Great place to stay, huge space, amazing facilities and very clean

Extremely disappointing experience

I would strongly advise people to think twice before booking through Sleeps 12. Unfortunately, our experience was extremely disappointing from start to finish.

From the moment we arrived at the property, there was a strong smell of drains/septic tanks, which was immediately noticeable. We were told that this was a known issue, but rather than improving, the smell got progressively worse throughout our stay. It was incredibly unpleasant and had a significant impact on our enjoyment of the property and our holiday.

What has made the situation even more frustrating is the way our £750 refund/deposit has been handled.

We were provided with confirmation that there were no damages to the property following our stay. Despite this, £750 has been withheld from us. We have repeatedly tried to resolve the matter, but so far the money has not been returned.

I find this completely unacceptable. If you have written confirmation that there are no damages, there is no reasonable explanation for withholding such a substantial amount of money.

The whole experience has left us feeling extremely frustrated and disappointed. A holiday rental company should be dealing with problems transparently and fairly, particularly when customers have paid a significant amount of money for their stay.

We have given Sleeps 12 the opportunity to resolve this directly, but as the £750 remains outstanding, we will now be taking the matter further.

Based on our experience, I would not recommend booking with Sleeps 12. The property had a serious ongoing drainage/septic tank smell, the issue became worse during our stay, and we are now having to chase the return of £750 despite having confirmation that there was no damage.

Hopefully this review will encourage the company to take customer complaints more seriously and, most importantly, return money that is being withheld without a valid reason.

Hillydays or Foxhill Lodge as it is known locally is a very well appointed and modern accommodation on the edge of the Devon and Somerset border. It is quite remote and access is via a very narrow lane when approaching from the south. A better route is via the village of Culmstock. Although still narrow it is a little easier. We had prebooked access from 2pm and arrived half an hour early. We were happy to wait in the car but were advised that the people before us had not left on time and so there would be a delay. We were told to come back in an hour which we did and were then able to unpack the cars. It is worth noting that on the day of departure you have to be gone by 9.30am which does means an early start. We booked an Ocado delivery which was excellent. We really enjoyed the swimming pool, hot tub, BBQ lodge and pizza oven. Everything worked as it should. Wi-Fi was bit flaky but we were able to use the adjacent properties Wi-Fi which was solid. We don't think we met the owners or anyone who appeared to be in charge. There were always a number of people in the vicinity but we missed a nice welcome and explanation of what was available, how things worked and what was nearby. Maybe the owners were on holiday? What we did not expect and had no warning of was the noise made by the cattle whose fields and pens were right next to the property. There was no way of sleeping past 6am with the noise they made which really spoilt the atmosphere and relaxing break were were hoping for. On one days they were injecting the whole herd all day so the noise was unbearable. No one came to warn us or apologise. Had we known we would probably have gone out for the day. Of course cattle also means flys and wasps of which there were many and although various insect traps were around the house it was impossible to keep them at bay. All in all we had a good time but I wonder if another property might have suited us better. No review we read mentioned the cattle or the insects and I wonder if they are excluded. We shall definitely look closer at the details and location next time.

Update 17 Aug 2026 - Thank you for your reply however what you actually say in the description is "Many moons ago, Hillydays was a wagon shed, tucked away behind the farmhouse on a busy working farm in the Blackdown Hills. Spin forward to today and it’s a luxury group holiday house that sleeps 10 in 5 bedrooms and has something for all ages - a private hot tub, a Nordic style BBQ lodge, outdoor table tennis AND use of a heated outdoor pool* from April to October." What this actually implies is that it is no longer a busy working farm and that was how we interpreted it. To try and justify the noise and insects by only quoting part of the description is misleading.

We arrived at a stunning property that was immaculately presented. When we had occasion to call the office they responded promptly and apart from one occasion, professionally. We had an issue with the Bi fold door and freezer and these were dealt with promptly and with out fuss. An excellent company to deal with.

Awful filthy property, and defensive unhelpful customer service from Sleeps 12. Awful attitude from landlady of property Hill View/Hares Barton. She knew she had what she termed "difficult guests" the week before we arrived, yet the property was filthy on arrival, food all over the kitchen, bedrooms covered in dust and dirt, even on the bedding! Unhygienic debris left in toilets and ant infestation in the kitchen, crawling all over the work surfaces and food prep areas, it wa so unhygienic we were in disbelief, how can you pay over £7.5k and land up arriving to a filthy property. We have plenty of pictures and videos to evidence this. Attitude of Landlady was appalling, offered for us to leave, when she knew it was not possible. Would not recommend booking this and would advise to steer well clear of this property and sleeps 12, they were no use whatsoever and did the standard we investigated, but clearly hadn't as their email had incorrect info and lacked info on the plethora of issues we faced, it was a standard format company scripted email. We spent 4 hours cleaning the property on arrival it was that bad! Sadly Sleeps 12, your response to my factually correct review is incorrect. Photographic and video evidence was sent to the landlady which she was asked to forward to Sleeps 12, if she didn't forward them to you that is not our issue. However, we have all kept the evidence and would gladly upload it to Trustpilot for potential customers to make their own decision on.

Stayed at Teds Place for the weekend & while the space was nice, the place is quite run down, marks all over the walls, coffee machine that was full of old coffee in the funnel so was unusual-able & all the sinks and showers didn’t drain properly which meant after they had been used there was an awful smell (we think coming from the septic tank) which meant we couldn’t open the windows. It is a nice place but considering the cost it should be kept in a better condition.

We spent a week at Garden Court and had a wonderful holiday.
The house is as per the pictures and even better in real life. Everywhere was extremely clean and the property is clearly well maintained.
The pool was a hit with all the family and we made good use.
The garden was huge and felt very tranquil.
What a beautiful location as well.
We enjoyed time at the vineyard, box hill, local walks and it was only a short drive into Dorking.
We will definitely be back.

Everything was perfect, lovely hosts amazing location would visit again

Excellent experience from booking through to holiday.
Good information on the property ( I particularly value floor plans for multi generational holidays) activities and surrounding area.
Beautiful property in lovely setting, plenty of space for us all.

Coat Barn has everything you need and more. With 14 of us at ranging from 13-80 we had plenty of room to spread out. Swimming Pool is Super and games room great for the younger adults.

Lovely time again at Ham Bottom - so relaxing and great space for family get together.

Dream Days is in a lovely location and it is well appointed, our holiday there with our family was idyllic; my one major gripe was the lack of attention to detail when it came to how the property was presented. My wife and myself had to sweep both sides of the pool area prior to the arrival of our guests due to the amount of dead flys and dust which had accumulated. The hot tub/table tennis area was full of dead leaves, the iron wasn't cleaned (it had burnt clothing stuck to the bottom). We slept in the annex which had crayon on the wall, the pool table had a mixture of both pool and small snooker balls and finally the patio dining area had food stuck to the floor. These are all minor issues which are easy to rectify and not what I would expect from a high end rental property. I would still be happy to recommend this property to any large family/group as it does offer so much.

First time using sleeps 12 and it was amazing. Definitely worth 5*. Easy to book, description given matched the property perfectly. All details were concise and easy to follow. A great experience. Thoroughly recommend and will definitely use again. Thank you and well done.

Cottage exactly as described.
Wonderful place for extended family group.
Ideal area for exploring.

Beautiful farmhouse in a fantastic setting 20 minutes from Taunton. The owners were friendly, informative and made us feel very welcome
Would definitely return!

Great venue & location, very clean and well maintained

The ease of booking , seamless.
Friendliness when speaking to someone.
Efficient and keeping us informed .
Would definitely use SLEEPS12 again.

Fantastic house in a good location, plenty of space and all the furniture and kitchen utensils that you need.
The booking process with Sleeps 12 was smooth and easy with good communications.

Another outstanding stay! You can’t fault this place. Everyone had the best time.