Captains Cottage - Whitstable

Reviewed by Helen 12th October 2026

Captains Cottage is really not fit for holiday habitation at all and should not be on the market. It is neglected, dirty and substandard. We could not have stayed there comfortably or at all so had to leave straight away and find alternative accommodation. I asked for a full refund as this property fell very far below the reasonable standard to bRead moree expected from holiday accommodation at this price level. I would highlight in particular: First appearance is bad with grubby door in need of maintenance Keys are very stiff and hard to work need WD40 The smell on entering is stale and musty, as if the house hasnt been cleaned in a while, which it probably hasnt Kitchen is old, tired and dirty drawers have crumbs and dirt in them, ovens are filthy, fallen shelves and old rubbish, really dirty pans The chairs in the dining area are tired and chipped. There is a superfluous childs high chair, old and yellowed Most windows in the house are filthy Window in sitting room is dirty and shutters dont work and are falling loose The garden is a disgrace with weeds, dirt, rubbish, dead plants, rusty items left around and generally depressing and horrible The so-called garden room with wifi is locked with no key and standing directly outside it there is no wifi There is no wifi in the house; this should be standard in any holiday accommodation in this day and age The contact information in the ring binder is completely wrong one of the numbers is disconnected, the other was answered by someone who used to manage the property 5 years ago and then declined to do so due to the number of complaints she asked us to erase her number but we have left this to you The fittings in the upstairs bathroom are tired and grubby and the WC was not very clean There was a laundry basket containing dirty towels in the bathroom If I had booked this cottage via Airbnb I might have expected some slightly less than ideal features in the accommodation as these are not always professionally managed and are often someones home, not a professional holiday let as this was held out as being. In this case, I booked the accommodation through Holiday Cottages, a specialist holiday cottage rental company with an extensive portfolio. I would therefore expect them to carry out regular inspections of all the properties which they let and/or manage to ensure that they are up to the high standard that clients booking through them would expect. Clearly this did not happen in this case and what we found on entering the property was frankly unsuitable for even short term habitation. You could smell as soon as you opened (the almost unopenable door) that the house was damp, musty and neglected. I provided full details and over a hundred photos demonstrating how disgusting this property was, and which justified our leaving straight away and spending a great deal of money finding somewhere else to stay at short notice. That weekend in Whitstable was to celebrate my 70th birthday with my husband, daughter and son-in-law and this ghastly property really put a damper on this. Holiday Cottages offered me a measly 20% refund and I shall be taking them to court to recover the rest. I reiterate that I expect a full refund of what I paid for this deeply substandard accommodation, as this property fell so far below the reasonable standard to be expected from holiday accommodation at this price level booked through a professional holiday accommodation company. Indeed, I will not accept anything less. Hide