Discover Large Holiday Homes in the Peak District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Gillian - Verified booking

  Our stay over Christmas at Holly Cottage was mixed.

  The cottage itself is in a beautiful village of Winster with its two friendly pubs and a very handy Community Shop run by helpful and friendly volunteers, such assets for the village. Holly Cottage itself was nicely decorated downstairs for Christmas. Unfortunately our stay was marred by the fact that the cottage was not very clean, there were cobwebs hanging from the ceiling in the bedroom, the bathroom was not very hygienic - the plughole in particular was disgusting. The bedroom that had two beds pushed together had a very thin sheet on the bed and no mattress cover which I found very unhygienic. Also the outer wall in this bedroom was very damp and wet. The cooker door did not shut properly which bearing in mind I was cooking Christmas lunch was a bit annoying. I am told by Sykes that I should have complained at the time even though it was the Christmas break and bank holidays and that the issues would have been remedied! So this is advice for all future users - make sure you report the issues at the time. The owner on hearing of the issues following my initial particularly around the cleanliness of the property emailed me and I quote "was sorry to read that the cleanliness of the cottage was not up to standard. I have not been pleased with the company I have been employing for cleaning/laundry and as a result have a new company starting on Monday". This in my view is an acknowledgement that there were and had been issues with cleanliness at Holly Cottage. Its a shame it spoilt what was our first Christmas away from home for nearly 20 years.

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• Caroline - Verified booking

  A wonderful stay in this chocolate box cottage.

  As we drove up through Winster village, which is steeped in history, we saw Holly Cottage up ahead. This is a truly delightful cottage with tasteful decor, original character features and all of the comforts (and practicalities) of home. Jo provides an excellent welcome pack, full of useful local information. The cottage is well equipped and immaculately clean. The beds were really comfortable and all of the towels and linen were of good quality. Holly Cottage is clearly loved and looked after! We had a lovely meal in the Bowling Green pub, a mere stones throw from the cottage. There's plenty to see and do and we visited Bakewell and Matlock Bath on our whistle-stop tour of Derbyshire. The scenery is stunning, as is the architecture (both of Winster village and further afield). The local village store is really well stocked and run by volunteers, who were friendly and helpful. We strolled down the road for firewood and supplies and had a lovely chat with a local chap about his Land Rover. It's clearly a lovely community in a sleepy, (very) old village. We highly recommend this charming cottage either as a cosy retreat or a base for your holiday. Our only disappointment was that in late February, with the Beast from the East heading inland, we were unable to enjoy the fabulous garden to the rear of the property. That's definitely a summer sport! Thanks again to Jo and family, we had a fabulous time in your beautiful cottage. Caroline and Tim, Haworth, West Yorkshire.

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• Jane - Verified booking

  We had an excellent week at Holly Cottage.

  The cottage was clean, cosy and comfortable and an excellent base for a winter holiday. Whatever problems existed for the previous booking, have been dealt with and we all enjoyed our stay. It is an old cottage, it’s quirks are more charming than annoying and a summer stay would also include the use of a rather nice garden (a bit chilly in February, so largely unused this trip). Parking outside the cottage is a bit of a lottery, but we managed to unload and load there and then the owners provide a space a two-minute’s walk up the hill, so it’s not a problem. Winster itself is a lovely village to stay in - we were here in a different cottage last year and came back for a second trip. It’s excellent for walks – you can simply walk out the front door and be in the countryside a couple of minutes later. And it also has a very good village store too. Bakewell is about 15 minutes away, for shops and supermarkets, but mostly we spent the week exploring the myriad of footpaths that run out of the village.

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• Dave - Verified booking

  We were surprised to find how roomy is Holly Cottage, with a large lounge and dining room and bedrooms arranged around an open landing from the kitchen which increased the feeling of space.

  The cottage’s location is characterful and superb, with a great vista down into the village from the front of the house and stunning views from the terraced back garden.The facilities were good, the atmosphere relaxed and comfortable and the house information very detailed - we took advantage of the fantastic walks direct from the house, which were great for the dog. Winster itself is a very attractive village, with a great shop and two friendly pubs. The only drawback is that the pub closest to the cottage doesn’t open on Monday and Tuesday and only serves food Thursday to Sunday lunchtime. But it is a small, quiet and peaceful village so I guess it just doesn’t make economic sense to open every day. Having said that, we went for a drink on Wednesday evening and they were offering free nibbles of sausage rolls, chips and garlic bread - which you certainly won’t find in many pubs! We had a great stay and would thoroughly recommend this cottage.

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• Helen - Verified booking

  We did not think the cottage merited four stars.

  Yes the furniture was comfortable but the heating system is antiquated and needs seriously updating. The heater in the en suite was not working and the owner was completely unconcerned when we phoned to report the fact. There is no instruction book for the cooker. The cottage appears unloved and uncared for. The oven was dirty and the cottage needs a thorough spring clean. There was no access to the back yard where a gutter or overflow was dripping badly in heavy rain. The information book in the sitting room is out of date and we were extremely disappointed to discover when we phoned the owner to check that there were no recycling facilities available. We are frankly amazed that Sykes are prepared to tolerate this. In the end we brought the recycling home with us. We do not support putting clean recyclable material in the general rubbish and are surprised that you do. I await your comments before I consider booking with your organisation again.

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