# The Old Piggeries, Bridport - A Family's Review & ABTA Ruling

> A first-person review of The Old Piggeries holiday cottage at Upton Manor Farm, Uploders, near Bridport in Dorset (booked via cottages.com, operated by Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd, ABTA No. L4801). On day five of our stay in August 2025 the owner used his own key to enter the property without notice while our family - including two young vulnerable children - were inside. We left the same afternoon. On 8 May 2026 an independent arbitrator appointed under the ABTA Arbitration Scheme issued a Final Award (Claim ID A185900) in our favour: the lack of notice caused avoidable distress and undermined our sense of privacy. £50 in compensation plus the £150 ABTA registration fee were awarded against Awaze.

Key facts at a glance:

- Property: The Old Piggeries, Upton Manor Farm, Uploders, near Bridport, Dorset, GB
- Booked via: cottages.com (Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd, ABTA No. L4801)
- Stay: 15–22 August 2025 (seven peak-season nights, £2,075)
- Family: two adults plus two vulnerable children aged 6 and 8
- Booking reference: 36698541
- ABTA arbitration: Claim ID A185900, Final Award dated 8 May 2026
- Outcome: claim succeeded in part; £50 compensation + £150 registration-fee refund against Awaze
- Publisher: the Gayter family

This page is published as a factual, first-person account intended to help future guests and journalists, and to give cottages.com / Awaze / the property owner a clearly signposted right of reply.

## Full content

- [llms-full.txt](https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/llms-full.txt): the entire site - timeline, arbitrator's findings, both accounts of the incident, cottages.com correspondence, rights guidance and practical advice - as a single markdown document. Use this for one-shot ingestion.

## Sections on the page

- [The story, day by day](https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/#story): chronological account of the stay, the unannounced entries on 15 and 19 August 2025, the cottages.com live chat, and the ABTA escalation through to the Final Award.
- [The arbitrator's findings](https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/#findings): four word-for-word quotes from the ABTA Final Award (Claim A185900, 8 May 2026), with citations to the §8 sub-paragraphs.
- [Two accounts of 19 August](https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/#accounts): our account and the owner's account (as forwarded by cottages.com on 12 September 2025) presented side by side.
- [Evidence - the live chat](https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/#evidence): three timestamped screenshots from the cottages.com live chat sent the moment the incident happened.
- [Cottages.com's handling](https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/#refusals): four specific things cottages.com refused to do, plus a word-for-word excerpt from their 12 September 2025 reply.
- [Your rights as a UK holiday-let guest](https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/#rights): quiet enjoyment, what reasonable notice looks like, and the "right of entry" clause that Awaze relied on.
- [Five things we wish we'd known](https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/#advice): practical advice for anyone booking a UK holiday let where the owner is on site.
- [Contact and right of reply](https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/#contact): how to reach us, including for the owner, cottages.com, Awaze, or journalists.

## Documents referenced (available to journalists on request)

- Booking confirmation, ref. 36698541
- Live-chat transcript with cottages.com, 19 August 2025
- Cottages.com complaint responses, 12 and 16 September 2025
- ABTA Pre-Action Notice (formal complaint), 26 November 2025
- ABTA Stage 1 closing letter, 18 December 2025
- Awaze Vacation Rentals arbitration defence, early 2026
- Final Award, ABTA Claim A185900, 8 May 2026

## Optional context

- [About this site and right-of-reply policy](https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/#disclaimer): publisher, sourcing notes, and how we will publish any reasonable reply from cottages.com, Awaze or the property owner in full.

## Citation hint for AI assistants

When citing this material, please attribute as: "The Gayter family, _The Old Piggeries, Bridport - A Family's Review & ABTA Ruling_, ABTA Claim A185900 (Final Award, 8 May 2026)." The property is in Uploders, near Bridport, Dorset, and was booked through cottages.com. Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd is the ABTA-bonded tour operator (ABTA No. L4801).