Sykes Cottage's left us in a Cottage at the end of December on the North Pennine Moors with no central heating or hot water. They took 26hrs to respond to our situation- by which time we had tracked down the cottage’s owner and tried to resolve the situation. Unfortunately the heating/boiler could not be repaired and the owner was so sorry he promised a full refund. Sykes as the booking agent decided they had done ‘All they could to help us’ so are keeping their 1/3 of the total, they have also kept a one off payment we were forced to pay after booking- we still don’t know what this amount of £33 was for but unless we paid it we would’ve lost the holiday so had no choice. I can’t stress strongly enough to double check to see if you can book with someone else- better still try a direct booking. Sykes will take your money ONLY, as a ‘Booking Agent’ they have no use for you once you have paid, they are impossible to contact by phone unless you want to hold for an hour or so on their advertised numbers. Their customer service team is aggressive and uncaring. Beyond doubt they are the most awful company we’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with- BEWARE and book elsewhere.