Dog Friendly Villas In Windermere

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Red - Verified booking

  We got home yesterday and we had a fantastic week at your cabin at White Cross Bay.

  It was clean and comfy, our dogs quickly settled in and we certainly had enough living space in the kitchen and lounge. I'm pleased we stayed at Top Lodge on the edge of the camp rather than in the middle of the site where I'm sure it would have been noisier and busier. It was very quiet and peaceful until our final night when we got a rowdy party of five blokes staying at a cabin 10-15 yards away - and they were out drinking and talking loudly till well after 1am. Perhaps the camp owners should impose restrictions on all-male groups renting lodges as well as insisting on a lights out, silence first policy after midnight. We loved the woods behind our cabin, taking our pets up there every day. As for the minuses. The lodge seriously needs more shelf/cupboard/drawer space. We had to keep the food/drinks we'd taken up in bags because there wasn't anywhere to put it. The same applies re our clothes in the bedroom. We could have done with more cupboards for pants, socks, shirts, tops, etc. The bed was just OK and the duvet just about big enough. Easily the biggest bugbear for me was the joke of a basin in the bathroom. I could hardly clean my teeth in it never mind have a shave! I ended up having to shave in the kitchen sink! I just do not see the point of having such a ridiculously impractical basin that was neither use nor ornament as my grandad used to say. I've stayed in all sorts of places all over the world over the last 50 years and never come across a basin so pointless. I also had to call you to get the proper key safe code when we arrived after apparently being sent a new code by email. I should have spotted the new number but it would be a big help if you could banner headline such a change in emails in future to make sure customers don't miss it. But all in all we had a fabulous week and would return, perhaps to try one of your lakeside lodges next.

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• David - Verified booking

  Dear Sykes, we have stayed in a number of your cottages over the last 5 years and have always had a very enjoyable holiday.

  Unfortunately this lodge did not live up to expectations. On arrival the lodge was unbearably hot and we discovered that someone had put the boiler on its maximum setting. The following day when the building had cooled down, it smelt musty and damp. Possibly the heating was left on full to mask the damp! The bedrooms were both very small with inadequate storage space for our clothes, no chest of drawers in either room and the wardrobe was only equipped with three coat hangers. The double bed had what was without doubt the most uncomfortable mattress I’ve ever had the misfortune to sleep on. It sagged in the middle and was so soft I could feel the slats in the bed frame. The duvet was at best 20 mm thick and the cover was torn around the popper fasteners. Despite the fact that the holiday was to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary we ended up in the two single beds in the even smaller bedroom because they were marginally more comfortable! The bath had a very obvious repair in it and the basin was so small you banged you head on the bathroom cabinet when you tried to use it. We discovered on our last day that the shed contained a black bin liner full of decomposing kitchen waste, which probably accounted for the number of flies around the property. We had stayed the previous week in one off your lodges named Iona in the village of Strontian in the Scottish Highlands. This was a delightful cabin and was £200 pounds cheaper than the Skiptory Howe lodge. We paid more than £100 pounds a night to stay in this property and consequently expected a much more luxurious well equipped lodge. I have taken photographs of the problems we encountered which I am happy to send you. I also would expect some form of compensation because this holiday was not a memorable experience in a positive way!

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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

  Overall a very nice lodge.

  However there were a few issues which were also picked up in the visitors book, for example, the double bed was uncomfortable - felt like it was sagging in the middle, the mechanism to switch from shower to bath didn't work and I found it difficult to maintain a relatively constant water temperature, also there was initially a musty smell to the property including the kitchen cupboards.The window in the main bedroom room didn't open and the cushions on that bed did smell so they went outside for the week. The sofa positioned in front of the TV was quite uncomfortable. That sounds like quite a moan but it isn't, this is a well equipped property and we enjoyed our stay there. The lodge is quite overshadowed with trees which suited us but if you wanted to sunbathe on the generous decking area then this isn't the place for you. At the rear there is a shed which we used to store a couple of bikes and a gate into the woods which was a god-send for the dogs. Fortunately no-one was in the lodge above us so it was a peaceful place to stay. With regards to the site I would say it is quite limited in the facilities on offer; there is a small shop. a small-ish 1.5m max deep pool which opens to guests from 10am to about 5.30pm and you have to book in 45 minute sessions at least a day before to use it, there is a small gym, jacuzzi and sauna, a play area for children under 12 and a sports court. There is a pub/restaurant which does a take-away menu (our burgers were really nice but beware the roasted veggie option - dire - perhaps we hit it on a bad day). The site was tidy and well maintained with plenty of woodland - all in all the positives outweigh the negatives.

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• Ed - Verified booking

  Overall, this is a lovely cottage that is generally well-equipped and in an excellent location.

  Staveley is a lovely village to stay in. The following comments are just things to be aware of / for the owners to consider to really improve the experience of staying at Stone Cottage. Firstly, and most importantly, please replace the mattress and pillows as these are very uncomfortable. I also don't think the bed is king-sized as per the listing. Secondly, little things, but please leave more than one toilet roll for a seven night stay. It doesn't cost much to provide enough toilet roll for the week, but it's very annoying for guests to have to go and buy their own. Also, please provide a towel and/or kitchen roll for the kitchen. Also, for people with a dog, regarding the garden, people should note (as the listing doesn't) that: 1) the neighbours have a right of access through the back garden so can just walk through the garden if they need to. They only did once in the week to put their bin out while we were there. 2) the gate to the garden is a metal gate with gaps between the bars so if you have a very small dog, they could probably fit between these bars. Someone had commented that they had this problem in the guestbook. I didn't mean this to be a complaining review as we had a lovely week, but I just think these are small changes that could really improve people's stay or things that people should be aware of before booking.

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