Holiday Cottages In The North West

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Isla - Verified booking

  A fantastic Christmas getaway.

  We spent 4 days here over the festive period and it was perfect. A gorgeous hamper awaited us on our arrival and a cheese selection in the fridge! Loved the decorations too. The kitchen was well equipped and we successfully cooked Christmas dinner. Oven/hob very efficient and easy to use. The cottage was never cold but also never too hot and we made good use of the log burner (pleased we brought a huge bag of our own as we got through them quickly!) detailed welcome guide which was also enjoyable to read. Solid floors throughout the downstairs, which was good as it never stopped raining whilst we were there, so we didn’t have to do balancing acts on the doormat! Also useful if bringing a dog so they can’t get muddy paws all over the carpet! A rug by the seating area would be appreciated though, as any blankets we put down for our dog just slipped everywhere and it would have felt a bit more cosier. Enclosed garden front and back so we could safely let her out too. Good storage facilities in bedrooms and bathrooms, limited cupboard space in kitchen but we managed. Airer provided which was useful for drying all out waterproofs and the muddy boot box was handy, though we didn’t use it as boots needed to dry. Info on recycling would have been appreciated as we brought all ours home (we don’t live far away and being Christmas we had a lot!) Cottage was spotless in all areas you could see, however when I dropped something, I noticed that under all the sofas the floor was filthy! Also found a polo under the bed when I thought I had lost a sock under there and dusty behind bedside cabinets. A little more attention wouldn’t go a miss. Info for travellers: 2 washing tabs & 2 dishwasher tabs provided. Logs for one use of fire provided, with enough fire lighters and kindling for a few fires. Co-op in Kirkby Stephen had some for sale. Tea towels provided Kitchen utensils, cutlery, pots & pans are plenty but bring your own roasting trays if you want to do a Christmas dinner!

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• Amanda - Verified booking

  The cottage itself is lovely but is in serious need of a very deep clean and quite a lot of maintenance.

  The porch lets in water which was very challenging due to the weather whilst we were there. Top of washing machine and dryer in need of good clean. Kitchen quite clean other than dirty windows. The fridge freezer required me to completely clean the fridge before I could use. Tha sitting room again at first sight seemed clean but was not. Dusty skirting boards and cobwebs on the light fittings. There were food crumbs under one sofa, log burner covered in dust, enough for me to write "Hello" in it and be clearly seen. No instructions for the use of the log burner. Bathroom shower extreme black mould on door, base and grouting. The radiator in the bathroom does not work despite it supposedly running from the log burner. The stairs are from the sitting room up and they had very large cobwebs IE 6/7" in length. Wall paper was peeling in places. Double bedroom has black mould under and wallpaper and on the wallpaper by the window. The wallpaper is peeling extensively. Again the windows need a good clean. Bedroom 2 was not as bad but again under the beds fluff and dust all around the skirting boards. And the landing area is also in need of skirting boards cleaning, dresser top has pot pourri in a bowl which should be thrown away as so very dusty and dirty. One last matter is that exiting the drive onto the road needs extreme caution if you have a low bumper and suspension as there is a distinct "V" were the drive meets the road. I had to ensure no husband in the passenger seat of my vehicle to alleviate the weight on the front of the vehicle as the bumper caught. So, a very disappointing experience all in all.

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• Jeff - Verified booking

  Please kindly note that it was very disappointing to find that even basic cleaning had not been carried out to a satisfactory standard within the above property.

  The following items/areas were not found to be in order: Shower/Toilet/Main Living area floor/Dirty oven dishes in the cupboard, (that had either been left dirty by the previous persons, and had not been picked by the Owner). There was no heating provided to dry Towls within the Bathroom, (there was a piped heated towel rail, but this was linked to the central heating system, which was off). One side of the matress within the mainbedroom was very uncomfortable with a spring. There were no 'Oven gloves' provided, (this is a basic item and a new pair should have been provided). It was not satisfactory at all trying to use 'Tea-towels', and there was not even a potato peeler provided! (this is all basic stuff). The front garden is not, 'Dog friendly' as it is open with no gates off the main parking area and the road is very busy with 'Farm traffic'. It should also be noted that there was 'no' local holiday information booklet provided' for the above property. The above list overall is very disappointing too have to feedback, and not up to the required standard that i would normally expect from 'Skyes Cottages' who i have used for a number of years, and usually twice a year. During the current climate i would not have expected to have found any, 'Cleaning issues'? and it gives me little confidence, that the 'Self-Catering' Industry are correctly managing these factors? I would not recomend the above property, untill all of the above items are addressed accordingly.

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• Derek - Verified booking

  Firstly the pros.

  The cottage was extremely clean and well equipped and the beds were very comfortable. It's location is great for touring the Yorkshire Dales or the Lakes or the North Penninnes Now the cons. The check in time of 4.30 p.m. was far too late in the day. Check in times used to be around the 2 p.m. mark which gave time to do other things when you had off loaded food and clothes etc. A check in time of 4.30 p.m. means you have effectively lost half a day of the holiday. We found the siting of the TV high up on the wall in the living room very uncomfortable.. After a day or two we ended up with a crick in the neck. The TV in the double bedroom didn't work at all. One of your previous customers mentioned in her published feedback that it was nice to have enclosed gardens to the front and the rear of the house that her dog could enjoy. We were therefore surprised to find a note on the back door stating that the rear garden belonged to the neighbouring house and we should therefore refrain from using it. On looking further at the description the owners were in fact only offering use of the front garden. It would be useful if Sykes would make sure that any feedback they allow is accurate and not misleading. Whilst mentioning gardens it has to be said that the front garden which is part of the cottage is only plastic grass with a lot of weeds growing through it. It can only be described as being in a parlous condition and badly needs some tlc.

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• Paul - Verified booking

  Positives: Keybox entry.

  We found it a nice location on edge of village. Pub a couple of doors away. Car parking. Complimentary bottle of wine. Fire kindling left (but take your own paper & matches). Electric storage radiators worked well. Switch socket night lights were good. Induction hob & dedicated pan(s) Negatives: Milk & coffee sachets along with the wrapped biscuits were out-of-date (they went out straight away). Dusty cobwebs in many ceiling corners. Bathroom extract fan dusty. Very dusty behind and under the double bed, that took some cleaning up. Shower head replacement was a poor substitute, it wouldn't stay in one position. Wood burner fire hearth not set (couldn't find any matches or sparking flint, locked away or otherwise. No wood burner fire guard. Half-glazed rear back door was a bit of a security nightmare the glazing was only kitemarked as toughened with only an internal thumb turn for the dead lock (should have been laminated glass to provide containment). Front astro-turf garden area could have done with a little more TLC. Have to say we did book very last minute, booked one day went the next, so that may explain some, not all, of the negative items.

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