Holiday Apartments in Windermere

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Krupesh - Verified booking

  If there was below zero rating.

  I would give this. This was our first holiday after the birth of my son who is now 8 months. Our precious moments with him were ruined correcting the catalogue of failures in this house. Some of these are listed below. Upon arrival, the bathroom in which you cannot swing a cat was left unclean. There were skid marks in the toilet, brown fresh smudge marks the (size of two fingers) on side of the door, the sink had bits of someone’s mouths spit stuck on it Willis appeared to not have been cleaned for a while, the shower handle was sticky, the bathroom door handle did not lock and the toilet (the icing on the cake) had a huge crack in the ceramics the panel. Something which I’m led to believe the owner is aware of but has decided to not fix. The toilet crack leaks toilet water a very small drip leading to the bathroom floor (be it very slowly). My wife called lakelovers around 5pm (keys in safe place from 4pm) and various calls, messages and after number of hours wait, the bathroom is superficially cleaned. Our first precious moments with my child on his first holiday ruined. Our evening ruined. Same night, my wife decides to make my 8 months olds baby milk and make some porridge for him to eat. Noting this is a self catering house, the pan to warm his milk and make porridge is dirty with food being stuck on the edges. The utensils all have dried food stuck on sides which has been left uncleaned for weeks. This food had now started to darken, harden and had bits of dust catching onto the food which makes a beautiful view as one can imagine. Neither I nor my wife could cook that day, make food for our child or the day after. An issue again which was notified to the agent the same day of arrival who said they could not get someone out the whole of Sunday (noting it was around 5-6pm on Saturday when lake lovers were notified). Lakelovers offered to pay for two bottles of water (approx. £ 2.50) by way of reimbursement for our troubles. Now let’s move to the kettle - the kettle handle was sticky to a point that it could be mistaken for super glue. One would have to wear gloves to simply touch the kettle. Inside when opening the kettle we had mould like limescale built up over weeks on end of not cleaning. This being a hygiene issue could not be used to make milk for my child or be used to boil water. The Microwave plate - again with bits of food stuck to the plate. The oven, the hob and the fridge - well no surprises there, again same issue of uncleanliness. Now let’s move to the windows - these windows have issues with being opened and if you are to brave enough to cook then be warned the air from the food will remain in the house. There are no known fire safety measures. The sitting room carpet sheds and is quite sticky and smelly in places. Needs a deep clean. The room has a TV, but hopefully you can change the channel and watch TV as the button from the remote are falling off, they are just about intact. The sofa due to wear and tear could do with a replacement. The firmness of the sofa is lost and when you sit in, you will sink in. The cabinet door below the tv has no handles and does not close properly. The kitchen sink due to its design flaws, drips water to the cabinets and sides of your cleaned dishes every time you wash your dishes. Not a complaint but something you need to bear in mind. Now we move to the bedroom. The bedroom door will open one third of its full opening. Just enough for you to be able to go to your side and play to you to me with the baby and get into the bedroom. In the event of a fire, I hate to imagine how one would even get out, given such tight opening. Also just imagine if you are slightly overweight then good luck getting in. I guess it’s the owners way to discriminate against fat people. The room is just about big enough to allow for full opening, it’s just the layout of the room, so size isn’t the issue here. The bed - well. The woods underneath the bed keep falling in the middle of the night and these need to be adjusted for the mattress to then sit properly on. You need to do this once every few hours if you want a good night sleep. The size and depth of the bed mattress is the size and depth of your duvet, so if you want a good night sleep bring your own mattress. All of the above has been notified to lake lovers within the first two days of our stay. Whilst some issues like cleaning and parts of maintenance were resolved after spending days on end calling, emailing, sending pictures and then following up, some issues still remain outstanding after 7 days of stay. Note the cleaner has spare keys, and will enter the house without notifying you. This was a concern when my wife had just come out for a shower and was getting changed and the cleaner came unannounced to fix some of the above issues and used her own key to get into the property which we were staying in. Invasion of privacy I wonder. In summary, there are health & safety issues - crack in the toilet; bedroom door not closing; no fire safety equipment; windows not opening. There are health issues due to hygiene and cleanliness - kettle, microwave, oven, fridge, to name a few. There are ongoing maintenance issues such as bathroom door not locking, cabinet below tv stand, strengthening of bed base etc. There is a formal complaint in place and which I intend to request a full refund for. The quality of my stay was fully ruined. I would strongly recommend you stay clear from this property unless you want to learn on how not to let you holiday home. I hope the agent and owner take serious note of the issues as I have not ruled out taking legal action. There is photographic evidence of all the issues highlighted.

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• Krupesh - Verified booking

  If there was below zero rating.

  I would give this. This was our first holiday after the birth of my son who is now 8 months. Our precious moments with him were ruined correcting the catalogue of failures in this house. Some of these are listed below. Upon arrival, the bathroom in which you cannot swing a cat was left unclean. There were skid marks in the toilet, brown fresh smudge marks the (size of two fingers) on side of the door, the sink had bits of someone’s mouths spit stuck on it Willis appeared to not have been cleaned for a while, the shower handle was sticky, the bathroom door handle did not lock and the toilet (the icing on the cake) had a huge crack in the ceramics the panel. Something which I’m led to believe the owner is aware of but has decided to not fix. The toilet crack leaks toilet water a very small drip leading to the bathroom floor (be it very slowly). My wife called lakelovers around 5pm (keys in safe place from 4pm) and various calls, messages and after number of hours wait, the bathroom is superficially cleaned. Our first precious moments with my child on his first holiday ruined. Our evening ruined. Same night, my wife decides to make my 8 months olds baby milk and make some porridge for him to eat. Noting this is a self catering house, the pan to warm his milk and make porridge is dirty with food being stuck on the edges. The utensils all have dried food stuck on sides which has been left uncleaned for weeks. This food had now started to darken, harden and had bits of dust catching onto the food which makes a beautiful view as one can imagine. Neither I nor my wife could cook that day, make food for our child or the day after. An issue again which was notified to the agent the same day of arrival who said they could not get someone out the whole of Sunday (noting it was around 5-6pm on Saturday when lake lovers were notified). Lakelovers offered to pay for two bottles of water (approx. £ 2.50) by way of reimbursement for our troubles. Now let’s move to the kettle - the kettle handle was sticky to a point that it could be mistaken for super glue. One would have to wear gloves to simply touch the kettle. Inside when opening the kettle we had mould like limescale built up over weeks on end of not cleaning. This being a hygiene issue could not be used to make milk for my child or be used to boil water. The Microwave plate - again with bits of food stuck to the plate. The oven, the hob and the fridge - well no surprises there, again same issue of uncleanliness. Now let’s move to the windows - these windows have issues with being opened and if you are to brave enough to cook then be warned the air from the food will remain in the house. There are no known fire safety measures. The sitting room carpet sheds and is quite sticky and smelly in places. Needs a deep clean. The room has a TV, but hopefully you can change the channel and watch TV as the button from the remote are falling off, they are just about intact. The sofa due to wear and tear could do with a replacement. The firmness of the sofa is lost and when you sit in, you will sink in. The cabinet door below the tv has no handles and does not close properly. The kitchen sink due to its design flaws, drips water to the cabinets and sides of your cleaned dishes every time you wash your dishes. Not a complaint but something you need to bear in mind. Now we move to the bedroom. The bedroom door will open one third of its full opening. Just enough for you to be able to go to your side and play to you to me with the baby and get into the bedroom. In the event of a fire, I hate to imagine how one would even get out, given such tight opening. Also just imagine if you are slightly overweight then good luck getting in. I guess it’s the owners way to discriminate against fat people. The room is just about big enough to allow for full opening, it’s just the layout of the room, so size isn’t the issue here. The bed - well. The woods underneath the bed keep falling in the middle of the night and these need to be adjusted for the mattress to then sit properly on. You need to do this once every few hours if you want a good night sleep. The size and depth of the bed mattress is the size and depth of your duvet, so if you want a good night sleep bring your own mattress. All of the above has been notified to lake lovers within the first two days of our stay. Whilst some issues like cleaning and parts of maintenance were resolved after spending days on end calling, emailing, sending pictures and then following up, some issues still remain outstanding after 7 days of stay. Note the cleaner has spare keys, and will enter the house without notifying you. This was a concern when my wife had just come out for a shower and was getting changed and the cleaner came unannounced to fix some of the above issues and used her own key to get into the property which we were staying in. Invasion of privacy I wonder. In summary, there are health & safety issues - crack in the toilet; bedroom door not closing; no fire safety equipment; windows not opening. There are health issues due to hygiene and cleanliness - kettle, microwave, oven, fridge, to name a few. There are ongoing maintenance issues such as bathroom door not locking, cabinet below tv stand, strengthening of bed base etc. There is a formal complaint in place and which I intend to request a full refund for. The quality of my stay was fully ruined. I would strongly recommend you stay clear from this property unless you want to learn on how not to let you holiday home. I hope the agent and owner take serious note of the issues as I have not ruled out taking legal action. There is photographic evidence of all the issues highlighte

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• Imogen - Verified booking

  After seeing the reviews, I was really looking forward to staying at Lake View with my mum for a little break away.

  The views are amazing from the property and you're provided with everything you could need to cook and prepare meals. The hot tub was the highlight for us, it felt really clean and was lovely to get into every night. However, both my mum and I felt the place lacked warmth. The place was very clean but equally felt a bit clinical. I suppose this does come down to personal preference but it would have been nice to have some pictures on the walls, cosier dining chairs and more colour around the place. The bathroom is a wet room and is mostly black with no window and the bedding was all white along with the walls. The sofa was low down which we didn't mind but it is marked and a bit tired looking. Considering what you're paying, it's not amazing! Collecting the key and dropping it off at the office at the end of our stay too was a bit inconvenient and a surprise as we'd never done a Sykes booking before. I feel a keysafe at the property would be much better, although again, that is personal preference. Another downside is, currently, another holiday home is being built very near, off to the left from the property. Its a building site with noise and machinery over the hillside above what they're building! We weren't warned of this and it just wasn't nice to have that going on, on the weekdays, during our stay. Parking is good but the multiple key fobs for gates was a faff. When we first arrived, we drove down the hill to the bottom, missing the fact Lake View was at the top of the hill. The hill is very steep and it was tricky turning round as the road isn't wide enough for 2 cars. It would be good if it was noted on the booking how far down the hill your holiday home is. I imagine it would be tricky to find in the dark. The views are great as well as having the hot tub but we wouldn't go back to Lake View. The hot tub is great but it's different to the one pictured and when you're sat in the hot tub or on the terrace chairs, you can't see the lake due to a wall blocking the view! In hindsight we realise we booked the wrong thing. We wished we had booked a b+b further into the countryside but that is our mistake. I realise it's clear online the place isn't colourful and it's very white etc but it does look great online! It just FEELS like a cold environment when you're there. Also, I presume this is normal when you do an AirBnB or holiday home stay (?) but we had to strip the bed upon leaving and put all laundry in a bag and clear our rubbish. This was unexpected and fustrating considering the stay cost £800+ for 4 nights. The place just doesn't feel welcoming. You're also threatened with a £250 charge to your payment method if you don't leave the place spotless. Consequently this was often in the back of my mind at a time you want to relax. I suppose we were naive to thing the property was on its own, nestled away somewhere but it actually backs onto a main road and is part of a big complex of holiday homes which all look the same in style - grey - and are fairly close together. Life jackets are provided which is great and kayaks were available to use but be aware they're big! We just couldn't lift them down the big steps into the water but I suppose that's down to personal strength. It's not clearly written down or photographed, where they're situated either. If you're looking for a clean, open plan, mod-con filled space then this is the place for you but if you want somewhere private, with no fuss and a warm, cosy environment, I wouldn't book Lake View. I realise some of my criticisms are about personal preference but I think other things I've mentioned would be an issue for most people! A shame it wasn't what we were hoping it would be.

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• C W - Verified booking

  Overall it is impossible not to enjoy a stay at Lake View.

  In balance however: some features exceeded our expectations and some were disappointing. There was an abundance of modern conveniences which made a great first impression and marvellous views: albeit either side of a large tree. The hot tub was a welcome feature and used on a regular basis. In settling in we found the bed very creaky and the pillows were ultra soft. A wooden slat under the wet room door was loose. Being of an older generation we found the sofa very low to sit comfortably and had a little difficulty sitting and rising. We would have sat at the dining table more but the seats were hard wooden ones as it appeared essentially a good quality patio set rather than dedicated indoor dining furniture. Given the general high level of technology the provision of a microwave was conspicuous by its absence. Cleanliness was general good but the standard lamp light bulbs were covered in dust and there were crumbs in between the slats of the table. The pepper mill didn't work. The hot tub was great but positioned central to the small terrace. The terrace table and chairs were at the rear and it was not possible to see the lake when sitting due to the low surrounding wall. If the hot tub was better positioned, and the table and chairs moved to the front, it would be possible to sit and enjoy the view. Access to the property can be difficult to find and it would be helpful to be provided with a specific reference such as What 3 Words or similar. We are certain everyone would none the less enjoy a stay at Lake View but those with age, mobility or medical considerations may experience some difficulties.

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• Bethany - Verified booking

  This was our first holiday as a family post lockdown (paying a premium for the cottage), and upon arrival we found the property to be in a disgusting state of cleanliness.

  Considering the additional measures for cleaning and sanitising holiday properties in line with formal guidance, we were particularly shocked to find visible dirt, dust, hair, used tissues (I could go on) throughout the property. We immediately contacted Lakelovers who were very apologetic over the phone and did offer to send a cleaner to the property. However, given the lateness of the day due to the later entry time permitted, we declined as we have a 2 year old and quite simply what were we expected to do in the mean time waiting for the property to be cleaned, sanitised and left for the advised time before re-entry. We therefore tried to clean the property as best we could but still due to how filthy it was, we never felt comfortable there. We provided a series of photos to Lakelovers, but had to chase for a response. Eventually, we received a response and were told that as we had declined the offer of a cleaner on the Saturday evening, they would only offer a £50 gesture. Our original complaint was not seeking monetary return, more an acknowledgment that this was simply not acceptable under any circumstances, but particularly given the situation with the pandemic. The response almost implies that we were to blame for not accepting the offer a cleaner opposed to taking any responsibility for the state we found the cottage to be in. We and family members have used Lakelovers on a number of occasions previously, due to this experience and the response received we will not be booking with you again nor will we be recommending you to others.

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