New Year Breaks In The Lake District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Rachael - Verified booking

  Claife View Lodge - Ambleside 77 We stayed here for a weeks holiday in November 2018.

  This was booked through Sykes Cottages as the lodge is privately owned. On arrival the lodge was freezing cold, the heating had not been on for days and it would have been nice and welcoming, to arrive to a warm lodge especially this time of year. The lodge did not appear to be very clean. The basics were fine; clean bedding, clean toilet and shower, and main floor areas ok. We moved the coffee table to make more space for our little baby and noticed the rug was quite stained and the part of the rug under the coffee table had not been hoovered for a while! We attempted to hoover ourselves but the hoover was pretty useless. The bathroom door handle was broken and we reported this 2 days after our arrival, and it was finally repaired the day before we went home. There wasn’t much storage in the kitchen as the cupboards were all full of kitchen equipment (not sure it was all necessary!) so we stored stuff on top of the kitchen cupboards only to discover it was thick of dust and very greasy. We noticed that the extractor fan wasn’t even connected to anything. Skirting boards were grubby especially near kitchen bin, so we cleaned this ourselves. (Who wants to clean while they are on holiday?!) There was lots of dirt and old sweets etc under both sofas. The shower screen leaked everytime you used the shower and the grout/sealant was mouldy in places. We found a hairball on top of bathroom cabinet and hairs/dust behind bathroom door. We found food smears on inside of curtains in living room, and inside of windows were covered in fingerprints. Decking area could do with a jet wash after the summer. We reported these issues to Sykes Cottages when informing them of the broken door handle. The cleaning team did visit the following day and cleaned the floors, removed hairs from behind door and left fresh towels but did not action the other issues. However, it did make us feel a little more comfortable about staying there the rest of our holiday. We had an ok holiday, the site is nice, clubhouse is canny, and the site is in a great location. However, this lodge needs a deep clean and a bit of TLC asap! Hopefully no one else will feel the way we felt while staying there, or have to do their own cleaning whilst on holiday, and that the owners of this lodge have dealt with all the issues we informed them of! Lastly, the third bedroom is quite small, with no cupboard space and is definetly a bedroom for children. I don’t think the lodge is really suitable for 6 adults.

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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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• 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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• Wendy - Verified booking

  We arrived on the 2nd of January.

  The cottage was nice, clean and had all the facilities. The park was pleasant also. We’d not been there half an hour when we had an urgent email from Sykes cottages to call them. We did so, sorry I cannot recall the name of the lady we spoke to, but she said the resort was closing on the 3rd and we’d have to leave a day early. We had originally booked the break from the 1st to the 3rd but altered it to the 2nd to the 4th at the property owner’s request so they could get cleaners in on the 1st. If we had known the cottage was only available for 2 days instead of 3 we would never have booked it and sought alternatives. We were very disappointed. We were offered alternative accommodation at nearly £300 for one night! Three nights had cost us £400 so this seemed extreme. We were told the cost of the night would be refunded, but no compensation was offered. We then enquired as to what time we needed to leave. The lady at Sykes said she had made an executive decision and we could stay on the Friday for as long as we liked. The next day another representative from Skyes told us the owner wanted us out by 11 am. I am very disappointed in this total failure of communication. At the moment it seems both the owner and the agency are more than happy to take money but are not willing to do the right thing when they make a mistake.

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• Donna - Verified booking

  We had a great week away in this lovely lodge.

  Well positioned, the lodge was very clean and the most well equipped holiday accommodation we have stayed in. Great size decking, and having direct access into the forest was a real bonus. The torches the owners provide came in very handy for our night walks, they've thought of everything! Ample parking space. The facilities on site are very good, would recommend a meal in the bar or breakfast, was very good and dogs welcome inside too. We were fortunate enough to have the deers visit our lodge every morning, a very special experience to have them so close ( keep an eye out between 8 and 10 am). The lodge is very central for visiting all the beautiful places the lakes have to offer. A short walk to The Sun Inn where you will be made very welcome. Bowness is definitely worth a visit, so many great places to mention. Including drinks outside the Hole in T wall in Bowness under the patio heater in November was great. Thankyou for a very memorable stay for our anniversary break. would definitely return.

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