Holiday Cottages In The North West

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Tarryn - Verified booking

  My husband and I stayed at Sycamore Tree Farm from 30th June to 5th July with our two labradors.

  We chose this property due to the location of the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. I have listed both the pros and cons of the property for an accurate review of our stay. Pros: The Owner Shirley was very lovely and was a phone call away if we needed anything. The building itself was lovely, a very charming building and had all the bits and pieces you would need for a stay. there was a TV with various DVDs which was great for the evenings after long days out. The fireplace was great, even though we had hot days, we still had cool evenings so made a couple of fires. which was great for the dogs to fall asleep in front of. The kitchen was fully stocked with pots, pans, plenty of cutlery and cups and glasses. the Larder was brilliant, it stored all our food and stayed relatively cool even in the heat. The Location of the property is brilliant. there is so much to see and do in the area. and the local town of Kirkby has everything you need to either dine out or stock up with. The house can sleep 6 in beds comfortably. There are two toilets, one upstairs in the bathroom and one downstairs, which was a good convenience. The sunshine in the afternoon was lovely, we sat outside tanning in the sun with cold drinks, that was our favorite part of the holiday. there were also various board games, which was great and we played a few in the evenings. There was also a huge list of different walks in the area, and maps if you wanted to take out with you for the day, along with local restaurant menus and recommendations. Cons: The day before we arrived we were told we cant drink the water as the bore water UV light wasn't working so wouldn't be safe to drink. The owner did have a 4 litre bottle of water for us at the property which was kind, but overall it wasn't very convenient as we had to keep buying bottled water which was also for our dogs, and in the heat wave, we went through a lot. also as i am pregnant, i was worried particularly brushing teeth etc, so we had to still use bottled water for that too. Hopefully this issue is now resolved for the property. The hot water system had to be turned on each time you wanted Hot Water and it took about 45 minutes to an hour to heat the tank to be able to have a bath. There was no stand alone shower, and the shower head in the bath was very weak and would run either hot or cold depending on how you held it. We were advised not to leave the hot water system on all day as the tank was in an upstairs cupboard and gets too hot. This became a bit annoying when trying to wash dishes at different times of the day. A couple of hours into arriving we had a call to tell us there was a large Wasps Nest under the outside table. we were advised to spray fly spray in the hole at the bottom of the nest, we didn't feel comfortable with that and having two dogs who like to explore, we had to fence off part of the enclosed garden so the dogs wouldn't accidentally get too close or knock the nest. The living room main double sofa needs an upgrade, it is very worn and not very comfortable. Overall the house needs a deep clean, it was extremely dusty. we arent very fussy people and have rented many holiday cottages, but my asthma was particularly bad in the house, you could see all the dust every time you opened or closed curtains, or moved a blanket. I think if that was done it would make a huge difference. *** Owner Response*** Thank you for your feedback and your positive comments, the issues relating to the UV & wasps nest have both been dealt with. Thank you once again. **

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• Patricia - Verified booking

  Summerwatch There is so much animal activity at Sycamore Tree Farm, the presenters of Summerwatch could film there.

  What with the lambs and sheep all over the garden, running past the front porch entrance, the swallows nesting in the porch and the two species of mice running around the living room there was plenty to keep us busy. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the antics of the lambs, we didn’t realise they could be quite so like young children. When we walked up to the road through the fields to take a blue bin bag as requested to the roadside collection point, the lambs tried to get hold of the bag and we pointed our walking sticks at them and shouted ‘no’ and ‘stay’. When this failed we broke into a run with the bag as we didn’t want them to hurt themselves trying to eat our rubbish. Although the grass in the garden had been cut, the lambs spent a lot of effort coming into the garden even though we always kept the gate shut. We couldn’t understand why, but I guess it’s a case of ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’. The house is lovely and warm, the only downside was we couldn’t work out how to get any hot water in the kitchen or bathroom. I think it was the warmth that encouraged the mice to run around the living room even when the lights were all on. We were amazed that they would come out into view like that while we were sitting there talking and reading. We caught one of the larger species, but the others moved too fast to catch, at least when we tried. There was a nest of swallows on a light fitting in the porch which we didn’t notice at first. But it was possible to stand in the hallway of the house with the glass front door closed and watch the swallows fly in and out to feed their chicks. We had no idea they had to make so many trips for such a large part of the day and the chicks could clearly be seen to grow as the week progressed. On the last morning as we were carrying the bags out to the car, the first of the three swallow chicks had left the nest and was on the porch windowsill trying to learn to fly out of the porch and we hope we didn’t cause it too much distress as we left. Sadly the nest will soon be empty again. The WIFI is great and there’s ample lighting to read by; the sofa and armchairs have been replaced and they and the beds are very comfy and there are great walks from the door, including walks by the river. I suggest you bring a torch in case you need to get anything from your car at night, as cars are parked quite a way away, the other side of the gate. We are looking forward to coming again next year, we just hope the mice won’t be there then.

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• Leigh - Verified booking

  The stay at the property purely went from bad to worse.

  On arrival we were told that there was a slight odor to the property but to open the windows and it will go. This was so very wrong. The smell of leaking fuel was unbearable! There was an active oil leak somewhere on the heating system and two of the guys had painful headaches after the first night from the smell. It turned out the owner was aware of this leak and was happy to allow people to stay overnight anyway, regardless of the risk of fire hazard and obvious risk to human health and life. The leak was fixed lunchtime on the 2nd day. But still it was awful and understandably no one wanted to stay there. On the second night we were offered use of a caravan across the road but it was only 2 bedroom. We took this opportunity but couldn't all stay. At 10pm we realised there was no running water to the caravan which meant no shower or toilet could be used. On the Sunday I went to speak with the owner (Phil) to discuss the issues we had experienced. Phil was instantly angry. I explained about some of the party experiencing headaches, he said he didn't believe them and they were lying. He said we simply needed to close the kitchen door, very inaccurate and untrue as it was unbearable! He said we were idiots if we needed to be told to close the kitchen internal door! I explained about the issues with water in the caravan and he wasn't prepared to accept that it wasn't right and it was an easy fix. At 10pm we weren't going to start running round searching for a tap! It was down to him to ensure the accommodation was fit for purpose. He then exploded, started shouting refusing to listen and stormed off slamming a door, with all his staff bearing witness!! It was absolutely disgusting behavior and unbelievable that he treats customers or anyone in this manner!! I saw Phil again later on and asked for an apology and he refused to be any part of it whilst calling me names about how I speak. WARNING! Do not even consider staying at this property!! On a side note, his team are really lovely and work really hard to ensure things run smoothly, often fixing Phil's furious explosions! It seems this is a frequent act.

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• Steve - Verified booking

  We enjoyed our stay The house was clean and reasonably well equipped.

  WiFi would make a big difference, but we knew there was none when we booked it. We loved the remote location, the beautiful valley and all the lambs. 10 Things that would have made our stay more pleasant - Use of the Rayburn in the kitchen would have made a massive difference to our comfort & enjoyment. The kitchen was cold. - A window on the pantry, cold air blows through the open grating, our use of the pantry blasted cold air into the kitchen. - Thermastat in the immersion heater to ensure hot water (it reaches boiling point so has to be turned off but we weren't told of this so we ran out of hot water on day 2.) - Some gravel around the gate and the parking area, after a night's rain it turned into a sea of mud. Not good for cars or house. - Better lighting in the hallway so we could locate our things, even a brighter bulb would have helped. - Better lighting in the living room, there is lots of mood lighting but all at a low level so we struggled to read comfortably. - Bedside tables that are flat - the dished ratten things in the 2nd bedroom were useless and the bedside lights too low to read by. - Bathroom door has unmatched hinges and makes a terrible noise when opened or closed, needs taking off and replacing properly (sounds like a detail, but the layout made this very disturbing at night). - Bolt on downstairs loo needs oiling or replacing with something less sharp, I caught my finger on it - most unpleasant. - Too many nicknacks and ornaments, as when staying you need to be able to use all available surfaces. The caretaker does need informing that the door is mising from the electricity meter box at the back of the house - to rent this house without electricity does not bear thinking about!

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• Carole - Verified booking

  This is a fabulous, very rural, old farm cottage.

  Perfect in November to bring a dog terrified of fireworks, & we heard none. All we heard was the weather, birdsong & the occasional train, which was not loud or annoying. Is this a cottage full of mod cons...no, but the positives far outweigh any not so positives. Barely any pressure in the shower, but one can still shower, so that's fine. There's also a lovely long bath where you can have a lovely long soak. The cottage is very well equipped in the kitchen. We cooked from scratch, most days, & found everything we needed. There's no washing machine, so we went retro & did hand washing. All four of us saw a red squirrel in the front garden, & the bird life is wonderful. There are 2 Herons at the nearby river. Getting here was tricky, but if you do EXACTLY 5.8 miles after the Moorcock inn you get to the turn off for the farm, and then Sycamore is signposted. Try arrive in daylight hrs though as it's tricky! Those directions are if you've come from the Hawes area. The nearby (4miles) Nateby Inn is the nearest pub and is great with good food. We are sure the details of the cottage said a pub 1 mile away, but it doesn't exist. We highly recommend Sycamore. The peace & tranquillity is wonderful. Some people have written in the visitors book that it needs an overhaul, but we disagreed. It is what it is, and that's perfect

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