“Didn't start well, I have to say.”
Arrived at the property, in early evening to find no welcome pack of any description. No information about the property, how to open the back doors, how to operate the hob, crucially absolutely no contact details at all despite JB website advising we contact the owner. Given we weren't given contact details in advance and had assumed they'd be within some kind of information or welcome pack (but weren't) this was problematic at 5.30pm on a Friday evening. In fact, the only information we did receive were these hideous little plastic coated notes everywhere telling us what we couldn't do - from using fake tan on towels to the ominous threats if we didn't clean the bbq. This isn't some 1970's boarding house and there is no place for these hideous little notes. Of course you expect people to leave it clean after them but this could have been communicated much more elegantly and without causing irritation or offence by incorporating it into the information pack. A bottle of local wine, tea coffee and cornish biscuits sitting beside the information pack, as well as some local information and tips about parking at Rock would have gone a considerable way to sweetened the pill of any restrictions or requirements within the information pack. It pretty much put us off using the bbq but in the end, on the last day, we braved risking the ire of the cleaning staff only to find once the cover was lifted it was absolutely filthy! Six of us spent half an hour cleaning everything down as it was entirely covered in grease. We left it in very much a better state than we found it and I'd very much like the £30 you intended to charge for having to do this job! To make matters worse we found the wifi code we'd been sent by John Bray was incorrect (it was quoted in the email as TRE). So we had no wifi, no way to contact John Bray. (Once you arrive at the property and login to see your booking it no longer appears on the system because it is no longer an upcoming booking nor a past booking - so there was no way to use the contact link). For a premium booking - and lovely as the house is, £6k is pretty toppy even in August - this lack of any kind welcome or information left us feeling underwhelmed. No wifi, no information pack, no basic supplies for an arrival cup of tea and no way to contact JB given it was a Friday evening - nor indeed the owner as the website advised because you hadn't provided us or left us with any information to contact anyone. By the time we sorted out the rooms and sent someone out for supplies even the chipshop had closed (8pm) so really not a great start to our holiday. No one is suggesting (as JB intimated in a previous review for Albany in St Isaac for another guest I noted) that this is anything more than a self catering property. No one expects the fridge to have been filled upon arrival but if JB don't understand the concept of hospitality in the premium property rentals market they should stick to the end of the pool where their skills better match the target market. We've rented over 30 properties in the area in the last 12 years and even the humblest of those left a pint of milk, biscuits and a few tea bags. Two dishwasher tabs, a single toilet roll per bathroom and the tiniest J-cloth imaginable felt mean spirited - and short sighted. We gave the house a thorough tidy up and basic clean before we left but it would have made your cleaning staff's lives much easier had we been left washing up liquid, spray cleaner and a decent pack of cleaning clothes. I mean seriously, who pays £6k for a week in Rock and then steals a pack of cleaning clothes? And even if they did, would it matter in the scheme of things? I strongly suspect that given the efforts they've gone to and passion the owner clearly has for their property, the lack of any warmth in the welcome was incongruous. We searched everywhere and found nothing to help us navigate the property which was a shame because it took us several days to work out if the top oven was a microwave or oven or how to use an induction. We never managed to solve the rubiks cube of the doors which we strongly suspect pull back entirely. We were a little concerned given previous reviews as to how clean we would find the property but we had no issues at all with the house other than the revolting state of the bbq. We were contacted in advance to advise us that the pool cue tips were missing and these would be supplied asap. Two parcels did arrive, neither seemed to be the likely cues (one required refrigeration) so we bought some ourselves from Padstow. But I noticed a review posted a review dated 5 weeks before our stay and pointed this out so I'm not sure why this couldn't have been organised weeks earlier since the games room is clearly a key feature of the property. A small gripe on the upstairs bedroom with the ensuite - the bed base needs replacing. It has no springs or slats just a solid timber base and is incredibly uncomfortable. The other beds all had proper divans, and were absolutely fine. This one was more like a table with a cover on the top and duvets shoved under it. So in summary, a lovely house, manageable distance from the beach given parking is a bit of a nightmare down there, clean and tidy. Too many blankets and cushions however and given the restricted space in two of the five bedrooms these were a pain to find somewhere to put them where they wouldn't get dusty. 4.5 stars all in. However, in terms of the service from John Bray this let it down and without a shadow of doubt made us feel once we'd paid the rental cost, that was it, their job was done and they had no interest in doing anything to make our holiday special or to feel welcomed. And that did, without doubt, affect our perception of this property and of John Bray. Personally I'd be getting a premium agency to handle this home if it was mine.
Thank you for taking the time to provide such detailed feedback. We are sorry your stay didn’t start very well and that there was no information about the property; we are in the process of replacing the information folders and apologise nothing was left in the interim. There should have been a contact number for John Bray in the ‘key collection’ email that was sent prior to your arrival but we apologise if this was not obvious in our communications. We do acknowledge that being given the incorrect Wifi code has clearly impacted on your ability to get hold of any one at John Bray when you arrived and we are very sorry for this oversight.
The provision of welcome packs / hampers is very much at the owner’s discretion so we are sorry that these are not made available for this particular property.
We appreciate your positive comments about the property itself but are disappointed that John Bray’s customer service did not match up on this occasion.
We do hope that we get the opportunity to welcome you back to Cornwall in the future. John Bray Cornish Holidays on behalf of the owner. Property Owner