Labour In Vain

3.5★

6 Guests
3 Bedrooms
1 Bathroom
Pets Yes
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Features

Garden / Patio
Highchair available
Pub/shop < 1 mile
Washing machine
Dishwasher
Games Room
Seaside
Broadband / WiFi

Reviews & Ratings

Accuracy of the listing

Cleanliness

Comfort

Facilities and Maintenance

* Based on a combined average customer score

15 Customer Review(s)

Daniel
November 2024

“Great location, quirky little cottage with plenty of space (though galley kitchen a little small).”

Stayed with our dog - plenty of space and warm enough. Shame no recycling facilities - we took ours with us at the end. Parking at the Island car park is fine out of season. We love St Ives anyway, and this property is fine for short stay, not sure about long stays with extended family though. Lot's of steps and stairs, so not ideal for elderly or very young. Some of the windows catches were broken, and the boiler is very noisy (couldn't work out.how to change the temperature so just turned ...

Stayed with our dog - plenty of space and warm enough. Shame no recycling facilities - we took ours with us at the end. Parking at the Island car park is fine out of season. We love St Ives anyway, and this property is fine for short stay, not sure about long stays with extended family though. Lot's of steps and stairs, so not ideal for elderly or very young. Some of the windows catches were broken, and the boiler is very noisy (couldn't work out.how to change the temperature so just turned it off at the boiler overnight).

- Daniel, November 2024
Sandra October 2024

“We had a lovely stay in this cottage with family and dogs.”

It was a perfect location for our adventures

- Sandra, October 2024

Thank you for submitting your review. I’m pleased you had a lovely stay at Labour In Vain and hope to welcome your family and dogs again soon. Property Owner
Jules September 2024

“We absolutely loved our stay at the Labour in Vain.”

Can't fault it, great place and great location. Lovely neighbours. We we will be coming back some. x

- Jules, September 2024
Malcolm October 2023

“A quirky cottage, that sadly needs some tlc.”

The owners have obviously fallen out of love with it.

- Malcolm, October 2023

Dear Guest Thank you for your response. I am sorry that you feel my cottage needs some TLC, we certainly haven't fallen out of love with it. You have not listed what your concerns are so I cannot answer or put to right any problems you have found. Property Owner
Roger October 2023

“Lovely cottage in a fantastic location .”

.

- Roger, October 2023

Dear Guest Thank you for responding to our Feedback request and submitting your positive reply. Property Owner
Lizzy September 2023

“Lovely place, great location and the neighbours were really friendly.”

We managed to get parking on the island for the week which was so convenient. It had everything we needed.

- Lizzy, September 2023

Dear Guest I'm pleased you had a great holiday and thank you for taking time to add your valued Feedback on Labour In Vain. I hope to welcome you again soon. Property Owner
Vicky July 2023

“Property was not cleaned on arrival, only some beds were made.”

(Cleaners reurned later in the evening after our complaint which meant we were unable to unpack until Sunday) 1 party member had to share a bed for 2 nights until new bedding was sent via amazon, although we were told it would arrive via cleaners the next day. Wifi did not work for 4 days. Boiler presure was 0 on arrival which meant no hot water or heating. We were asked to sort this ourselves by the owner. Leak from bath into lounge on 1st day maintenace attended but we had to be in and were called back from a day out to do this. Windows had not been cleaned in a long time. I cleaned the kitchen one myself. Owner said windows cleaners would attend but did not. Garden area had litter and debris, i also cleaned this myself. Property needs a lot of TLC, games room smells damp and musty. Games table broken. No dart board as in picture. Lots of bulbs out in property not rectified during stay. Not enough cutlery, only 4 knives in the cutlery drawer. 1 wine glass and 3 champ flutes. Noisy building work on neighbouring properties. Property is well located and could be an amazing character cottage with a bit of care taken.

- Vicky, July 2023

Dear Guest Thank you for your comments as listed and I respond as follows: I received a complaint from you that the cottage was not cleaned thoroughly and therefore arranged for the cleaners to return as soon as they could on Saturday. Obtaining further bedding was impossible on the Sunday so I arranged for Amazon to deliver the bedlinen the following day before 1pm which you said you were happy with. Boiler pressure level was pointed out to me by Sykes which I immediately phoned the plumber and told of a 20 second job to turn a knob and bring it up to the required level. I was told by Sykes and the plumber that this can happen from time to time and was a simple safe thing to rectify. I phoned you and you were happy to carry this out and did not ask for a Plumber to attend to this simple job. The leak from the bath was attended to by a maintenance man promptly on the Monday as soon as he could call at the cottage. The windows had been cleaned two weeks prior but seagull mess and sand dust can appear on the windows. The courtyard is swept before each arrival however the wind can sometimes blow the odd item in from outside into the courtyard. It is a pretty well kept area. The downstairs room had the dart board removed for safety reasons and this was taken off the Sykes listing. The bedroom has a dehumidifer and can be used if necessary. We had not been informed of any games table being broken and will now look into this. I honestly cannot be responsible for building work at other properties. St Ives is a thirving popular town and holiday homes are always being attended to. After your complaints you did receive compensation for your stay which was at the time agreed to by yourself and happily accepted. Property Owner
Dawn July 2022

“A lovely cottage in a great location.”

Everything that we needed for a week's stay was provided. The teenagers loved the downstair's games-room. It was great to sit out the front and watch the world go by. The only thing I would improve would be the directions to the property on arrival. It turned out they were directions on foot - but we managed to work out how to access the property by car to drop off our luggage. Overall - a wonderful holiday.

- Dawn, July 2022

Thank you very much for such a nice review. I am so pleased your family enjoyed their stay. Yes the courtyard is ideal for humans & dogs to watch the world go by. I shall ask Sykes to give more detailed directions if arriving by foot or car in future. Hope to welcome you again. Property Owner
Karen June 2022

“Great location of the house.”

House a little tired and could do with a refresh and the general cleanliness was not great, lots of rubbish under beds and dust/ sand everywhere. Overall we had a good break.

- Karen, June 2022

Thank you for your feedback. I'm pleased you had a good break at the cottage. We had the decorators working in the cottage mid May to freshen things up so everything should look nice. I have emailed the cleaners to ask them about the cleanliness issues you have raised & appreciate you bringing this to my attention. We would of course, have sent the cleaners into the cottage during your stay if we had been made aware of this. Property Owner
Elaine March 2022

“We spent a lovely week in St Ives, the house was lovely.”

But I have 3 issues with the property. You can not park anywhere near by & had to pay £7:70 a day to park & this was not communicated in the booking. There were no instructions on how to use the oven & we were without it all week, the hob & grill worked fine. There is no outdoor space for the dogs as it states in the advert.

- Elaine, March 2022

Hello Guest and thank you for your feeback In answer to your issues: In fairness we do not advertise the cottage to include parking. The nearest car park is 100 metres away (Island Car Park) & they have made a fairer system with a one in -one out entrance barrier. Parking in St Ives is always busy as it's such a popular holiday destination. All we can advise guests to do is to get to St Ives early (before 10am if possible) & head straight to the Island Car Park, leave your car there & move your luggage the short distance to the cottage when it's available. The oven does indeed work however the time on the front of the oven needs to be set. There are instructions regarding this in the owners handbook. However, we have since put a label on the oven door informing guests tomake this obvious. There is a small enclosed sunny courtyard outside the cottage which dogs can happily use however we do ask guests to clean up any doggie poo please. Since your visit we have given the courtyard & it's plants a good tidy-up & it all looks nice. Property Owner
Carolyn December 2021

“This character property felt like a home, its decor and facilities making it a comfortable and cosy stay.”

The location made it perfect for us with three beaches close by. The convenience of shops in this quaint town with all the other amenities open (many during bank holiday time) made it unnecessary to use our car which we left 200 metres away (in the Long Stay Island car park overlooking beaches, for around £10 pw). The only initial issue was the plumbing in the bath/shower area which needed unblocking.. easy enough (but the backing up of waste water needs addressing in future). Otherwise all rooms were clean and the furniture very comfortable for the three of us to either be together or find private space over the week. (Addressing a previous review: the bedding is fine now, with new towels, linen and pillows. The mattresses were firm and clean, if not new). The real wood flooring throughout made it attractive and easy to vacuum for the inevitable sand deposits. There were unique St Ives carols sung at midnight Xmas Eve outside the cottage, by local singers in Cornish, one told us he’d been doing this for fifty years. Beat that. It was magical. Our dogs loved it and were easily accommodated with all the nearby walks. The neighbours were very friendly too, gathering outside for chats and drinks/snacks. This was a great stay to add to our memories of family Christmas.

- Carolyn, December 2021

Hello guest Thank you for your valued feedback. I am so pleased you had such a lovely family Christmas at my cottage & your dogs loved it too. I have asked the maintenance man to check the plumbing in the shower/bath & hopefully this has now been rectified. Once again, thank you for your kind welcome comments. I hope to welcome you back again soon. Property Owner
Joanne Arabella November 2021

“We loved the quirky features of the cottage and its location, centrally and walking distance to everything in St.”

Ives We parked our car in the car park and left it there all week!!! The only downside was, we stayed in winter so really couldn't use the downstairs games room as it was too cold to open the door and it was a bit damp - but I expect in summer its really nice feature to make use off. The cottage itself was lovely and warm and cosy and we and the dogs enjoyed our stay. We would definitely stay again.

- Joanne Arabella, November 2021

Thank you for your feedback. Just to say there is central heating throughout the cottage so the room downstairs should be nice & cosy with it switched on. We look forward to you staying at the cottage again. Property Owner
Janice August 2021

“I stayed in this cottage 20 years ago.”

It was such a fabulous cottage I couldn't believe when it came up as available. Not been away for 2 years I paid £4000 for 2 weeks in August. It is in a perfect location and many of the same features and positives remain. But It has been allowed to fall into disrepair. The garden is embarrassing, dead plants, no love, care or attention, especially when the gardens next door and at the B and B are fab. The window frames are rusty and inoperable for the main. Worry of all the mattresses are disgraceful , lumpy and very uncomfortable.Slats making from best frames. Key Items missing from kitchen like can opener, basement room is smelly, damp and frankly unusable, no fuel for fires so unusable, no instructions on how to operate the central heating, outside chairs dirty and one collapsed whilst we were there...I could go on. I wanted to contact the firm when we were there, but frankly couldn't be bothered to spend time on my first holiday for 2 years been angry. The owner needs to stop looking at this as a cash cow and give this beautiful cottage the TLC it deserves.

- Janice, August 2021
William July 2021

“The house is located in a superb location and a consequence of this is the difficulty in gaining access for a car.”

I was lucky not to damage my car and so guidance on the best route to the property would have been invaluable. Also, stating that ‘parking is 100yds away’ is disingenuous as this is highly sought after and other properties have Located permits for the car parks - ours didn’t so we parked some miles away.

- William, July 2021

Dear Guest Thank you for your valued feedback. Parking is always busy in St Ives & we always advise guests to arrive before 10am if possible in order to park easily. Unfortunately we do not at present have a parking space for guests, there is a very long list which we are on I can assure you. Look forward to welcoming you again. Property Owner
David July 2021

“Had to scrub the shower clean with bleach to get the mould off the grout.”

Banisters and doors not cleaned and surfaces felt sticky on worktops etc. Penetrating damp in the cellar room and kitchen cupboard. Hinges on kitchen units badly rusted and plastic door wrap peeling off in kitchen and bathroom. Bathroom fan runs but the vents are clogged and do not open. No spare bulbs left to replace the 5 blown bulbs. Could do with new pillows and old ones clooged up the cupboards. Great location and a comfortable cottage and we still enjoyed our stay despite the above.

- David, July 2021

Dear Guest Thank you for your valued feedback. I ampleased that you enjoyed the cottage location & found it comfortable to stay in despite your comments. Can I truly apologise for any issues you had with the cleanliness of my cottage. Since your stay I have changed cleaning company. I would of course have arranged for further cleaning to be done at the cottage if I had been made aware of any problems. There are no plastic covers on the kitchen units, I believe one had been left on & has since been removed. All cupboards are clean & rust free. Spare bulbs can be found in the cupboard next to the cooker, failing that a call to your holiday company would have prompted me to arrange for new bulbs to be delivered. The bathroom fan has been cleaned. All new pillows in the cottage. Property Owner

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Summary

Recently redecorated in 2022
Over three floors: 2 x double, 1 x bunk room
Bathroom with shower over bath, basin, heated towel rail and WC
Kitchen
Lower-ground-floor games room with table football
Gas central heating
Electric oven and ceramic hob, microwave, fridge, washing machine, dishwasher
TV, WiFi
Partial sea views from one of the double bedrooms and living room
Fuel and power inc. in rent
Bed linen and towels inc. in rent
Highchair available
Front courtyard garden with seating
Two well-behaved pets welcome
Sorry, no smoking
Shop, pub and beach within 0.1 miles
Note: Wood burning stove is for decorative purposes only
Note: There is no parking for this property, however there is a public carpark 100 metres away
Please note: any bookings for Christmas or New Year must be made 48 hours prior to arrival

The property

Labour in Vain is a traditional, semi-detached cottage in the centre of St Ives, a short walk from a host of attractions, amenities and selection of pristine sandy beaches.

This three-storey property is ideal accommodation for a family or group of six wanting to enjoy the attractions, beaches and art scene that St Ives boasts, as well as being within easy reach of the South West Coast Path and picturesque Penwith Heritage Coast.

The property is 100 metres from a car park, where guests can leave their vehicles, and access to the property is via the front gate, past the pretty, enclosed courtyard garden, where you can enjoy sitting out in the sunshine with a morning coffee or alfresco lunch.

Enter the property into the quarry tiled, contemporary kitchen, with neutral tones, wooden worktops and well-equipped with all the necessary appliances to cook up a fantastic meal, to be enjoyed at the dining table in the dining room, beside the charming decorative woodburning stove, adding to the homely feel of the space.

At the end of the day, relax in the sitting room, four steps up from the kitchen, where you can cosy up on the large corner sofa and enjoy your favourite shows on the TV.

Alternatively, head down the staircase from the sitting room into the lower-ground-floor games room, with a TV, sofa, table football and dartboard, guaranteed to provide hours of entertainment.

Heading back upstairs, the staircase to the first floor is accessed from the dining room, where you will encounter three spacious and stylish bedrooms, decorated with a coastal theme and offering ample storage space, with a double bedroom featuring a decorative woodburning stove, a second double bedroom with distant beach and sea views and a bunk room, all served by the partly tiled family bathroom.

Right in the heart of the thriving harbour town of St Ives, you are a stone's throw from a host of shops, restaurants, pubs, cafés and beaches.

Known for its thriving art scene, a visit to Tate St Ives and the Barabara Hepworth Museum are a must, with a host of other galleries within walking distance as well as narrow streets packed with picturesque cottages nestled around the quayside.

St Ives offers wonderful swimming and surfing opportunities, on North Cornwall's Atlantic coastline, known for its rolling waves, with a choice of four stunning sandy beaches within walking distance of the cottage.

Walkers can join the magnificent South West Coast Path and explore the coastline in both directions; head west towards the Penwith Heritage Coast, where you will discover excellent hiking at Hellesveor Cliff and Zennor Beach, the scenic view point at Gurnard's Head, Pendeen Watch Lighthouse and the Bronze Age site of Mên-an-Tol, while a journey east will encompass the beaches of Porthminster, Carbis Bay and Porthkidney, the town of Hayle and its wildlife-orientated attractions of RSPB Hayle Estuary and Paradise Park and JungleBarn.

Cornwall's most westerly town, Penzance, is around eight miles away, with a pretty promenade, gallery & museum, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens and 16th century country house of Trengwainton Garden.

The Lizard heritage Coast and its selection of beautiful beaches at Praa Sands, Porthleven and Mullion are also close by, along with attractions like Flambards Theme Park, Trebah Garden botanical garden and Poldark Mine & The Cornish Heritage Collection.

This is the perfect base from which to explore the picturesque North Cornwall coastline.

Note: This property has a Good Housekeeping bond of £200.

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About the location

ST IVES

Penzance 6 miles.

One of Cornwall's prettiest harbour towns, St Ives offers narrow streets, tight-packed cottages nestling around the quayside, the Tate Gallery and Barbara Hepworth museum, fabulous beaches, superb shops, a thriving community of artists, great pubs and restaurants and much more. With its semi Bohemian lifestyle and romantic air, it's easy to see why this is the county's premier holiday resort. The surrounding area has much for the visitor to see and do with abundant wildlife, fabulous coastal walks, top quality surfing and the Celtic mysteries of the Land's End Peninsula are all within easy reach. A superb destination!

This property offers the following short breaks:

Winter
Off-season

St Ives, Cornwall (Ref. 1004346)

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Features

Reviews & Ratings

“Great location, quirky little cottage with plenty of space (though galley kitchen a little small).”

“We had a lovely stay in this cottage with family and dogs.”

“We absolutely loved our stay at the Labour in Vain.”

“A quirky cottage, that sadly needs some tlc.”

“Lovely cottage in a fantastic location .”

“Lovely place, great location and the neighbours were really friendly.”

“Property was not cleaned on arrival, only some beds were made.”

“A lovely cottage in a great location.”

“Great location of the house.”

“We spent a lovely week in St Ives, the house was lovely.”

“This character property felt like a home, its decor and facilities making it a comfortable and cosy stay.”

“We loved the quirky features of the cottage and its location, centrally and walking distance to everything in St.”

“I stayed in this cottage 20 years ago.”

“The house is located in a superb location and a consequence of this is the difficulty in gaining access for a car.”

“Had to scrub the shower clean with bleach to get the mould off the grout.”

Summary

The property

View on map

About the location

ST IVES