Sawdays Reviews

Avoid Canopy and Stars

We booked a short break with Canopy Stars owned by Sawday s to stay in the Ferry Waiting Room located at Mohr Hotel Scotland We experienced difficulty getting the wood stove to light when we arrived which was frustrating as we told it would be lit upon arrival Over the course of the next 24 hours the weather worsened and we need to warm the children up dry wet clothes We asked for assistance as the wood provided was damp treated posts etc from the estate which is unsafe to burn in a wood stove No help was given Soon black suffocating smoke began billowing into the bothy setting the carbon monoxide detector off Despite asking for assistance none was given and over an hour later the alarm was still going and we worried about our children s well-being with the intensity of it all With night falling soon we decided to pack up and leave for safety C S put the responsibility back with the hotel and there has been no support for a refund or compensation for our damaged clothing and belongings They seemed more offended we d complained than concerned about safety Only positive reviews ever posted on their own site and a wider search on trust pilot etc shows a brand leaving customers out of pocket for high end glamping experiences Avoid at all costs

Avoid Sawadys pay by Credit card

We booked with Canopy Stars but due to Government tiers our 3rd stay at Hestleyside Huts was cancelled within minutes - we were asked if we were happy to loose 25 - but we did not cancel - we said we would re-book and the lies from Sawadays were they were fully booked so we visited the owners site it was free but they now want 3 days so our request was declined by Sawadays Covidprofiteers avoid both - and you cannot call them just leave a voice mail and two days later a message at 16 58 before they close

Holiday cancelled by owner on arrival

We booked a September holiday using Sawdays website We arrived to find the original cottage was occupied by another family who directed us to the next door cottage This cottage felt damp and the disparity we found between the Sawday website photos and the reality was shocking wheelie instead of views rubble instead of gravelled courtyard On trying to discuss this with the owner we were dismissed and told to leave Sawdays were sympathetic verbally but told us they were not a booking website and had been happy with an earlier inspection The owner effectively cancelled the holiday we had booked as the original cottage was not available Sawdays suggested a negative review from us would serve only to blight a holiday rental owner There ended their involvement in a ruined holiday concluding with a 400 mile journey back the same night having no alternative accommodation locally due to lockdown and having a dog to consider Had we known Sawdays was more a marketing company than a booking agent we would not have trusted their glossy photos knowing they did not take full responsibility for inaccurate images We are still owed 150 which the owner refuses to reimburse despite the fact that she was the one to instruct us to leave her property Please note that the reply below from Sawdays does not address the issue of our original cottage not being available on arrival It does not address the issue of why wet weather should make the inside of a properly heated cottage feel damp Most importantly the photos on the website were not an accurate representation of what we found when we arrived eg not a croquet lawn but lichened wooden chairs facing wheelie bins

Website details inaccurate

This is my go to website for special places to stay Unfortunately recently I have found the information relating to properties inaccurate Please update your website It wastes every ones time

Contacted two of their places in

Contacted two of their places in Tuscany for availability no answer Contacted the company itself on Instagram twice no answer Extremely poor credibility and responsiveness

Disappointment We stayed one night at villa Andrea in

We stayed one night at villa Andrea in Ramatuelle south of France The room was a shoe box and despite having a garden to walk out into there was very little light The shower has no curtain so health and safety danger as we could easily slip and fall The breakfast was lack lustre supermarket ham and cheese tasteless tomato and only 2 thin slices and the waitress was so busy she did not have time to look after all of her customers with the care that was needed The coffee despite coming out of an espresso machine was poorly made because she was the only person on duty Location average for 300 Euros a night we would have expected more We often use Alisdair Sawday in Spain France and Italy and lately our choices have been met with disappointment Not sure if I d use Sawday again

I ve got a great place which which i tried to invite Sawdays to see and list Without making any contact with me they immediately concluded my place wasn t right for them They won t provide feedback

I ve got a great place which was formerly a well respected hotel restaurant until i bough it and renovated it Then i contacted Sawdays and they immediately replied to me with no thanks but we can t say why

Shockingly bad updated

Updated with new information We stayed at a property advertised by Sawday s The quality was really poor Apparently it used to be good but a change in personal circumstances of the owner had led to a dramatic decline A few examples of the many problems no curtains at a full height bedroom window overlooking a public right of way failure to respond for a day and a half to messages about lack of hot water sound of rats presumably running between the floors at night acquaintances of the owner bursting into one of the bedrooms because they had not been told the property was now occupied I sent constructive feedback The owner didn t deny any of the problems I described but made it clear he couldn t care less Sawday s were rudely dismissive A more serious problem is that dangerous building work had been done at the property The owner claimed the work had building regulations approval but was unable to produce any evidence When Sawday s took no action I contacted the local council planning department They were so concerned that they visited the site without delay and confirmed that the dangerous building work does not conform to building regulations The planning department was keen to talk to Sawday s but Sawday s refused They said we have to trust that owners are telling us the truth because we don t check on those things ourselves The property is still being advertised on Sawday s website Safety has always been an important part of my work and as an occasional mountaineer a safety mind-set is obviously vital in that context as well Therefore I simply cannot understand Sawday s casual attitude to safety in this case I persisted in trying to get a genuine response from Sawday s both about the safety issue and the poor quality of the accommodation Each time I received a brief paragraph of generic copy and paste text For example they said it was a shame that our holiday had gone awry as though it were my own fault They never engaged with the evidence never responded to any specific point For the record the only thing that was wrong with our holiday was that we were staying in unpleasant unsafe accommodation Everything else was fine I discovered a post by Sawday s on another website which says that they have decided not to publish negative feedback on their own website The obvious problem with this approach is that unscrupulous owners have no incentive to provide a good service The owner of the property in this case clearly couldn t care less Sawday s used to be good But the policy of never publishing negative feedback seems to have led to a culture of complacency They appear to have got into the habit of brushing off negative feedback without giving it any consideration Sawday s are absolutely determined to keep advertising this property come what may It seems that profit is much more important than customer safety or customer satisfaction in their world That is why I can no longer trust Sawday s

Sawday s is just a marketing platform no contract with Sawday s and no protection

Unfortunately we found out the hard way that Sawday s is just a marketing platform to connect villa owners and guests There is no booking contract with Sawday s it is just with the individual who owns the villa This means when things go wrong Sawday s takes no responsibility for the accommodation and provides no booking protections They told us all they can do is try to get the villa owner to communicate - which may or may not work I did not feel this was made very clear on Sawday s website the only reference I could find was at the bottom of a Why Sawday s page so I post this in the hope others will become aware of the arrangement they would be entering into Sawday s goes to great lengths on their website to say that they are a good company founded on principles of how people should be treated When our booking went wrong we found dealing with Sawday s frustrating and disappointing as they refused to get involved