Sawday's

I experienced a sub-standard holiday property listed on the Sawday’s website recently. The description on Sawday’s painted a fantastic picture of a Cornish Inn that combined the best of old and modern. What I and my family experienced was £140 per night for a very basic, small family room in a pub that had no authentic character and indeed closed before 10pm. Upon indicating this to the customer services team at Sawday’s they told me that they “simply recommend” properties”. This was clearly not the case since their whole business model is predicated on proactively encouraging customers to consider spending more money on superior properties which have some level of character to them. I am genuinely disappointed - Sawday’s used to be a gold standard but now they appear to have become nothing better than a database. The property in question was only inspected two years ago but they clearly had no interest in generating an updated inspection report. All so plastic and such a shame - Sawday’s used to have impeccable standards but something has changed for the worse.

We wanted a short get-away around Valentine's day and booked 2 nights under Sawdays/Times 2 for 1 offer at Abbey House in beautiful Suffolk countryside. Bed and Breakfast was excellent value in the lovely old (rather draughty) house with comfy beds and furniture and log fires in the lounge. Although very quietly located it was not far from a traditional village which served good food at reasonable prices. During the day time we visited lots of antique shops, Woodbridge and the coast at Aldeburgh - fantastic weather for February. Owner, Sue, was very friendly, helpful and hospitable.

I always use Sawdays before any other site when looking for places to stay in the UK. I’ve stayed in more than 20 of their listed places over a few years and have never been disappointed. I also use them for Europe. Also, the promotional offers they have, linking with other organisations are such good value.

We've been using Sawdays books & site for nearly 15 years, having stumbled across the French B&B guide in a bookshop when planning our first holiday together. Since then we've stayed at unique, original, quirky, boutique places across western Europe & the UK and almost without fail have loved them. In a cluttered, user-generated content world, it's so refreshing to get quality curation and genuine recommendations by experts. Thanks Team Sawdays :-)

We used the Sawdays deal to enjoy an excellent visit to the Alexandra Hotel in Lyme Regis. The room overlooked the sea and the iconic cob breakwall. THe food was very good and staff most helpful. A great trip.

We stayed in a property in Spain which turned out to be dangerous (electrical and safety issues) and with constant building noise which forced us to cut short our stay by a week. The owner promised a refund but after stalling for a week subsequently refused and then threatened us if we left any negative reviews. One month later and he has stolen our money. Whilst this isn’t directly the fault of Sawdays, when we reported our experience to them they have still chosen to retain the property on their books. This is apparently following a review of the accommodation and all we got back was a slightly sarcastic message saying how nice it was. (It’s a lovely location but a dangerous property). It seems that the owner has sweet talked them. Either that, or collecting commission is the only thing that matters to them.

**Sawday’s only publish the positive reviews, PLEASE READ **
Our family rented one of their properties El Canuelo, Periana for a month and had to leave early after an awful experience.
The property was not safe, had dangerous electrics, constant building works, a wild and viscous dog, rodents in the house and lethal drops which made it completely unsafe for young children, a filthy pool full of dead insects which we had to clean ourselves daily (these are just some of the issues).
The property has no licence to rent out, which is a legal requirement in Spain.
After weeks of no sleep the owner agreed we could leave early and he would give us our money back, however he hasn’t paid us, so basically swindled us out of money.
Sawday’s have taken no responsibility and are only interested in the fee they receive for advertising this property. They do not care about the safety of guests.
I tried to review the property itself and was told “we only publish positive reviews”
This to me is scandalous as people should be able to place reviews whether good or bad.
The fact that El Canuelo has only received a handful of reviews in a number of years speaks volumes.
I would avoid this booking company at all costs.
We are now having to go through the courts to recover our money.

Generous welcome pack.
comfy kingsize bed
fluffy towels
constant hot water
magnificent garden
delightful wild flower meadow and river
friendly hospitable owners
all one could ask for.