Dog Friendly Cottages In Windermere

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Julian - Verified booking

  We have stayed at the Curious Orange before (Approx.

  5 years ago) and it was completely perfect in every way. So much so we thought when visiting the lakes, we would not go anywhere else. This time around however it was an incredibly disappointing stay. The day of our arrival at around lunchtime we received a call from the owner advising that there was a problem with the heating/hot water. We were already halfway to the Curious Orange by this time. The Owner advised that there is an immersion heater (for hot water), and he would arrange extra logs for the stove and ensure there were fan heaters. He advised that the plumber was waiting for a part, but it was due to be in and done on the Tuesday. As we were already halfway there, and that it would be sorted by Tuesday (Thus only really affecting Sunday & Monday) this would be ok. We arrived as planned after 4pm on Saturday. When we arrived, we tried to light the fire (it was pretty chilly as the central heating was not working). There were two fan heaters at the property, but they were noisy and intrusive so once the stove was warming up, they were switched off. On Sunday – Our first full day we did, as many would and went for a walk. We had booked into a nearby pub for evening meal and went for a shower upon our return. One of us had a shower, which went stone cold halfway through and there was not enough hot water for the second person to shower. We looked at the immersion tank and it is a half sized one – explaining the minimal amount of hot water available. We planned Monday around the inability for both of us to have a shower as we were led to believe it would be fixed by Tuesday. Sadly, Tuesday came and went with no word from a plumber or the owner. We contacted the owner on Wednesday to advise that the issues remain, and no plumber had been on Tuesday. At 5.30pm on Wednesday a plumber turned up unexpected and we had to postpone our table reservation for that evening to accommodate the plumber. Sadly, something else was wrong and he was unable to fix there and then – We explained that we could not both have a shower on the same day due to the tiny immersion tank and he tried a workaround however, this did not change anything. The plumber advised he would be back Thursday afternoon at around 12. Sadly, Thursday also came and went with no word from a plumber or the owner, and we were still unable to both have a shower on the same day. The plumber finally fixed the heating and hot water at around 5pm on Friday evening. We both showered and went for dinner for the first… and last time of our holiday as we were leaving the following morning. In summary, we could not both shower/bath each day for the entirety of our holiday, the fan heaters were awfully noisy so our choice for the week was either buying significant amounts of logs or listening to noisy fan heaters. Our stay became a frustrating, more costly than expected, un-showered/bathed stop, whilst attending unannounced tradesmen visits. Sadly, despite speaking to the owner on a few occasions, no offer of a reduction for our current stay or voucher toward our next stay was offered and due to the lack of care & concern from the owner regarding the significant inconvenience we experienced we will not return to the Curious Orange.

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• G Cammish - Verified booking

  So myself and our 2 friends stayed at this lovely little cottage in Windermere.

  Our first impressions were quite awe inspiring...from when we left the road and drove into the drive way of the property, and saw the immense flint lined structure in front of us. We truly felt that we had arrived at our home from home from the first look. Time and dedication to the local landscape had clearly been taken from the front door step to the rustic garage doors, and the modernised double glazing windows that just blended in. If first opinions were not enough, we then entered the house, and was like kids in a sweetshop searching for what rooms we were going to set roost in for the week...all 3 of the rooms are spacious doubles, with the added benefit of a single bunk bed allowing to sleep up to 7 guests comfortably. Each of the rooms had their own en-Suite shower rooms, all refurbished to a high quality and standard. On top of this, there was a digital TV in each room, enough to allow every guest the freedom to watch what they preferred. By far the 2 most impressive rooms were the lounge, and the kitchen. The lounge was adorned with comfortable sofas, enough for families to snuggle up to, elegant lighting to allow the mood setting for any TV show, a quality soundbar on the TV which adds to the viewing pleasure, and good wifi that extended throughout the house.- The patio doors extended the size of the room onto the terrace area, enough space for a BBQ or a brunch setting in the warmer months. In my opinion, the room of the house is the kitchen...it is plenty big enough with a huge dining table, and all of the amenities you could need....and yes of course, another TV screen to watch the news while having breakfast. We used this room the most as we played our games on the table, the seating was so comfortable, and even in the snowy month of March, it was warm enough and cosy. The garage forms part of a wet access to the house, and has a boot change area leading to the kitchen. A great addition to reduce flow of muddy boots and paw prints through the house. The location of the house is circa. 8 mins walk to Windermere, and 14mins walk to Bowness...both little towns have beautiful shops and cafes, enough to keep everyone happy. My rating of this cottage is 5 stars...I cannot mark down for anything at all...it was clean, inviting and comfortable. Thanks so much to the hosts for having made this cottage available. It is clearly something they are very proud of, and I would definitely go back. Cannot recommend enough.

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• Darrell - Verified booking

  A nice well kept cottage.

  Size is smaller than our normal cottages, especially the kitchen area, but good use of the space was made by having an oven/microwave combo located under the stairs. The fridge was also under the stairs, however the freezer compartment was difficult to access. Made use of the included slow cooker. Frying pans could do with being replaced - Teflon going/gone. The smart TVs at the cottage are of the older generation and we could not get Netflix working on either, wifi connection on lounge tv constantly dropped out which was slightly annoying. Lovely super king size bed with nice bed linen and was very comfortable. Shower in the bathroom was good size with constant hot water. Weather was not our friend so was pleased the heating came on a couple of times even though it was July - airing cupboard was always warm and good place for drying our wet weather gear. Whist dogs are permitted at the cottage they are not allowed upstairs. Parking is at the bottom of a small hill and is shared with the adjoining cottage - turn your car around if you can so it’s ready to drive up the hill when leaving the property. The cottage is excellently located for exploring the surrounding Lake District area. Remember to plan your routes and allow extra time due to the narrower roads.10 minute drive to Windemere for a good supermarket and plenty of coffee shops. Similar to Ambleside - loads of sports equipment stores and restaurants. We had a very active week taking in Scafell Pike, Grizedale, Keswick, Rydal and Grasmere but the highlight was the Troutbeck Valley walk up to High Street, returning via Froswick and Ill Bell - a challenging 23k hike. We followed the route from a walk leaflet handed out at the Queens Head pub which along with the Mortal Man are both located very close to the cottage. Reservations are recommended for evening dining if you’re staying during peak season. Overall a great cottage in a great location. Thanks Rob for contacting us before and during our visit to make sure everything was OK.

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• Stephen - Verified booking

  Lovely property with great views over the lake.

  The photos do not do this place justice. We arrived in the dark met by a long , fully lit up driveway, which has plenty of room for multiple cars. It's difficult to appreciate the size of this property until you're in front of it. The hallway with gallery landing above has a real wow factor upon entry. After a few minute's I was torn between thinking this house needed the decor modernising and loving the charm of it all as it was. •Kitchen was very well equipped, very clean, with good quality appliances •The living room is huge, with fantastic views of the lake, comfortable seating and a smart TV. Fully adjustable lighting and a lovely fireplace •The light on the rear patio didn't work but was rarely needed with such a fantastic frint facing balcony •The bedrooms are spacious and the beds really comfortable. The wardrobes need updating but we're functional. •We only used the downstairs shower, which was fine so cannot comment on the other two. •The property was immaculately clean and the heating set perfect for our needs, always warm after we returned from walks and days out. The only real downside to this property is also the reason for its biggest plus. Its built on a hill, above bowness, and whilst its just a 10 minute walk from the centre, it is a very steep uphill walk. We used the steps on the far side of the property, which are far easier to manage than the driveway. The views are well worth the effort though. My family really enjoyed the week and we would stay again in a heartbeat.

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• Kay - Verified booking

  When we arrived at the house, the cleanliness of the kitchen was not to an acceptable standard.

  I had to scrub the outside of the kettle to remove dried on food and their was scale that had built up around the spout. (It needed a new kettle!) there was also dirty cutlery and cupboards/draws that clearly hadn't been checked and a warming draw with food debris in. There was also dog dirt on the patio area. The rest of the house, bathrooms and bedrooms was clean and the balcony had fantastic views and definitely was worth hiring the house for. We did make the owner aware of the cleanliness issue on the evening we arrived and later in the week he dropped us of a gift as an apology, however we never heard anything from Lakelovers and no one offered to come and clean the kitchen at any point. As we are in the middle of a pandemic, cleanliness has a higher priority than ever before, this was not a cheap holiday let, so we were very disappointed that we came across this issue. We were told we couldn't enter the property until 4pm due to the extra cleaning taking place but we arrived at 2pm and there was no sign of the cleaners, so it wasn't as if they ran out of time! There is also a branding issue as we booked under Lakelovers but when we tried to sign into our account we couldn't get in and were told we had to log into Sykes cottages website? This feedback email was sent by Lakelovers & yet the start of the feedback form says "Your Sykes Experience" That is really unprofessional, please sort your branding out so we as customers know who we are booking with!

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