Holiday Cottages In Eskdale

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Steven - Verified booking

  Front door latch does not work.

  The Yale style lock does not locate properly in the latch so the front door can be pushed open by anybody, day or night. We were unable to use the open fire as the chimney does not draw the fire. I read the instructions regarding the draw adjustment, and I am very experienced with old chimneys/open fires, but it just does not draw and the cottage fills with dangerous smoke. I shone a light up the chimney and could see that there was a lot of nesting bird matter so assume the chimney has not been properly swept and likely there is no cowl on the top. Also a number of the radiators are locked at the none valve end, or the valves are broken. In the lounge the adjustable valve is not even attached to the radiator. So with no radiator valve or open fire we were unable to heat the lounge. The kitchen partially flooded on the second night and on inspection I noticed that the joint in the condensation pipe from the boiler had become detached and there was a constant dripping onto the tile floor, just to the right of the fridge. I pushed the pipe back together to stop the dripping and dried up the water but needs some long term maintenance. Finally, if the adjoining property is occupied it is very noisy upstairs when they walk about. I assume that the properties were one property in their past and have been split. The problem is the ancient floor boards, which creak VERY VERY LOUDLY, run right through both properties and move through both properties if walked on. We go to bed between 10.30 and 11.30pm but our neighbours were coming in a 2 and 3 am and making a noise that could wake the dead. Not blaming them, they are on holiday I assume, though I have no ideas where you can go in Ambleside until that sort of time, but we were woken most nights by the noise. Also the garden around the entrance door could do with a good tidy up. Seems like it is mainatened with no real interest. In summary, it is a nice property, but my feeling is that some money was spent on it 15 or 20 years ago, and now nobody really loves it. In desperate need of somebody to take a genuine loving interest in this ancient property. "Very disappointing and neglected but has potential", would be my summary.

  Read more less >

• Dean - Verified booking

  Accuracy - nowhere in the advert does it mention just how precarious, slippery and uneven the staircase and upper floors are.

  Spiral staircase, protruding floor dowels and nails present a significant health and safety risk and a potential life changing accident waiting to happen (if not already and unaware). Stated all fuel included but nothing to light a coal fire with. No access to garden from cottage, would need to walk out the front door and around to the carpark behind. More honesty and transparency needed including the use of leisure facilities in the advert......4 miles away! Cleanliness - cobwebs in the bathroom, bedroom and lounge, squashed moth on bathroom ceiling, kitchen worktop and windowsill dirty, oven glass door dirty. Comfort - personally found all the furniture uncomfortable and placed cushions on the lounge and dining room seats to sit on. Facilities - well equipped, dedicated parking space at the rear of the property. Hot water ran cold in the bathroom very quickly (unable to run a hot bath) and trickled from the kitchen tap - had to boil the kettle to wash dishes. Kitchen curtains wouldn't close using the pulley (and the curtain track would come away) but could be pulled manually, although had to climb on the worktop to reach. Property a little tired, could do with freshening up. Initially struggled on arrival to turn on heating, cooker, TV, WiFi (unable to connect laptop, asking for WPA2 password which no-one at Sykes could help with - prevented working from home and no visibility of emails) - personally feel any operating instructions should be clearly visible i.e. left on the kitchen worktop or dining table and not in a drawer in the passageway or in with some books beside the TV. This feedback feels a little harsh when written - deducted one point for the staircase and one point for the upper floor. The property was ideally situated in Ambleside close to the town but setback and very quiet. Would only not return due to the staircase and the unevenness/protruding dowels of the upstairs floors.

  Read more less >

• Jon - Verified booking

  The accommodation was charming and in the majority as described.

  The picture showing the seating area on grass is misleading as it could be construed to be the front where there is no seating supplied despite describing as such. The rear seating area where the picture shows does not belong to the property so nowhere to sit outside. The pack supplied was a welcome addition for use within the kitchen. It was disappointing for a property of this price range to not have some basic equipment such as a bread knife and some of the pots and pans to be so scratched that the non-stick had become defunct. The microwave would benefit from being updated as the turntable did not go round when operating so constant changing of position to get even cooking was a pain. When we tried to turn the washing machine on, there were multiple lights flashing and upon reading the manual it was noted that a call to an engineer was required so unable to wash soiled walking clothes. The cottage itself is quaint and delightfully full of character, mention of health and safety aspects should be spoken about given the flooring levels and slippiness as it may advise people about what to take with them. Overall, it was felt to be overpriced for the facilities supplied (we’ve stayed in multiple properties locally) but if some of these things are addressed it would not stop us from booking the cottage again.

  Read more less >

• Michael - Verified booking

  Dangerous! I would hope the owners would respond to this but these are the facts - The steps leading to the rear of the cottage are extremely dangerous to the point where my wife fell and hurt herself.

  You have no option but to navigate these as the key safe is at the rear. The rear courtyard and the steps are so green it is almost impossible to stand up and again we both slipped on this. The steps are also very steep and no handrails. At the time of our visit there were also no outside lights meaning we had to use torches which were supplied by the cottage as they informed us they were aware the outside lights weren’t working. At night there is absolutely no light at all other than torch light. We had no hot water for two days meaning we had to have cold showers and the children had to have cold baths at the end of October! The fire alarm in the front bedroom went off every few hours keeping us and 2 young children awake all night. We contacted Sykes and Sykes have been very communicative, however the owners are not interested and have offered no solution. We also emailed the contact details supplied in the cottage but we did not receive a response. We have Sykes/the owners the option to resolve the issues before submitting this review. Would definitely not recommend and we certainly won’t be returning. Think long and hard before you book this cottage.

  Read more less >

• Shaheda Natha And M - Verified booking

  Great cottage and location.

  Basic amenities within the cottage were pretty disappointing. For example, salt and pepper is rather basic item to be provided in a self catered cottage. Many go far beyond this, with welcome packages etc. But this rather basic item not provided. Same for toilet roll. Literally one provided. That's disappointing. Outside of the pandemic, I would seriously question using the cottages again for this reason. It's not much of an ask but it seems rather scrimp not to provide some very basic provisions. Also, no washing up sponge for washing the dishes,despite requesting it. Not sure if that was because we are expected to bring our own. Health club access was great. However, advertising on this misleading as it's a ten minute drive, whereas the pictures etc makes one think it's adjacent to the cottage. Despite the above moan, the cottage was lovely. Perhaps more TV channel options too as not a lot of entertainment in the evenings here. Glad I managed to get a booking in the pandemic, but would expect them to up their game outside of pandemic.

  Read more less >