Swan Cottage, 5-Bedroom, Canal View, River, Private gardens, Free Parking's, WiFi, Oxford

Stayed as a three generation extended family with 9 including one baby. The property is well located 20 mins out of Oxford, and is an old thatched house with lots of space both downstairs and in bedrooms. The property is quirky and well suited to larger group stays. Hosts were prompt and polite throughout- flexible to late changes and quick to respond to issues which occurred during the stay.

There are just two bathrooms so a little short of shower/baths for large groups. The main cooking is provided by an electric Aga which takes a few hours to warm - unless you are used to Aga’s this can be a challenge for planning home cooking. We had an issue on first evening - evidence of mouse droppings on one bed (evidenced only when pulling back the bed cover) which made that bedroom unsafe to use. Hosts did respond quickly and traps were set. The next morning two traps had been sprung and we woke to two dead mice in two bedrooms. This did leave a poor experience in what was otherwise a lovely property. I have been in touch with the owners post return and they advise that pest controllers have been onsite and no further issues have been experienced in the week since we left.

Pleasant stay , enogh space for privacy and a good garden space for outdoor activitie. beautiful antique interiors .... got some super pics for memories .

if there could be slight bigger fridge and the internet connection was very weak

The location and garden

The property would benefit from being more open plan the main kitchen was unusable apart from fridge as the aga was turned off with no instructions to turn it on and there was an ant problem. The other kitchen did not have a fridge so a lot of walking between kitchens and the cooker in there was too small for the amount of people staying so our stay was made slightly difficult catering wise

Characterful cottage which is nice and cosy, with quirky features in a great location.

Do not usually do surveys or leave reviews, but felt the necessity to do so on this occasion. Property overall looking and feeling very tired; several items of furnishings had parts broken, but mostly our main concern was that the septic tank was exposed and overflowing with debris discharging up into the garden. Contacted host but nothing done to rectify situation during our stay, therefore unfortunately we were unable to use garden, which was detrimental to my son’s birthday break. If I had been informed previous to our visit (which I think was viable) we could have rearranged to new venue! Had to be out by 11.00 am for cleaners to prepare, so it must have been the same for the next guests arriving.