Lake District Cottages for Short Breaks

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Graham - Verified booking

  This is a first for us we have always been very satisfied with our previous bookings with sykes, however on this occasion, we were dissatisfied with the misleading description of the property.

  The location very good but the property would not be our first choice of booking due to having a young dog who is still in training, there was no mention of stairs & upstairs bedrooms, leather furniture is not practical with a young dog and the enclosed patio was misleading as it gives the impression that it's behind or adjacent to the property & it is not, the property photos does not reflect the actual cottage we were staying in, in fact the photos appear to be of the next door property which is attached to another 3 cottages, there is also a request on the back of the main door no dogs allowed in the bedrooms but it is open plan & no provision for the dog to NOT go upstairs ,( i.e stair gate ) we had to block the stairway with chairs to avoid him following us into the bedrooms which may have caused some disturbance for neighbours as he is only 1 year old and has a loud voice. Some of the kitchenware was not to the usual standard of previous sykes bookings, acceptable, however previously we overpacked, in this case we underpacked. We do not normally complete your customers surveys as our previous bookings have always been satisfactory, but we felt it necessary to voice our opinion on this property, we have to stress the property itself would be ideal for a couple however our booking priorities are for our dog which means back yard/garden enclosed area where he can have toilet breaks without having to put a leader on him and walking him outside late at night and early morning, we believed the patio would give us this provision, the stairs are a no go as its very impractical for a young dog, no means to stop him adventuring upstairs, it was very difficult trying to keep him down on the first couple of nights, it was a lovely cottage but we felt a little mislead and disappointed Previous skyes bookings have fulfilled our expectations but on this occasion, unfortunately we didn't feel we could relax as much as we had hoped

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• Janice - Verified booking

  The exterior aesthetic of the cottage is truly beautiful and it is perfectly located with lovely walks from the door and a short drive to Ambleside & Hawkshead.

  The garden is lovely, although it's use was restricted due to lack of funiture (4 old plastic chairs). The linen was clean, water hot, heating adequate & kitchen well-equipped (although no order to storage & not everything was clean). Unfortunately, the negatives far outweighed the positives including large areas of black mould on the window frames throughout the cottage, on the shower room walls & the utility room walls & doors; ingrained dirt in the grouting in the shower room; thd lounge windows were difficult to close & the secondary glazing trims kept falling off; filthy floor, sink & resources (mops, sweeping brushes, hoovers) in the utility room; 2 hoovers available but both dirty and don't pick up dirt so unusable; cupboard interiors dirty; cobwebs around ceilings; broken hinge on kitchen cabinet above the sink - BEWARE if you don't hold it open, it falls down on you; 2 broken dining chairs; water stain & large crack on the bedroom ceiling; electric socket hanging off the wall & 5 of 8 lights not working in lounge; broken kitchen bin; red marks in the bath; dirty laundry in the laundry basket; info folder has incorrect info about bin day (so bin doesn't get emptied because no-one knows to put it out on Wednesday, not Thursday); no key to 'games' cupboard or door from utility room into garage. The maintenance team sorted the lights & socket, removed the broken chairs & banged the windows to close them. The cleaners did a re-clean (it felt very reluctant) but we still had to buy cleaning materials & clean the shower room, bath & utility room ourselves to make them useable. Sadly, the cottage is in dire need of some maintenance work & a thorough deep clean. So many issues have been raised in previous reviews; a shame no-one appears to be responding. Such a shame because it has the potential to be stunning. We left feeling massively disappointed & needless to say, wont be returning.

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• Nicola - Verified booking

  The heating was pre-set and we were unable to control the temperature in the house.

  it was 19 degrees outside and the heating was on with no way of turning down or off. We contacted Heart of the Lakes and we were told somebody would look into this for us. Nobody came back to us. we had to put up with it and on an evening it was horrendous. The whole time we had builders working next door and each day they would start chasing the walls from 8am. You have the videos so you know what I am talking about. At one point the builder actually came through the adjoining wall. The kids were not able to sleep past 8am and the dog was terrified. We had no privacy as builders were wondering into our garden, we have teenage girls so this was completely unacceptable. At one point when we were sitting out in the front one of the builders went behind rather than into the portaloo to urinate right in front of us. I reported some of this to your company and sent pictures and videos. Again somebody was supposed to do something about this but nothing was done and nobody got back to us. Our holiday was completely compromised by the intrusive building work. We could tell by the comments left in the visitor book that we were not the only customers that were very dissatisfied and upset that they were not made aware of building works. This email is a formal complaint. I would like somebody to come back to me to let me know if my complaint has been received and is being reviewed / processed. I appreciate you can’t be responsible for the actions of the builders but I do believe we should have been made aware that there was building work taking place over the duration of our stay and this was you companies responsibility to do so. Please note other than the heating issue (that must be resolved) there is no blame on the owner of this property. My issue is with the company that manage the property. Heating issue aside the property was good.

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• Karen - Verified booking

  I stayed at the property with my husband and small dog.

  The property was perfectly situated to get around the Lake District and it had a beautiful country view. Although the property had two bedrooms it was very compact I would say that it is not suitable for four adults, maybe two adults and two children. The sofa wasn’t very comfortable and there was only one other armchair so if you were having an evening in there would be three people squashed on the sofa and one on the chair. The TV was small and the remote control had lost the battery cover so you had to hold the batteries in when you wanted to change channels. There were a couple of issues the shower worked for the first morning but then ran cold this was reported but didn’t get fixed we had to report it again after which it was rectified. The other problems were that the extractor fan over the cooker wasn’t working the on off switch was completely missing this was reported but never fixed. The radiator in the downstairs bathroom didn’t work, this was reported but never fixed. The thermostat on the radiator in the upstairs toilet didn’t switch the radiator off and it remained on full blast the toilet was like a sauna, this was reported it was turned off when the shower was fixed but it only lasted for one day and the rest of our stay blasted out at full blast and couldn’t be switched off. There was an area on the kitchen work surface that the Formica had blown and the mdf underneath was visible. The work surface needs to be replaced. This cottage was very pretty but is in need of some repairs and refurbishment. If you have a dog there isn’t an enclosed space to let them out for a wee every time your dog needs to go out you have to put it on its lead and take it out.

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• Diane - Verified booking

  All as expected in general.

  “Welcome pack” was disappointing only because there was a single packet of biscuits which were broken and only one chocolate sachet for a cottage for four. No fresh milk. However, the tea bags were very welcome as I’d forgotten mine. Hunted around for a welcome note which was eventually found in the middle of a concertina file with instructions on the appliances. Could have been a little more friendly and signed by actual names instead of “the owners”. Apart from these trivialities which were more poignant after a nightmare on the M6, a 200 mile journey and a horrible stressful week at work. A fabulous cottage with a beautiful outlook of the fells. Quiet and isolated. Ideal for walkers. No public buses on this little road which we found out for ourselves. We had a good car so not an issue. Glad I used initiative to bring my own shower mats for safety. Talking of safety, not that I would have used them, but two cast iron casserole pans were located on the top shelf which would have been impossible to handle and reach without steps (available in the cupboard). All the usual kitchen equipment was plentiful. Make sure you book a table at the Queen’s Head in advance of your arrival if you’re planning on going out for a local hot meal when you get there after driving 200 miles, as me and my 86 year old mother were refused a table for two at five thirty pm as it would have been full by six according to the landlady. Fair enough. Booked for Sunday lunch which didn’t disappoint. Super comfortable cottage and beautifully decorated and furnished.

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