We booked Kalami at relatively short notice ( our family holiday in France had been cancelled due to CV-19) and were grateful to be able to find somewhere but .. it was very expensive. We have been staying in three + bedroom bungalows in Bracklesham Bay for several decades, though never before through Henry Adams. When booking I questioned the price which was nearly £500 more for the week than any other bungalow we had previously booked. It looked as though they were capitalising from CV19 but Laura told me that it was the same price as last year!!
So obviously were expecting superior accommodation! However you will see from the notes that there were some problems. The new doors were not a good fit, they rattled, and our grandson was trapped in the bathroom because the lock failed. HA had to send out someone to replace it! The Internal door to the garage was also faulty though that was not repaired whilst we were there, it was extremely difficult to lock and unlock! The shower in the bathroom did not work at all and it was not mended until five days into a seven day holiday! There is a VERY dangerous step from the lounge into the utility/shower area and our granddaughter was fortunately not badly hurt, just upset, shaken and a bit bruised when she was being carried to the shower to wash the sand off her feet (because, being considerate tenants we did not want her to spread sand in the bungalow!) and they had a very alarming, and frightening fall because the step is disguised! If she had been seriously hurt that would have been HA’s, or the owner’s, liability!! There were several other, more minor, issues that we did highlight to HA and so we courteously requested a refund to ‘reflect’ the difficulties we had experienced. However, on behalf of HA Laura refused to do so. She said they did not give refunds ‘unfortunately we are not able to offer and reductions post stay’! However, we had pointed out the problems immediately, spoken to both the handyman and the cleaner (to whom we were supposed to report any problems and they both agreed with the various concerns that we raised. We could also have emphasised how dangerous, and heavy, the d/w door was because it dropped down suddenly and we think the spring had gone, but we decided just to be very careful with it. We have behaved reasonably and raised relevant, and serious, concerns but do not believe that HA has been equally fair with us. Maybe we need an independent adjudicator? We have obviously retained all the relevant documentation.
HA indicated the price was reasonable, we have already shown details of a similar rental property, for next year, at considerably lower price than their charge for Kalami this year. Also we could not have known of any of the issues with Kalami before we were actually staying at the property!!
So considering the facts:
1) a considerably above average rental for the property, which we only paid because it was short notice and our plans for our regular trip to France had been cancelled due to CV-19
2) significant, and dangerous, problems with the facilities within the property. We have been fair and reasonable in our assessment and obviously we would not be inclined to recommend, or rent, via HA again.