Dog Friendly Cottages in Sawrey

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Alice - Verified booking

  We had incredibly high hopes for our weeks stay at Lakefield.

  We love the Lake District and have spent many years holidaying in and around the area. We always take time and care to read reviews prior to booking anywhere. Sadly, the reviews were, from our perspective, very misleading. The positives included the stunning view (we highly suspect that this is THE main selling point) You cannot fault the rolling hills, glass still Esthwaite water, and the sheep happily grazing and all only a stones throw from Hill Top House...) The garden is very well kept, the sofas were comfy, and the kitchen utensils well stock (but no sharp knives) However, none of these things quite made up for the less than average level of cleanliness. We arrived to find dust and dead flies laying in the main large window cill, and dust anywhere that was higher than table top level. Rust is clearly visible along the edge of some of the bathroom mirrors. The multitude of family games was let down by a) being precarious balanced atop one another in the hallway cupboard (getting them out was a game all in itself!) and b) most of them missing pieces. The electrics looked like something of nightmares, cables and extension leads everywhere, along with rather alarming signs reminding guests to be sure to switch things off to prevent burn outs or fires?! We were surprised that this house has passed any recent safety standards for it's electrics. The word 'luxury' is too often used without real justification and this was certainly the case at Lakefield. Beds, ensuite and hot water do not a luxury holiday home make. Lakefield was, by some way, the most disappointing home we've stayed in. We still can't quite fathom the extremely high scoring reviews it receives both on the LakeLovers website and in the notebook left out for guests to write in. Being asked to strip beds and put some items in one laundry bag, others in another type of bag, was all just a bit of an unnecessary faff and frankly, given the amount we paid for the holiday, one would expect that to be left for your cleaners to do. There was only one toilet roll left per bathroom (for a household of 8 ppl, you can guess how quickly that ran out) A quarter jug of milk was left in the fridge, and no welcome pack. Only one bin liner was left, which again, for a house for 8 guests was full after the first two days. No recycling in site, guests have to bag it up and dispose of it in Hawkshead. The carpets and rugs are threadbare in places, the general level of decor was well below par, and clearly hadn't been refurbished since the 1990s. My son described the upstairs as having a 'hostel vibe'... Fairly apt to be honest. The garage with table tennis table was dusty and uninviting and not really adequately sized for the table size (avoiding running into the wall was all part of the challenge!) We just feel that the website (along with the owners direct website) really didn't provide an up to date or realistic description of the house and it's amenities in their current state, and that made us feel let down. We were holidaying with friends and I felt ever so disappointed that what we had booked was of the poor standard that we discovered it to be. If there was a way of being reimbursed for these sort of situations this would be the only time we've ever felt any drive to follow up. To the owners and to LakeLovers, please update your website photos and description accordingly so that others might avoid the same disappointment in future.

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• Sheena - Verified booking

  Great Location & Hot Tub.

  Poor Maintenance POSITIVES: great rural location near Bowness, lovely garden with hot tub overlooking valley, light conservatory dining room, cosy living room, well planned small kitchen, good shower NEGATIVES: - Maintenance: our holiday was marred by constant issues including no running water for a day (water was delivered to us, but no showers were possible), heated towel rail not working, no light in outbuildings or hallway (bulbs?), hot tub privacy screen not retracting, electric car recharger not working on last day, plug in bathroom sink not holding water, wardrobe drawer knob unattached, mixing bowl cracked…. - Sykes. It was difficult to speak to the staff as we always got the message “we are experiencing longer than normal wait times”. They offered to resolve the maintenance problems but we didn’t want the inconvenience and hassle of tradesmen calling during our stay (had to for the water problem). - Cleanliness: Outside and outbuildings not swept/cleaned and no outside broom to do it. Bathroom dusty. - Bedrooms: 2nd bedroom mattress ‘saggy’. All duvets too thick for summer - Intrusive neighbour: male on driveway (said owns) near house, and dog barked at us in hot tub and in conservatory (was called back). OTHER - Garden Furniture: Sykes incorrectly told us there were none. There is a table, umbrella, 6 chairs (some arms rusty) and 2 reclining chairs. We wasted precious car boot space taking our 2 Fishermen’s chairs. Not provided: bread knife, measuring jug, butter dish, biscuit/cake tin, plastic picnic-ware (especially glasses for hot tub), kitchen scales, oven gloves, thin kitchen hand-towel, laundry basket, clothes airer/line for swimwear, outdoor broom

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• Simon - Verified booking

  We really enjoyed our stay at Greenstile Cottage.

  I was a little apprehensive booking it due to a small number of critical reviews, but our experience was fine. Nice little cottage in a great location, a short drive from Bowness (Although finding parking when you get there is another matter!) and Windermere. The cottage is perfectly fine for a family holiday with the highlights being the hot tub and the conservatory which my partially sighted partner in particular loved because it's nice and bright. It did take me a few days to get used to some the low doorways, I did manage to hit my head a few times before I remembered to duck, but that's period properties! A few ideas to make things even better...somewhere to put the shower gel or soap in the shower, picking up a slippery bar of soap off the floor can be tricky! Fix the refrigerator door to the outer cabinet door, as at the moment you have to open the fridge from the top, and our little people couldn't reach! Finally, a little thing, a wooden spoon or spatula for the kitchen for those self caterers who cook! Loved it, would we stay again, definitely!

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• Jack - Verified booking

  AVOID!!!

  This cottage had no hot water for 80% of the time we were there. Only on the last day could I have a shower in the morning. The driveway is particularly treacherous in cold conditions. There was no warning given or solutions offered. The plumber that eventually visited to fix the water informed me that the pipes were not adequately insulated when they added the hot tub to the property so they froze at just below zero. No compensation was offered in spite of not being able to wash for 3 days, hours were wasted on a holiday dealing with a problem to the property. Our parents had to reduce the length of time they could stay at the parents, it was uncomfortable for my child who I couldn't wash properly. No one wanted to use the hot tub because of the inability to wash the chemicals off after use. The owner blamed adverse weather conditions on the problem, but the weather was cold but normal for that time of the year, and very typical for what can be expected in January and February.

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• Sarah - Verified booking

  Lovely cottage in a great location for exploring the lakes.

  The hot tub has a beautiful view and was wonderful after a long day of walking! We had a brilliant, relaxing, peaceful stay. Would recommend the walk to Brant Fell, the ferry to Claife heights, the steam train to Lakeside, the gingerbread shop in Grasmere, and Fell Foot National Trust. We also had a brilliant pie at the Great North Pie Co. in Ambleside. Our stay would have been even more enjoyable if: - the heating was turned up for our arrival. It was set on manual mode to 16deg and was a bit chilly. It didn't take long to heat up though. - there could be more essentials in the cottage e.g. a hairdryer / iron (maybe we just didn't search hard enough?) - we did find a pair of someone else's underwear behind the bathroom towel rail, but otherwise the place was spotless. - a list of recommended places to eat and local attractions (less obvious ones than the leaflets) would make a good addition to the handbook.

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