Luxury Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Kirsten - Verified booking

  The house was OK for our purpose (stopping for a couple days at Norfolk on our way back to Germany after visiting the Scottish Borders) but not one the best we've stayed in.

  The photos are showing a very modern house, but in fact it's been built in the 90s and frankly, it feels a little bit tired and could use a little love. The good things first: the beds were very comfortable, with clean sheets, no problems there. The bedrooms were of a good proportion too, with enough space to put clothes etc, and clean. The living-room space is nice and airy, great for a family of 5. The garden was lovely. But: The weird self-made front door was a bit off-putting; the lock was quite hard to use. It was impossible to lock the door from the inside; we locked it from the outside and then got back in through the back. Not ideal. The house could have been a litte bit cleaner overall: the bathroom fittings were all very clean, but there was quite a bit of dust in the corners of the bathrooms and the living area. And there were dead flies and moths lying around literally everywhere! The kitchen, sadly, needs a good deep-clean. The floor was sticky and the counters and sink had been only hastily wiped, leaving ugly streaks. The electric kettle was disgusting - encrusted with thick layers of scale. The small tiles on the back of the wall under the window were really filthy, particularly behind the sink - when I wiped them down even just gently, layers of grime came off. That's not the kind of hygiene I like in a place where I make food. (Also, there was no cafetière for making coffee; luckily we brought our own). Well-equipped, as others stated, the kitchen is not. The stove is an old electric one, taking ages to get water to boil, and the dishwasher had a setup that made it impossible to load the pint drinking glasses without falling over. Also, it's in desperate need of de-scaling. All the glasses and crockery had a gritty, chalky feel after having been "cleaned" in it. The kitchen was the biggest let-down for me. The outdoor furniture would have been nice to use, as it was a very hot couple of days, but it was dirty, covered in bird droppings and cobwebs. I don't want to have to clean the garden furniture in a house where I only stay for three nights! In the heat it was especially bad that the three doors in the living space (two downstairs and the one in the big mezzanine) could only be opened all the way, not just tilted so we had to close them completely at night, making the room insufferably hot for my daughter. The vent that we opened didn't really help. As there were no insect screens, in the evening the house was teeming with moths and grasshoppers. There were lots of spiders, too; not ideal for my somewhat arachnophobic daughters. When I got the owner's 26-page instructions of how to care for the house, I wasn't expecting a property that has obviously gotten so little love recently. The village is ok, we did manage to take a decent walk, but it's not your picture-book English village. The neighbour's property across the street with its strange wolf-head effigy and "up yours!" sign was downright creepy. We did enjoy driving to Kessingland beach, visit the fab aviation museum and taking a day trip to Norwich; however unless this house gets the makeover it needs, I wouldn't really recommend it, I'm afraid!

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• Tracy - Verified booking

  This was & is a fabulous place to stay.

  Such a great location, beautiful property & absolutely spotless, we have just had a week here & thoroughly enjoyed the break. However, there are a few points that need to be upgraded & actioned. I myself do not complain whilst I am actually there & comment later. I am aware that things could be rectified whilst there but I think it should have been top notch anyway. On previous occasions people have noted comments etc & things after haven't been improved & they definitely should be listened to, actioned & completed. Here are our notes & recommendations for immediate action necessary. No comeback to the on site cleaners at all, they definitely cleaned this accommodation thoroughly. The Owners & Holiday company should action these recommendations immediately. 1. On approach, Louper Weir should definitely be lit up, previously noted on many occasions & not actioned. 2. Light near door entrance as you can't see door key hole & step down into utility room. 3. New battery on dyson handheld as it doesn't charge any longer. 4. Dyson fan is useless, can I recommend Meaco fans, these are more efficient & effective. Previously noted & not actioned. 5. For such a top spec apartment the new luxury sofa is actually so very uncomfortable to sit on & relax. It is so soft & stupid shape. We have crooked our necks & backs trying to sit correctly & are going for osteopath treatment after now returning home. Again, previously noted & not actioned. 6. Having electric blackout blinds are a great touch, curtain furnishings are needed as there are people & cars around all the time & the blinds need to be closed to have privacy then this leaves you being in the dark all day. This has been noted on many occasions & not actioned. 7. The bed needs to be replaced to a divan & king size duvet to go with the bed & not a double on a king size. The pillows are terrible, this is where we have crooked necks from. So so uncomfortable & once again many people have commented & no action been taken at all 8. The dining table is actually outdoor furniture as I have these myself. However, the seats are so uncomfortable & definitely needs to be soft furnished chairs. Never used the Hot tub as it was too far from the property & badly lit. For such a top spec beautiful place these changes need to be made as it isn't cheap to stay. The cleaners seemed to be around all day but never came in to do anything, never met them until leaving, however it was spotless on arrival.

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• Steven - Verified booking

  Good points: Location is 2nd to none.

  Travelled all over the UK staying in similar types of property, lake windemere is up there with the best of them. The property is clean, had everything we needed for what we hoped would be a relaxing stay. The complaints about the fan are ridiculous, there is a tablet next to it with the Dyson app on it or you download it to your smart phone. Very reasonable price for what you get in return. Bad points: Arrived 15 minutes early to pick up the keys after a 7 hour drive up from the south east and was made to feel like we were asking for an extra day for free....... not a great start. Even offered to sit outside for 15 minutes. Get any ideas out of your head about being able to stay at the property and relax. The cleaner and hottub maintenance chap seem to be always at the property. There are lovely floor to ceiling electric blinds which when opened give you a fantastic view. Unfortunately we had to leave them closed to try and retain some privacy. My partner didnt really want to use the hottub as its checked every single day which seems ridiculous. She didnt want to be sat in there with some stranger just walking in. This is the only place we've stayed at in the UK with a hottub that has done this and seems obsessive. Likewise the cleaner seemed to be there every single day we were. This may not have been the case but again, its a self catering property, seems ridiculous that the cleaner is there so much. After the first night we were emailed and asked to give a "First night review" which I marked as adequate because of the privacy issues. I then had to email the office to tell them to leave us alone because we started getting phone calls and emails because of the adequate rating. Certainly won't be coming back to this property. Its not the first time we have used Sykes and had no issues at the last place we stayed at at all.

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• Shanjida - Verified booking

  Due to strict measures in leaving the country, me and my husband chose the Lake District as our Minimoon for some us time after a very stressful month wedding prepping.

  After searching for hours for the perfect cottage in Windermere, non of the others came close to the Lower Lake View. I had my eyes set on this throughout my whole search. The only thing that would have set us back would be the price as it was a lot more than the others we saw. However, I am so so SO glad we picked this one! You 100% get what you pay for and this cottage was by far my favourite get away. Everything about it was so beautiful! The fact that it was in a little secluded area which required the keys to get through the gates, the private parking, the facilities inside the cottage such as utility room, fully loaded kitchen, two bathrooms, two smart TV’s - my list could go on! It has everything included which is listed in the accommodation details so is literally what it says on the packet. BUT, the one thing it did not mention, is the absolutely beautiful sunset view of the lake we watched every night from the hot tub on the terrace of our cottage. It truly was a dream. This cottage exceeded our expectations by far and made our wind down time for our minimoon a beautiful one. The customer service was absolutely spot on, the staff at the office made our key collection quick and easy, they had given us a courtesy call after our first night to check up on us, the caretaker was so sweet and bubbly when speaking to us at the end of our stay about how it was and even the cleaner of the hot tub we bumped into was lovely! I could not recommend the Lower Lake View enough and will definitely be coming back!!!!!

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• Lucy - Verified booking

  This is a beautiful, contemporary house in a quite village.

  The large open space in the hall, living and dining areas are perfect for our sunny week in May. The two bedrooms downstairs are comfortable and cosy and the master bedroom on the mezzanine level is impressive and feels quite luxurious. The balcony off the master and the outdoor staircase did feel a little precarious; I only used those stairs once and chose not to venture onto the balcony too often. The bathrooms are clean and well maintained. The shower in the second bathroom is very small, my elbows constantly hit the controller/mixer tap either shifting it to cold or turning it off altogether; a little frustrating. The utility room and study are perfect if you require either of them and the kitchen has practically everything you could need. The large driveway could probably accommodate three cars easily and the back and side gardens are a treat. The mature trees beyond the boundary are so beautiful and the back lawn was mown in the centre but left a little wild around the edges. This is the most contemporary house we have ever booked for a week away and certainly enjoyed the light and space. The village was quiet (other than birdsong) but the last couple of roads leading to and from the cottage are single width and blind in places. The grass verges were in full bloom in May so didn't help with visibility and it could be tricky in heavy rain or snowy conditions but I would still happily recommend this house.

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