Here are some of our frequently asked questions and their answers.
Why can’t we leave our dog in the cottage when we go out? We do at home and (s)he’s fine.
We are dog-lovers and have dogs of our own. However, you should only bring your dog with you on holiday if you really want to have a holiday with your dog! In other words, we kindly ask that you don’t view your holiday accommodation as a cheaper alternative to kennels. Your pet will be in a strange environment and, if left alone, can become stressed, anxious and frightened. We have had a number of instances of dogs barking and crying for hours on end. In the worst cases, they have caused serious and expensive damage in an effort to free themselves.
We’d like to arrange a supermarket delivery to our holiday accommodation. Can we have the post code please?
Please please don’t, if you can possibly help it! Most of the main supermarkets have blocked lower Bay postcodes and won’t deliver there anyway. Lower Bay has a single-track tarmacced road with only 2 turning points and not many passing places. The supermarket delivery vans block up the village and cause traffic chaos in a place that is already difficult to manoeuvre in.
If you are passing through Whitby on your way here, there is a Sainsbury’s and an Aldi on the main road out of Whitby. If you are coming through Scarborough, there is a big Morrisons on the A64 just before you get to Scarborough. It would help the village enormously if you could shop before you arrive. Alternatively, there are two local stores in the village – Station Road Stores at the top and Muir Lea Stores down the bottom.
I’ve left my phone charger in the cottage. Do I really have to pay £15 to have it returned to me?
Yes, I’m afraid £15 is the minimum retrieval and return fee for items that are left in our properties. This is because we can only retrieve your belongings when the property is empty and one of us is available at that time to collect it. It’s a 12-mile round-trip for us. Then we have to parcel it up, queue up at the Post Office and pay the postage. It’s no mean feat and we definitely lose on the deal! We would much rather that you had a seriously good look around your holiday accommodation before you set off for home. Pay particular attention to phone-chargers (of course) but also check under beds, behind doors and in drawers. These are the places where most belongings are left.
After we vacate the cottage, we would like to spend some time in the village before we go home. Can we keep the parking permit/cottage keys for a couple of hours?
Again, I’m afraid not. It’s vital that the we know that the keys and parking permit are in place for the next guests (who may be arriving shortly after you leave) so we ask that you please return them to their respective places by 10am on the day that you vacate.
Can we leave a little later than 10am? / Can we arrive earlier than 3pm?
Our cottages are cleaned by independent companies rather than by us. Not many people live in Robin Hood’s Bay so it’s very difficult to find good reliable cleaners. More often than not, they will have more than one cottage to clean and they only have between 10am and 3pm in which to do it. It wouldn’t be fair for us to interfere with their work schedules or to reduce the time that they have to get their cottages prepared for arriving guests. Therefore we would politely ask that you don’t arrive before 3pm and also that you vacate by 10am.