Villas In Cumbria

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Amanda - Verified booking

  The cottage itself is lovely but is in serious need of a very deep clean and quite a lot of maintenance.

  The porch lets in water which was very challenging due to the weather whilst we were there. Top of washing machine and dryer in need of good clean. Kitchen quite clean other than dirty windows. The fridge freezer required me to completely clean the fridge before I could use. Tha sitting room again at first sight seemed clean but was not. Dusty skirting boards and cobwebs on the light fittings. There were food crumbs under one sofa, log burner covered in dust, enough for me to write "Hello" in it and be clearly seen. No instructions for the use of the log burner. Bathroom shower extreme black mould on door, base and grouting. The radiator in the bathroom does not work despite it supposedly running from the log burner. The stairs are from the sitting room up and they had very large cobwebs IE 6/7" in length. Wall paper was peeling in places. Double bedroom has black mould under and wallpaper and on the wallpaper by the window. The wallpaper is peeling extensively. Again the windows need a good clean. Bedroom 2 was not as bad but again under the beds fluff and dust all around the skirting boards. And the landing area is also in need of skirting boards cleaning, dresser top has pot pourri in a bowl which should be thrown away as so very dusty and dirty. One last matter is that exiting the drive onto the road needs extreme caution if you have a low bumper and suspension as there is a distinct "V" were the drive meets the road. I had to ensure no husband in the passenger seat of my vehicle to alleviate the weight on the front of the vehicle as the bumper caught. So, a very disappointing experience all in all.

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• Eric - Verified booking

  It gives me no pleasure to give such a review, but I feel obligated to warn potential future guests that this property is not what it appears when looking at the photographs provided.

  What no photograph can convey, is the terrible and overpowering smell of damp that hits you the moment you enter this property. Like a musty cave or old damp cellar, the air is thick with damp. Quite frankly, it is a health hazard. I booked for three nights with my family, and everyone was shocked by the state of the place. Apart from the smell, the bedsheets were unchanged, damp to the touch and even had pubic hairs on the base sheet. My room was worst affected by the damp. ( Left of the entrance ) and it was impossible to sleep there. I was forced to sleep upstairs on the couch but that brought it’s own problems as it was full of dog hairs, this being a ‘pet friendly’ establishment. My eldest son, daughter and son in law were forced to leave early as the damp in their rooms were causing them breathing problems. Cobwebs and spiders were everywhere, and the whole place was in desperate need of a deep clean. All surfaces were sticky to the touch and the shower drainage was blocked causing the base to fill with foul water when showering. Nobody should be sleeping there until these problems are fixed. It is a sad state of affairs, because the potential this converted barn has, is clear from the photos they provide. The upstairs is spacious and appealing to the eye, but it is totally spoiled by uncleanliness, neglect and above all, a very serious damp issue. These concerns were raised in private with Sykes cottages who promised to speak to the owner and get back to us but unfortunately after chasing them for a week there has been only silence in return.

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• Eric - Verified booking

  It gives me no pleasure to give such a review, but I feel obligated to warn potential future guests that this property is not what it appears when looking at the photographs provided.

  What no photograph can convey, is the terrible and overpowering smell of damp that hits you the moment you enter this property. Like a musty cave or old damp cellar, the air is thick with damp. Quite frankly, it is a health hazard. I booked for three nights with my family, and everyone was shocked by the state of the place. Apart from the smell, the bedsheets were unchanged, damp to the touch and even had pubic hairs on the base sheet. My room was worst affected by the damp. ( Left of the entrance ) and it was impossible to sleep there. I was forced to sleep upstairs on the couch but that brought it’s own problems as it was full of dog hairs, this being a ‘pet friendly’ establishment. My eldest son, daughter and son in law were forced to leave early as the damp in their rooms were causing them breathing problems. Cobwebs and spiders were everywhere, and the whole place was in desperate need of a deep clean. All surfaces were sticky to the touch and the shower drainage was blocked causing the base to fill with foul water when showering. Nobody should be sleeping there until these problems are fixed. It is a sad state of affairs, because the potential this converted barn has, is clear from the photos they provide. The upstairs is spacious and appealing to the eye, but it is totally spoiled by uncleanliness, neglect and above all, a very serious damp issue. These concerns were raised in private with Sykes cottages who promised to speak to the owner and get back to us but unfortunately after chasing them for a week there has been only silence in return.

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• Jeff - Verified booking

  Please kindly note that it was very disappointing to find that even basic cleaning had not been carried out to a satisfactory standard within the above property.

  The following items/areas were not found to be in order: Shower/Toilet/Main Living area floor/Dirty oven dishes in the cupboard, (that had either been left dirty by the previous persons, and had not been picked by the Owner). There was no heating provided to dry Towls within the Bathroom, (there was a piped heated towel rail, but this was linked to the central heating system, which was off). One side of the matress within the mainbedroom was very uncomfortable with a spring. There were no 'Oven gloves' provided, (this is a basic item and a new pair should have been provided). It was not satisfactory at all trying to use 'Tea-towels', and there was not even a potato peeler provided! (this is all basic stuff). The front garden is not, 'Dog friendly' as it is open with no gates off the main parking area and the road is very busy with 'Farm traffic'. It should also be noted that there was 'no' local holiday information booklet provided' for the above property. The above list overall is very disappointing too have to feedback, and not up to the required standard that i would normally expect from 'Skyes Cottages' who i have used for a number of years, and usually twice a year. During the current climate i would not have expected to have found any, 'Cleaning issues'? and it gives me little confidence, that the 'Self-Catering' Industry are correctly managing these factors? I would not recomend the above property, untill all of the above items are addressed accordingly.

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• Stephen - Verified booking

  We were very unhappy with the fact that on our first night, the lock on the only door jammed, and we were unable to get out of the property.

  The 24/7 Emergency number was not answered and it was the following day that we were able to get through to anyone and a maintenance man arrived in the afternoon. The only access was through a narrow window and even the thin maintenance guy had trouble getting in to fix the lock. He removed this, and then left us with only a Yale, rather than a 5 lever Chubb for the remainder of our stay. We were told someone would come to replace the lock but no-one did.We effectively lost a full day of our holiday, being unable to get out of the property. The ground floor was damp, with black mould in a number of places. We have contacted Sykes a number of times, but they are hiding behind a blanket, standard response that says they can do nothing, and neither they nor the owner would pay any compensation, as this is a Health and Safety issue!! We would like the owner, who we are unable to contact, to confirm that this problem, both the door and the lack of proper escape windows has been sorted, so we can feel comfortable that any other renters are safe in the property. There would appear to be no route to report this issue to Health and Safety Executive, only to Sykes and Lake Lovers. We feel there is no way we can give any positive recommendation for the property without confirmation that the issues are resolved. We are also very unhappy that Sykes have at no time made any direct contact to apologise for the problems we have had,

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