The Charles Tree House - Luxury Riverside Getaway

Perfect Positive: Was all round great Negative: The double room smells bad

Great concept & secluded location, but let down by poor maintenance, cleanliness and safety issues. Positive: The location is excellent - secluded enough to feel private and peaceful, yet still very close to shops and local amenities. The facilities are the real highlight: the hot tub, private sauna, and outdoor dining area with an integrated firepit were fantastic and made the stay feel special. The projector setup was a nice touch, and the property was well stocked with decent supplies, including coffee pods and basic seasoning. Kitchen roll, sponges and washing up liquid provided (but no dishwasher tablets...so be prepared to hand wash everything!). Negative: Unfortunately, the stay was let down by a number of basic maintenance, cleanliness, communication, and safety issues. Before going to sleep on our first night, we checked that all doors and windows were locked and discovered that one of the double doors in the main house doesn’t lock at all. As it was already midnight, we had no option but to move the sofa in front of the door and go to bed, which didn’t feel reassuring. We stayed in the annexe down the steps on the second night, as that could be securely locked. This annexe / double bedroom with an ensuite is newer and nicely done, but the shower leaks and clearly needs tightening or repair. There was also a persistent sewage/damp smell in the main house, particularly noticeable in the bunk-bed room and airing cupboard. General upkeep was poor: dust, cobwebs, large spiders, and light bulbs in need of replacement. The hot tub had broken pieces of equipment floating in it, and the projector remote is missing its backing, leaving the batteries exposed. Cleanliness in the bathrooms was disappointing. Although the toilets had been bleached, in both bathrooms there were visible marks where they hadn’t been properly cleaned. The cookware is in very poor condition - the non-stick pans are so scratched that we couldn’t even cook an egg without half of it sticking. If you’re planning to stay, I’d recommend bringing oven food or just ordering from Deliveroo. It would also really benefit from a few practical additions, such as hooks for towels, a clothes rail or small wardrobe for coats and clothes, and a stove thermometer for the log burner to help guests use it safely and properly. Communication before arrival was also poor. Messages via Booking.com and email went unanswered, and we only got responses after calling or texting the owner directly. Booking.com also incorrectly lists check-in as 2pm - it’s actually 3pm.

Perfect stay Positive: The tree house was idyllic, in the most beautiful location. Very peaceful and situated looking over the river with just the noise of bird song. The owners were very responsive and answered all our queries. All the amenities came with instructions and were easy to use. The hot tub and sauna made it feel like a spa getaway. Me and the girls had the best time and will definitely be returning.

great property to stay at and an exceptional Positive: This was a lovely property me my partner and the kids enjoyed the stay so much the host is exceptional when we arrived he was there to greet us show us round the whole place and showed us how everything worked and gifted us a gift basket as we were the first booking at this property which was a lovely touch we would highly recommend staying here to anyone wanting a break away with the family