Dog Friendly Cottages In The Lake District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Lucy - Verified booking

  While the cottage was mainly as advertised several issues became evident throughout our stay: -Firstly the cleanliness of the property was awful.

  While surface level tasks such as clean surfaces and fresh sheets had been provided there was an evident lack of deep clean for a very long time. To ensure we left the property as advertised we used the hoover. Whilst hoovering the downstairs hall area, the cylinder of the hoover was completely filled and some areas of the carpet were so dirty they changed colour when cleaned. This small area is only around 5m2! - This accumulation of dust and debris meant there were huge numbers of different insects. There was cobwebs present in practically every room of the house and large numbers of spiders throughout the property. Uncountable numbers of flies were present in the cottage, and while it was a warm weekend a large proportion of these were in the property upon arrival. We organised an afternoon tea and unfortunately had to dispose of the leftovers because the flies were so numerous over the food. Sharing food was made difficult as flies would land on any plate of food after seconds. Huge numbers of moths were present in the property to the point that one member of the party opened their luggage once home and found a live moth within! There were clearly issues with pests before our stay as there was a fly zapper (though this didnt work!) at the property. - there were key maintenance issues throughout the property including a toilet that broke on 2 occasions and had to be fixed, and a shower that did not work. These were all in the double ensuite upstairs. When we used the washing machine there was a horrendous smell in the kitchen which wafted through the property. And while we couldn't see any obvious blocked drains or leakages it was evident the drainage had not been maintained in some time. - One of the key reasons we selected the cottage was it's inclusion of use of a local spa. I had to email prior to arrival to check how this could be arranged, and even within this conversation there was no mention of additional discounts on food and treatments. If we had known this in advance we would have made use of the spa more and we only found out while looking for information in the pack. This information also said that to access the spa we would require the spa pass attached to the property keys. As the keys were barely attached together at all it's unsurprising that the spa access card was missing. Luckily for us, we have used this spa before and were willing to try and discuss this access upon arrival. The spa were very understanding but many people would have missed out on this inclusion in the cottage. - The property advertised as having zip link beds, and there was no way of communicating when booked how you required the beds set up. Therefore I sent a separate request for how we required the rooms fo be set up. We asked for 2 singles in the 2 zip link bedrooms and both were made up as king size. Ultimately we could use these beds as was however if we had had particular requirements for the rooms these would not have been met. The bedding provided was unseasonal and as such was very warm overnight! - we also had issues disposing of our rubbish as the instructions in the pack were very limited and indeed non-existent when it came to recycling. We had gathered for a special occasion and unfortunately this stay put a real strain on the enjoyment of the weekend. The odd path to direct communication with the owner created by Sykes meant resolving simple issues was impractical. The cumulative effect of the lackluster property maintenance led to a several key issues.

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• Alan - Verified booking

  This is a fabulous property in a fabulous location as you can see from the photographs, unfortunately we arrived at 1700hrs on the Friday night when Storm Arwen was at it’s worst.

  There are three bedrooms of which we used two hoping that friends could join us for the Tuesday night in the third bedroom. That is a large room with lovely bathroom and velux window. We had a quick look in that room and got on with unpacking, and I lit the wood burner and turned up the radiators looking forward to our evening meal. About 1830 the power went off and was off until late Sunday afternoon. No central heating no lights no internet very iffy mobile signal and no running water as it is pumped, flushing the toilets was done by a bucket of water from the very nearby lake. After a very wild night where hundreds of trees came down, one of which wrote off my two month old car things could not get worse, or could they? The following morning we looked in the third bedroom and found water and debris in the bathroom and a gap all the way around the velux window (we were told later by the roofers that the window had been blown the wrong way round) I wedged the window the best I could to minimise the incoming rain and reported the damage to Sykes. We made the best of the week we cooked two meals on the wood burner which I managed to keep going by using the offending tree resting on my car until power was restored. Obviously our friends couldn’t stay and people staying the following week had to be cancelled. We were having problems getting a hire car and the owners said we could stay an extra couple of nights at £105 per night (most generous) as they couldn’t get anybody else. We managed a hire car and got home, I then asked for compensation starting with their price for two nights, this obviously didn’t go down well but then I received via Sykes the most unbelievably insulting email where the owner accuses us of opening the velux window! I ask anyone reading this review: Would you or anybody you know enter this bathroom on probably the wildest night of the year and open a velux window and how would you feel if you were accused of doing so. What I do know is if that window had been open, even a little, it would have been very noticeable on that wild night but if it was closed but not locked I would not have noticed and it wasn’t my responsibility to check. If it had been left open by the previous guests that is perfectly acceptable, we have stayed at cottages during covid where we have been asked to open windows before leaving. The responsibility for that window being unlocked or faulty is not down to any guests. Beautiful property, you can form your own opinions about the owner.

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• Alison - Verified booking

  Our stay at Lund was our third visit to Mitchell Wyke.

  We have stayed in Macan, one of the one-bedroom properties on two previous occasions - one being in mid July this year. The location of all of the properties with views over the bay are fantastic. Lund is particularly special as it is oriented with views north along the length of Windermere. We booked Lund to stay with family, but COVID-19 related issues meant that we visited just as a couple with a dog. We felt rather decadent having the whole place to ourselves and wished that we could have shared it as planned. Nevertheless it lived up to expectations with the stunning views really being something very special indeed. The inside of the property is immaculate and well equipped, we couldn’t think of anything that we would have wanted in addition. The only omission was sunny weather every day! It was the rainiest August week! The exterior of the windows needed a clean and the balcony could have done with a pressure wash - something we also noted with our visit to Macan earlier this summer, but these are only minor gripes and not issues to complain about. The only real downside to any of the properties is the proximity to the Windermere Car Ferry, while convenient for trips to Bowness-on-Windermere, the queue outside does create problems accessing the parking spaces. Drivers either do not see the (faded) ‘Keep Clear’ markings on the road, or they ignore them. Many times we had difficulty leaving or arriving. For some reason there are people who also park in the marked parking spaces too. We had to ask people to leave so we could park in our clearly marked parking spaces! While this is irritating, inconvenient and causes anxiety (and is noticeably much worse in school holiday time than earlier in the summer), we would not let this stop us booking again in the future, the views (especially from Lund) are spectacular. An added bonus worth noting is that you can access the water from the properties. We brought a paddleboard with us and while one of us messed about on the paddleboard in the bay, the other could relax on the balcony with a glass of something nice. A fellow couple staying in one of the other properties had brought a kayak with them and they were doing the same. We haven’t booked for a future visit but we do hope to be back in the future, it is a gorgeous location.

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• Suzanne - Verified booking

  Just back from a fabulous week in Ambleside with sunshine from dawn to dusk .

  The house reviews are mixed but honest : Acorn Cottage is ideally situated for access straight into town , ideal for the park & fells Parking permit was superb , as were the kitchen appliances and top floor bathroom . Beds were comfy , and sofas seemed quite new . Fluffy towels and plenty hot water , The negatives are mostly around cleanliness , the lounge carpet is dirty and has a smell . The fridge hadn’t been cleaned , nor the kitchen floor . The gas fire in the lounge doesn’t work . Huge dirty cobwebs Hanging from ceilings . Seating in the lounge us for 4 and it’s cramped ( we only had 3 of us so that wasn’t an issue to us) There is no folder with any instructions for heating , boiler, or kitchen appliances or recycling. The back door area does have 4 stacking chairs , but even although we had gorgeous weather wouldn’t have sat with the bins , old dumped floor mops and disused plant pots . Just needs some tlc , thorough cleaning in and out . If we saw this house had replaced the flooring and sorted the decor downstairs would definitely stay again for the location .

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• Adele - Verified booking

  Lund certainly has the ‘wow’ factor with magnificent views over the lake.

  The welcome pack and bottle of milk were great and much appreciated. We were really lucky with the weather and enjoyed sitting out on the balcony and dog walking along the lakeside. We didn’t have any trouble parking though it was clear it could be an issue at busy times when the queue for the ferry blocks the car parking area. I didn’t give full marks for comfort as there were only two, two seater settees, the beds were wonderfully comfortable the property was lovely and warm and there was always plenty of hot water. I knocked a point off ‘facilities’ as they need a little renovation, the floor tiles were loose in one bathroom and all needed redecorating. My husband is a keen cook and prepared a wonderful Sunday roast for us, he found the oven temperature was inaccurate, and a couple of larger pans would have helped. Overall we had a great stay at this beautiful property and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it, if you are lucky enough to go do take a plentiful supply of bird seed as you will have a chorus of expectant visitors every morning!

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