Racquety Farm — Hotel in Great Britain

Abysmal!

Where do I start? ....

I'm 30 this year and co-own a holiday let and serviced accommodation management company, so very familiar with the general expectations and procedures within the industry.

We booked the Sheppard's Hut for a quiet family getaway. Although we had second thoughts about booking, after being told by the host they were "too busy for these questions", we still booked and got told we couldn't check-in until 3pm which is pretty standard; we arrived at 15:15 and the Sheppard Hut still hadn't been touched. We were told we'd need to wait for 20 - 30 minutes for it to be cleaned and set up. We said we'd just leave the car as we had planned to go in to the town with family (that were staying elsewhere) anyway.

Apparently it's pet friendly; they should certainly take that off their listing! We parked the car next to the Sheppard's hut, so baring in mind we were in a field ... our dog (a (really) small golden Cocker Spaniel), jumped out of the car and the man (I nearly accidentally typed gentleman then!), came over and said abruptly that dogs should be on leads; we said no problem and I opened the back door to grab the lead (it's understandable) ... I hasn't even fully opened the door and he followed his statement with "do you want me to get a piece of string", looking at us with a smirk on his face.

My Fiance, I, my Dad and my Step Mum all looked at each other surprised. Considering we'd turned up, the hut wasn't ready and we'd not even had the slightest hint of an apology, we decided that was the last straw; we said we'd like to have our money back and stay somewhere else. We explained that he had come across very rude, so we no longer wished to stay. Furthering the decision by the fact the hut hadn't even been prepared for us (it was low season too and next to nobody else on the site).

This was responded to by "Oh, you're going to go?, okay, good".

We again looked at each other in disbelief. He disappeared off, leaving us wait for around 10 minutes before returning to inform us we'd need to wait for his wife as she had the money and had gone shopping in town. Wow! Get that, eh!

I again explained how he was rude and we wished to have out money back. He again said we'd need to wait and didn't know where his wife was.

Coincidentally, as I walked towards the house to get her mobile number off the board, she reappeared - as if by magic!

She said "no good?" I explained that we were happy to stay, however her husband had been extremely rude, so we'd prefer to take our money back and stay somewhere else. At that moment she too turned, starting to raise her voice.

I explained that she too was now becoming rude, I just wanted my money back and to leave. She stated we could have our money back, minus £20 for the inconvenience. Baffled, I explained that there couldn't have been any inconvenience as the dog was on a lead and had been within less than 5 minutes from jumping out of the car and she hadn't taken the time to clean the hut anyway. She insisted that she deducted £20.00, I insisted she didn't and asked my fiance to call the police and inform them we were having money stolen from us.

Her tone changed at that point and when she moved her hand forward with the money in, I took my money back and we left that appalling place. Whilst driving the car away, she came over to the passenger side (where my step mother was) and shouted not to come back. Again absolutely astonished and appalled by the behaviour of the "hosts", we all responded to state we certainly wouldn't be....

.... and I'd strongly advise that you don't go either!

We found an alternative place to stay, loved every second, we provided the host with a fantastic review and they did the same for us and our pup. We had an amazing time on the river and would recommend staying pretty much anywhere else other than this...

Extortionate campsite. People paying the prices, especially for the basic facilities on offer, send the message that it is okay for a campsite to charge these prices. For two people....£40 for one night. £40!! For one night, on a field with basic facilities and no hookup (we don't need it, but still, it gives you an idea). For a family of 4 for two nights with 2 small children was priced as £120.....! For a spot on a field. Since when has this become acceptable? It's just outrageous. We got them to cancel (they had to pay a cancellation fee despite being well in advance. A fee for what exactly?) and we directed them elsewhere. Perhaps the ludicrous price point is to keep down numbers on the site? Maybe... but please don't use this campsite just to make the point that it's not okay to start fleecing campers, camping is meant to be affordable and humble. I don't care if the land is organic (it's irrelevant unless you are providing home grown produce as part of the price point)and it has a pretty view..£40 a night is just wrong. Just the other week, we stopped in a lovely campsite in Cornwall, large pitches, amazing sea view, quiet, excellent clean facilities, and it was £9 a night each. We stop regularly at a great one near Ross on Wye which is £9 per adult and kids go free. We don't have kids but our friends do and we would not allow them to pay these prices. Camping over the years has gone up considerably no thanks to COVID and the demand increase, campsites like these seem to just exploit that. This is the most expensive I have come across, apart from Italy and France. For example, £37 a night, which is around the average, but it's adults only, small and sustainable, 6 pitches, has hookup and a swimming pool. Don't stop here, look around and find an acceptably priced campsite and keep prices fair, else other campsites will think this is okay and then we are all burdened with this unacceptable cost to do something that should be basic...

Good views from campsite and close to Hay on Wye. Most expensive campsite we’ve stayed at in wales but without the charm and facilities of others, and we had an unpleasant experience with the owner who was completely tactless. We happened to be right next to a group who were loud and playing music. They were perfectly nice and having a nice time, it was only 9.45, but just not the peace and quiet we were hoping for. We called up to ask if we could subtly move to a spot further away. That was our mistake, we should have just moved without the courtesy call. What ensued, was the owner tramping up to the neighbours (we had even sent a follow up text asking them not to bother them) telling them we’d complained (we hadn’t? Just wanted to move to somewhere quieter), then came loudly knocking on our van saying she could move us to a plot three doors down and ‘could we just do it now and quickly’. We said it’s ok we can move ourselves, to avoid a hullabaloo. She wasn’t having any of that. What had been a subtle attempt to move, turned into a complete song and dance. We said this and were treated with the sarcastic ‘im sorry’ and told we were unreasonable. Pretty embarrassing really. ...