Big Cottages in the Lake District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Felicity - Verified booking

  I am not a fan of publishing negative feedback when issues remain unresolved, however given the time frame passed since our stay and lack of meaningful update from Sykes I feel I have been left with no choice.

  We chose to stay over the Christmas period for a week. Indeed this was the first time that we have ever stayed away from home over Christmas. Positives: communication prior to stay, initial impressions of the cottage, amenities, lovely welcome pack and level of dog friendliness of the accommodation, which aside from some of the steps (mainly the uncovered ones from the dining area to the kitchen which one of my dogs had real difficulties with) really is unrivalled over anywhere else we have stayed. Negatives: upon arrival we noted a completely loose kitchen plinth laying on the floor, a leaking downstairs ensuite radiator and that Sky was not working on either Smart TV. I reported these issues on that first evening via the Sykes app. Non of these issues were an emergency so did not warrant a call to the emergency number provided, and I assumed Sykes would be in contact the next day. This however did not happen despite me contacting them on numerous occasions via the same message thread chasing an update and being mindful that given our stay included both Christmas day and Boxing day there was a good chance that staffing would be at a minimum. Cleanliness - whilst the cottage was generally clean, by the first morning my dad reported to me having to clean the upstairs shower tray due to it being blocked with hair and other detritus that would have caused it to overflow if left unattended. Oven - on Christmas day we were cooking a full meal and as such used both gas ovens. The oven to the right kept going out while we were trying to cook, leading to us having to swap items around to ensure everything was cooked properly and a delay in our meal. Outdoor area - there is a real lack of lighting on the courtyard particularly by the two steps leading down to the back gate. There are signs that the slabs become slippy when wet, however treatment of the green algae will assist significantly with minimising this. There are also signs for hot tub maintainence, however to our knowledge it was only attended to once during our stay. Sky TV - neither Sky Box worked for the duration of the stay. The box in the living room was constantly whirring, and simply did not work. Luckily the TV's are Smart and we could log into Netflix and Prime, however if you do not have these accounts then watching the TV is going to be difficult. It's a facility that simply shouldn't be advertised if they consistently don't work (noted issue on another review). It was Christmas week, and clearly we wanted to watch films/festive programmes during our stay. If some of these issues with the boxes are down to lack of system updates these should be checked as part of the cottage reset prior to new customers staying. Sykes response - I finally received a reply on the last full day of my holiday. No apology, basically blaming me for not making contact via phone, as apparently phone calls were being prioritised over the festive period. If this was true, then it should have been published on the website / auto reply. Since my return I have had to chase for updates; any person I have spoken to seems fairly uninterested in the issues raised, and no meaningful apology has been offered over the seemingly standard £50 refund and send some photos of the issues (of a non working oven, and a non working Sky box!). I have also been made aware of a recent BBC consumer affairs programme which highlighted similar bad customer experiences. So to summarise, with better maintaince the cottage would be amazing, however I would not choose to book any future holidays with Sykes.

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• Laura - Verified booking

  We had a lovely stay at Fellside lodge.

  There was 6 of us (3 couples) and 4 dogs and our 1 year old. The property is excellently situated and everything is so accessible. The house is lovely & cosy, and the hot tub is fabulous! The cellar in particular is a godsend with 4 dogs and how well they are included is amazing. The fact there’s a main bathroom, downstairs toilet and 2 en suites too is brilliant. There could be a few maintenance improvements to the property. For example, the tumble dryer took us ages to work out as it kept turning off. The Roman blinds in the bedrooms were a little tempremental, and the kitchen handle under the sink was loose so we kept having to screw it back on. The pin for the skybox would have been useful too as there was a couple of drama series we wanted to watch and couldn’t. A little cheap foldaway high chair would have been really useful too (we took our own but this would have saved us some space in the car). The third bedroom was also made up as a twin and all of us were couples, so that was a shame and it would have been good to have been asked how the beds should be made up prior to arrival (apologies if we missed that request however). We were disappointed on our last day as the cleaners turned up at 9am and sat in their car with the engine running which made us all feel on edge and a nuisance even though we were packing up and the check out was 10am. However, upon contacting the owner Claire, she was lovely and responded immediately. It was our first time in the Lakes and we wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again. It is a beautiful property and we could have easily stayed another week.

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• Paula - Verified booking

  I would not recommend this property in fact I would advise people to steer clear.

  There are some positives in its location and size and a good level of kitchen equipment. Plus when the hot water tap on the en-suite sink did not work someone did come out to fix it. However, I had several issues which mean that I could not recommend this place to future guests. 1) Cleanliness- we had to reclean certain areas upon arrival. There was food still on the dining room table which was visible on entry. debris under the coffee table in the sitting room, cobwebs in the bedroom and a dead wasp on the bathroom windowsill. Further insult is that we had t o check-in late and depart early in order to allow for thorough cleaning. 2) the downstairs shower is not fit for purpose. It does not drain properly even when using as little water as possible. Therefore its should not be marketed as a house with 3 showers as we could not use this. 3) The Heating. This is controlled by the owners and whilst you can adjust the thermostat (only to a certain point) sometimes you don't even get an hour of the heating at the temperature you desire. This is particularly problematic for the rooms downstairs which were never warm because the heating is set so low they never had a chance to warm up. The thermostat is controlled by a pin number to adjust which is not shared with guests. We paid £2000 to rent this property and we couldn't even heat it how we needed. The heating, the misrepresentation of the usable shower and the lack of interest in providing a clean property show a terrible disrespect for customers and that is why I wouldn't stay there again or recommend it to anyone.

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• Diane - Verified booking

  A lovely cottage that has been beautifully renovated to a high standard.

  It is located up a hill just a short walk to the centre of Bowness however still feels quiet and private. There are shops, bars and restaurants within easy reach. The kitchen is very well equipped with everything you would need if you choose to cook. The three lovely bedrooms are all a good size with comfortable beds, 2 with en-suites and one main bathroom. In the snug there is an interesting selection of books and games. I loved the large utility room and had been excited about using the doggy bath, however there is no way I could have got my old dog down the steep steps. The outdoor space is safe and securely enclosed. The hot/cold outdoor doggy shower was useful. We have one at home but was a first for us in a rental property. The hot tub was the hit of our stay and we were in it each evening. Just be aware that there are a lot of steps in this property and if you have an older dog they may struggle with the Amtico flooring. Having said that it is by far the most doggy friendly place we have stayed.

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• Emma - Verified booking

  The property itself was absolutely perfect - really couldn’t have asked for a better location, facilities, comfort and the like.

  It was a brilliant week and we were blessed with the weather which meant lots of dinners outside. The house was missing nothing in terms of utensils, blankets, amble cutlery and plates. Our only question mark was relating to some of the essentials we thought would have been included; for example, there was no washing up liquid, but a sponge was provided. Similarly the coffee machine was there, but there weren’t any pods. We’d also taken some of our own towels from home which was handy otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to use the hot tub nearly as much! Overall, we had an absolutely wonderful time and the beautiful house you’ve built was perfect for us. Our pooches settled in so quickly and all the dog-friendly recommendations were greatly appreciated. We were in town with family who stayed the other side of Bowness and Fellside Lodge quickly became the place we wanted to spend our time over their accommodation. It is a brilliant home! Thank you for having us.

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