Holiday Cottages In Ambleside

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Steven - Verified booking

  Front door latch does not work.

  The Yale style lock does not locate properly in the latch so the front door can be pushed open by anybody, day or night. We were unable to use the open fire as the chimney does not draw the fire. I read the instructions regarding the draw adjustment, and I am very experienced with old chimneys/open fires, but it just does not draw and the cottage fills with dangerous smoke. I shone a light up the chimney and could see that there was a lot of nesting bird matter so assume the chimney has not been properly swept and likely there is no cowl on the top. Also a number of the radiators are locked at the none valve end, or the valves are broken. In the lounge the adjustable valve is not even attached to the radiator. So with no radiator valve or open fire we were unable to heat the lounge. The kitchen partially flooded on the second night and on inspection I noticed that the joint in the condensation pipe from the boiler had become detached and there was a constant dripping onto the tile floor, just to the right of the fridge. I pushed the pipe back together to stop the dripping and dried up the water but needs some long term maintenance. Finally, if the adjoining property is occupied it is very noisy upstairs when they walk about. I assume that the properties were one property in their past and have been split. The problem is the ancient floor boards, which creak VERY VERY LOUDLY, run right through both properties and move through both properties if walked on. We go to bed between 10.30 and 11.30pm but our neighbours were coming in a 2 and 3 am and making a noise that could wake the dead. Not blaming them, they are on holiday I assume, though I have no ideas where you can go in Ambleside until that sort of time, but we were woken most nights by the noise. Also the garden around the entrance door could do with a good tidy up. Seems like it is mainatened with no real interest. In summary, it is a nice property, but my feeling is that some money was spent on it 15 or 20 years ago, and now nobody really loves it. In desperate need of somebody to take a genuine loving interest in this ancient property. "Very disappointing and neglected but has potential", would be my summary.

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• Dean - Verified booking

  Accuracy - nowhere in the advert does it mention just how precarious, slippery and uneven the staircase and upper floors are.

  Spiral staircase, protruding floor dowels and nails present a significant health and safety risk and a potential life changing accident waiting to happen (if not already and unaware). Stated all fuel included but nothing to light a coal fire with. No access to garden from cottage, would need to walk out the front door and around to the carpark behind. More honesty and transparency needed including the use of leisure facilities in the advert......4 miles away! Cleanliness - cobwebs in the bathroom, bedroom and lounge, squashed moth on bathroom ceiling, kitchen worktop and windowsill dirty, oven glass door dirty. Comfort - personally found all the furniture uncomfortable and placed cushions on the lounge and dining room seats to sit on. Facilities - well equipped, dedicated parking space at the rear of the property. Hot water ran cold in the bathroom very quickly (unable to run a hot bath) and trickled from the kitchen tap - had to boil the kettle to wash dishes. Kitchen curtains wouldn't close using the pulley (and the curtain track would come away) but could be pulled manually, although had to climb on the worktop to reach. Property a little tired, could do with freshening up. Initially struggled on arrival to turn on heating, cooker, TV, WiFi (unable to connect laptop, asking for WPA2 password which no-one at Sykes could help with - prevented working from home and no visibility of emails) - personally feel any operating instructions should be clearly visible i.e. left on the kitchen worktop or dining table and not in a drawer in the passageway or in with some books beside the TV. This feedback feels a little harsh when written - deducted one point for the staircase and one point for the upper floor. The property was ideally situated in Ambleside close to the town but setback and very quiet. Would only not return due to the staircase and the unevenness/protruding dowels of the upstairs floors.

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• Kate - Verified booking

  The property was as described and pictured, small but comfortable and very well located in Ambleside and for exploring the Lakes in general.

  The cooking facilities are minimal but we (a couple) managed to cook a few meals perfectly well on the hob and with the microwave, and the property comes supplied with plenty of cooking equipment and crockery. The bathroom appears newly refurbished and is smartly decorated with a powerful shower. It is a nice quiet retreat, away from traffic and though some noise can be heard from the workshop next door, they were very considerate to be quiet before 9am. Supplies at the property are very limited and, as a self catering property, we would have expected some basic self catering essentials to be provided such as cooking oil, salt and pepper, kitchen roll and toilet roll (only 1 supplied) so unfortunately we had to do a quick unplanned shop. There is a sticker on the boiler switch requesting the boiler is not switched off, however the radiator was on when we arrived (July) and the radiator valve seemingly not working. The timer switch is also very noisy, and given the boiler is positioned adjacent to the bed, is something to be aware of if you struggle to sleep with background noise, as we did. One thing that would have been really helpful to know in advance is that the house is down a small narrow street with limited parking. However there is a parking permit provided in the property that can be used for local car parks, and it is also valid in several other council car parks in towns nearby, which was very useful and saved us a lot of money.

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• Jon - Verified booking

  The accommodation was charming and in the majority as described.

  The picture showing the seating area on grass is misleading as it could be construed to be the front where there is no seating supplied despite describing as such. The rear seating area where the picture shows does not belong to the property so nowhere to sit outside. The pack supplied was a welcome addition for use within the kitchen. It was disappointing for a property of this price range to not have some basic equipment such as a bread knife and some of the pots and pans to be so scratched that the non-stick had become defunct. The microwave would benefit from being updated as the turntable did not go round when operating so constant changing of position to get even cooking was a pain. When we tried to turn the washing machine on, there were multiple lights flashing and upon reading the manual it was noted that a call to an engineer was required so unable to wash soiled walking clothes. The cottage itself is quaint and delightfully full of character, mention of health and safety aspects should be spoken about given the flooring levels and slippiness as it may advise people about what to take with them. Overall, it was felt to be overpriced for the facilities supplied (we’ve stayed in multiple properties locally) but if some of these things are addressed it would not stop us from booking the cottage again.

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• Natalie - Verified booking

  Cobblestone Cottage is very sweet and well placed in the centre of Ambleside.

  It is MUCH smaller than expected (which does not come across in the photographs) and is all rather tired and in need of a refurb. There is no oven, although there was space for one (just a microwave). Although I think it must have been cleaned some time ago, all of the surfaces in the kitchen and bedroom and bathroom felt dusty and grubby and so I cleaned them all before use. The bedroom was so small that it was a real squeeze to get past the end of the bed (past the open stairway) to get to the bathroom. The bathroom door did not shut (when you see the layout, you will see how important this is). The bed was not at all comfortable and the red plastic sofa was totally out of place and rather horrid. The TV was the size of my iPad. The gas boiler (which I had to look straight at from my bed) kept firing up all night long which disturbed by sleep massively. We were not allowed to turn it off. It could be a fabulous place, despite it’s size. The access was a bit dodgy too and we had to literally squeeze past the electricians van (and we are both slim). A couple of times we also had to step over builders stuff on the floor of the cobbled passage. Not at all good value for money. I run my own AirBNB and my standards are much higher. Disappointing accommodation really.

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