Villas In Caldbeck

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Caroline - Verified booking

  Stayed with 4 girlfriends for a 50th birthday.

  Not far from Penrith, Lovely picturesque village. Great views. There's a well stocked kitchen, Large dining area, the bedrooms were clean & beds comfortable. Lovely big garden, great place for kids to run around in. Hot tub is fabulous, clean & well maintained. However there were some issues that spoilt our holiday. No external aerial for TV. an inadequate indoor one that we couldn't get a signal on all weekend!! Despite a phone call to owners a difficult conversation due to very bad phone signal! Asked if someone could come out & sort this. No one arrived at all. So a basic TV was not available. The WIFI was non existent! The Hub stated could not be found! & I tried every room! There's a blue ray player but the remote left would not work in the TV to get to correct channel. changed batteries (our own) still didn't work. Unable to use that also. Bulbs were missing from 2 lamps looked for spares as stated in welcome folder none were found! We swapped one from lounge area. The small toilet on ground floor had a sink on top of cistern this was full of water on arrival so unable to wash your hands in this bathroom. Old bar of soap, a soggy tissue & 2 disposable razers found on shelf in large shower on the first floor. Upon arrival we checked out the Hot Tub thankfully this worked great. Sadly we had to clean up the patio area. The previous occupants had left a few items of wet clothes, cans, & rubbish littered around! (Unbelievable how people leave property) however this should have been picked up by the cleaners. They must not have gone outside at all! Chairs all array table not cleaned. Extremely disappointed with this & find that totally unacceptable. Such a shame as the location is perfect, barn a great size. reported to sykes when I returned . Owners need to visit this property for themselves as I do blame the quality of the cleaners! for most of it. My advice to owners ... invest in a good broadband & get an outdoor aerial fitted.... Our saving grace... The local pub The Sun inn a few minutes walk away! Fabulous. Worth a visit & a great restaurant. Lowther Castle 15 minute drive away also worth a visit. There's a Morrisons & shopping area 10 min drive away too. These complaints were made in May by other people. But nothing has changed.

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• Joan - Verified booking

  The key safe was very difficult to open.

  We eventually walked in to be greeted by several houseflies, which continued to be a nuisance throughout our stay - where are they breeding? I soon found that the hob was filthy and no hob cleaner was supplied - I had to buy some & clean it before using it. The windows were dirty, both kitchen and back room, as was the tiled splashback behind the cooker. The kitchen bin lid was dirty - good job it's foot-operated. I had to clean out the fabric softener compartment before I could use the washing machine - it was completely clogged with gunk and washing powder - and empty the fluff filter in the tumble dryer. The cutlery drawer had crumbs in and some of the cutlery was dirty, as were some of the place mats. The dining room floor had breakfast cereal on it and a load of dust from where the stone wall is crumbling! The downstairs loo was badly stained - I left it cleaner than it was, but it clearly hasn't been properly clean for many weeks. The bathroom sanitary bin was left half full - yuck! There were light bulbs missing in the kitchen (1) and the single bedroom bedside light, and the light in the extractor over the hob wasn't working either. The microwave was too small for most of the dinner plates supplied - they couldn't turn. TV reception was poor, as were the wi-fi and phone. The low ceiling and huge beam over the bed in the mezzanine rendered it unusable, even for little me! Lucky only five of us were able to come on the holiday as it turned out. We were surprised to find no welcome pack - not so much as a pint of milk - no leaflets about local attractions, no information about the local recycling scheme (i.e. take it all to Morrisons car park), and no notes on how to operate the central heating system. On the plus side, the hot tub was ace - the best we've found anywhere - and the towels supplied were very good quality. The location was very convenient - just a few minutes' drive from Morrisons and handy for Ullswater, Derwentwater and plenty of other lovely places. We enjoyed a good meal with our grandchildren at Gianni's Italian restaurant in Penrith. We had lovely weather all week, so we didn't have to spend much time in the Barn, and actually had a really good holiday.

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• Vicki - Verified booking

  When we arrived the cleaning lady was still there finishing up next door, just as well she was as we couldn't gain entry as the key was not in the lockbox but in the door on the inside of cottage.

  She had no knowledge of us arriving as said it had not been cleaned! When she gained entry with her keys it was a left in right mess by previous customers. She told us to come back in couple hours (by this time it would be 6pm+) not her fault but a break down communication either with booking agent & owner. When we finally get in on first glances the ladies did a fab job in a short space of time to clean and prepair it for our stay. It was during the stay we started to find little bits not so perfect, the cottage could do with a little TLC and money being put back into it and bring up to date with current times. The kettle could do with replacing as has rather alot scalling init. The TV Ariel is no use at all, everytime you want watch TV you have to retune and lucky dip what channels you pick up. There is an outdoor ariel socket on wall why there's no extension into this instead the crappy plug in ariel?? Luckily the TV is a smart TV so can use your Netflix/prime accounts if you have these. The WiFi is shocking slow, the router is next door and you piggy back off that, it was hit and miss alot the times. The bathroom door handle needs attention, no one dared locked the door incase it came off and you got stuck in there! The shower in main bathroom is a cheap of the cheapest ones going and pointless for double shower that size, plus there's not alot hot water it runs cold and tepid, so don't think if having a bath. Cheap plastic toilet seats. The hottub man comes Friday & Mondays. We noticed He doesn't empty them at each change over but simply wipes the seats, fish out the bugs, cleans the filters and replaces the chlorine tabs. So not sure how many guests have used same water before us? (He was there just finishing when we arrived Friday- the tub was 40° so obviously not been emptied and refilled) These may seem little things but when your paying £1200++ these little things do go a long way to making your stay more comfortable. The garden is good size, enclosed so dog friendly. Overall its a lovely cottage, ideal place as base while you explore the beautiful lakes have to offer.

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• Roger - Verified booking

  Firstly would like to thank you for the wine and chocolates.

  That is a nice welcome, as is the readiness of the fire with initial logs etc. Inside the property is very comfortable and mostly exceptionally clean. I say mostly as there were 2 issues which i feel need addressing . One is the shower mat which is rolled on a shelf at the end of the bath and is black with mildew. It needs replacing. The 2nd is that the bin beside the loo, in which it is asked all toilet wipes sanitary products etc are put, and I have no problem with this at all . And I sincerely hope that this is just a one off oversight as it was disgusting, and even now back home makes my stomach turn. It had not been properly cleaned/checked and the inside of the lid was smeared with dried on faeces. Not something anyone would wish to be greeted with on their first evening. Hence the low mark for cleanliness. Also, on our arrival there was a towel and bathmat left on the stairs. I have also have given the accuracy of the listing a low grading , not because of what is stated but because of what is left out. Their are no windows to speak of which offer any sort of view. The windows upstairs are either too high or too tinily narrow to see out of. Downstairs the only windows are around the doorway which looks onto the carpark and the barn roof beyond. The doorway on the landing has a pretty aspect onto the little grassed area and fell beyond and there is a table out there but unless warm enough outside that is the only place where anything green can be seen. Maybe I should have worked this out for myself but I do feel that by not advising visitors of the complete lack of any view it is omitting a large problem. I have stayed in barn conversions before and this lack of view has not been a problem. Obviously from other reviews etc most people do not have a problem with this, but having some sort view is important to me, even if it's just of a garden or trees etc , not necessarily a glorious vista. Had I known this I would not have booked this property and for this reason alone I will not return.

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• Angus - Verified booking

  Yes, 'Met Expectations' but.

  .. For the price (economic, ie about £100 p/n) the standard was mostly good, so no complaints there, but the 'write up' was rather 'over-the-top' - described as 'luxurious' - well not quite, eg I'd like a more comfortable bed for 'luxurious' and the 'platter of delicious local produce' consisted of a Higates flapjack made in Wasall and two Lichfields products - digestives and 'highland shorties' - from Northants. Not exactly 'local'! Didn't eat any of it - but the 'delicious may be a bit over the top too. Better to not mention them. In similar vein, the views were described as 'outstanding' - well, they were pleasant enough - a couple of fields with sheep, not exactly 'outstanding' especially in an area where there are indeed so many truly outstanding views. Strange that, although bed linen and towels were included, there was no tea towel. It was explained that this was because so many tea towels were 'stolen' by previous guests. My advice - just add £5 to the o/n price and buy in a load of Lakes tea towels and invite guests to take it away with them, if they wish, as a souvenir - compliments of the owners. One final thing - about being 'welcoming' - I did not read on the site I booked through (snaptrip.com) about not checking in before 4pm although I may have overlooked it but we did follow the advice to phone and let the owners know our ETA. Bit surprised that my wife was told to 'wait' while lady's husband was consulted before agreeing to our arrival at 3pm. When we arrived - after a 5 hour drive - at 10 minutes to 3pm, the entry gate was locked. It could have/should have been open for us - but perhaps the owners wanted to give us a message? Not the way to 'welcome' guests! By-the-by, with winter approachng and clocks going back an hour at the end of this month, if guests are not 'welcome' before 4pm, they will be arriving more or less in the dark. Surely, even with Covid ceansing, there is time from 10 am (departure time) to 3pm - 5 hours - to thoroughly clean and sanitise correctly.

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