Mum left 'in tears every night' over 'filthy' conditions at North Yorkshire staycation

A mum who forked out hundreds of pounds on a North Yorkshire staycation said she was left in floods of tears every night due to its "filthy" conditions.

The woman said she spent £369 on a three-day Easter break at Horseshoe Cottage in Ingleby Greenhow for herself, her husband and daughter but was left in shock at the state of the venue. The mum - who asked to remain anonymous - said the Sykes Cottages let was covered in mould and needed a full refurbishment.

The school worker said other issues included a blocked toilet, rusty oven, the TV 'falling off the wall' and general 'filth'. She said the family previously used Sykes Cottages during the Covid pandemic but did not experience any problems.

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The family told Teesside Live they booked the break as other family members were staying at their home but said they debated making the one hour drive back to Stamford Bridge and sleeping in their car.

The mum said: "We arrived on Good Friday and were stuck until Monday. We did debate on the Sunday going home and sleeping outside of our house in the car it was that bad. We went out early and came back late. We tried to spend as little time as possible there.

"When the toilet blocked it made life even worse. It was ridiculous, I was in shock really. It would have taken a week, fortnight, a month to have it cleaned all out. There was mould on all the wood it would take more than someone coming round with a duster to fix.

"I just cried every night when we were going back to the cottage. Inside the cooker should have been condemned, it was full of rust. We took a load of food to save a bit of money but just ate out every night as we didn't want to take anything out."

'I wouldn't go back there if someone paid me'

The 53-year-old said they were given some antibacterial wipes from one of the nearby pubs and the family wore flip flops in the shower as didn't want to stand on the floor. The holidaymakers said they complained to Sykes' customer service team but when they asked for a full refund they claim the company said the owner was only able to offer a 30% discount should they want to return to the cottage.

The mum said: "I'm quite an anxious person and didn't want any confrontation with the owner. I wouldn't go back there if someone paid me. Sykes is a reputable firm and I felt safe in the knowledge Syke's would help and get us a refund but they haven't. There was years of grime."

The family say there are now hundreds of pounds out of pocket and wasted a holiday. The mum added: "We all work long and hard to earn time away, I don't want others to experience this. The accommodation was filthy."

In response, spokesperson for Sykes Holiday Cottages said: “We are sorry to hear that [name of guest's] experience didn’t meet our usual high standards. Unfortunately, we were not contacted by [name of guest] until the day prior to her departure, so we were not able to rectify this while she was there.

“However, we got in touch with the owner as soon as [name of guest] shared images after her trip to highlight the complaint. We have followed this up once again to see if the owner is willing to provide a refund and will update [name of guest] as soon as we hear back.”