were broken and wouldn't rise or drop, so again, these were all useless.
A wall downlight wasn't working.
Then we noticed an unpleasant smell. I investigated to find that the dog waste bin at the side of he lodge was absolutely full of poo bags that clearly hadn'tt been emptied for along time. Either that or the previous occupants had a very busy dog!!
In both bedrooms the wardrobes were in poor condition. The velvety material along the inside vertical edges to prevent the metal edges of the sliding doors rubbing against each other were hanging off and simply dangling loosely.
In the twin bedroom ensuite the water pressure was so powerful that when we turned on the tap it hit the angled inside edge of the washbasin with such force that it shot into their and cascaded over the top of the washbasin and poured over the front like a shower down the under-basin drawers and into a pool on the floor having first absolutely drenched my wife. It was incredibly difficult to open the tap by just a small amount, so effectively that tap was out of commission throughout the holiday because their plumber wasn't due on site during our stay. The tap in the main ensuite washbasin was only marginally better, but we still had splashes of water over us every time we used the tap.
The smart TV wasn't so smart and although we had a reasonable wi-fi signal we couldn't get any of the steaming services as the smart TV could find an internet connection.
Never mind, we could always listen to music through the ceiling speakers. No we couldn't! Despite following the detailed instructions that were sent to us beforehand and which were also in the lodge, the system was clearly not working.
Olivia, the manager came to visit us and couldn't have been more helpful. She was a breath of fresh air and didn't try to make any excuses. She was a credit to the site and accepted that what we were faced with was totally unacceptable. She came back the following day with another manager, but couldn't fix the TV and sound systems, although she did neaten up the blinds, which fell apart again as soon as we tried to use them.
She offered compensation without being asked and what she offered was more than acceptable, acknowledging the awful situation we found ourselves. This was her saving grace, but it still didn't make up for a rather dirty lodge, with limited privacy, taps that showered us and soaked the floor, and not allowing us to come 'home' from dining out and relaxing in front of the TV as we might in our own home.
We checked out the next door lodge, which we should have been staying at. We couldn't see inside, but workmen's materials were evident thought the windows. If we thought our balcony was bad, we were glad we didn't end up in that one! It was totally overgrown and any view of the lake was completely (and I mean 'completely') obscured.
Aside from Olivia, I must also mention Tom, a young man soon off to University who greeted us very professionally and confidently when we checked in. He looked after us in the restaurant on our first night and always acknowledged us whenever he saw us on our numerous visits to the main house.
