Holiday Cottages In Windermere

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Sarah - Verified booking

  Before reading this review, please note, we are not people who complain often and like to give fair and honesy reviews.

  We want to provide honest feedback to the owner, so that guests can continue staying in this beautiful location. The owner has a pure gem of a property to rent out and we would love for them to continue to benefit from this. Winster Fields is set in a beautiful and peaceful location. It is a spacious, and has all the amenities you will need for a comfortable stay. We stayed in this accommodation 4 years ago and were really looking forward to returning for our holiday this year. Unfortunately, when we entered the property, it smelt 'fusty', like it had been shut up for weeks. There were wasps and flies all over the surfaces and the kitchen was filthy! The cutlery and crockery were dirty in the cupboards, the bin smelt, there were food stains up the walls, the cooker hood and tiles were covered in grease, as well as the lights in the kitchen. It was clear that the property had not been cleaned properly before our arrival. If cleaners had been in, then they really didn't clean it properly. There were public hairs in the bathroom sinks, and urine splattered on the toilet brushes. We were less that impressed in arrival. Such a shame as we couldn't fault the property four years ago. We contacted Sykes straight away, who were very apologetic and contacted the owner in a timely fashion. We were informed that the cleaners would be in the day after our arrival, but nobody appeared. I then contacted sykes again and they arranged cleaners for the following day. They did come this time, but again, it was clear they only did the bare minimum and only dealt with the issues I had provided pictorial evidence for. In my opinion, the owner needs to liaise with the cleaning company regularly and discuss non negotiatiables for weekly, fortnightly and monthly cleans to ensure everything is cleaned regularly. In addition to this, there are maintenance jobs that need to be reported to the owner, who lives away. Light bulbs were out, damp patches on the ceiling and a broken chair. These all should be addressed quickly to ensure a comfortable stay. There needs to be some investment into thsi property now, as it is looking worn. Decorating needs to be done, new frying pans and utensils in th kitchens and new sofas and cushions as they are worn and smell. I am disappointed to be writing such a negative review as we love the location and had such a lovely stay 4 years ago. We enjoyed our holiday in the lakes, however didn't feel as comfortable as we should have done in our accommodation, due to the cleanliness.

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• Martin - Verified booking

  We loved The Belfry and would not hesitate to stay here again.

  The open plan upstairs lounge and kitchen is gorgeous and well equipped with everything you need including a welcome pack and a cleaning pack. The bedrooms were comfortable and bathrooms lovely. Location is perfect .. just minutes from the village centre on foot. Bus stops outside on main road and the 599 service every 20 mins in summer timetables takes you to all main attractions. One toilet doesn’t flush well as others have reported…downstairs lighting flickered quite a bit and we did think security could be a tad better… you cannot lock the door with the key from inside although there is a bolt. The entrance to the yard isn’t secure as no lock to wooden fence door. but it does appear to be a quiet area. The church bells ring constantly but didn’t bother us. Some reported a smell of damp downstairs and there is a hint of mustiness but again didn’t bother us. It’s an old building with great charm and a modern interior. The hot tub was awesome and available to use from arrival. The lane from main road to property is indeed very narrow and we turned our wing mirrors in for safety but it is passable with care. Plenty of parking space. This is a fantastic property and we would highly recommend it.

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• Graham - Verified booking

  Generally good but with a few niggles.

  The L shaped sofa is too soft and uncomfortable. The back rest is too far back and the cushions too soft. The dinner and small plates need changing to a flatter design as the upward lip around the edge means they don't fit the dishwasher rack so we ended up handwashing. A seperate dryer would be much more useful than a combined washer/dryer as a drying cycle takes four hours and is very noisy. An external washing line would be a good addition. The dining table is not hygienic. It is a big piece of wood but there is a large crack and a big hole in it where you can see crumbs etc have dropped in and can't be cleaned out. Likewise the chairs and bench seat look nice but they are hard and uncomfortable after a while. The freezer needs de-frosting as it's caked with ice. The toilet in the master en-suite needs sorting as it doesn't flush very well. Also the shower doesn't drain very fast so the tray is nearly overflowing when running. We had to lift the plug from the drain hole to make it drain quicker. The weirdest thing is that because this was obviously a larger building split up to provide separate accommodation, the window in the small bedroom looks out onto the garden of the property next door.

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• Clare - Verified booking

  This property is not fit for rental and holiday lettings and we were very disappointed by our overall experience.

  Every room in the Belfry has black mould throughout - all windows and frames are covered in black mould, there was black mould on the bed sheets and on the curtains. We were unable to sleep in the main bedroom as there was such a mouldy stench and I have left the property with a stuffed nose. I contacted Sykes who did send out workmen however it was a partial treatment and requires much deeper work and attention to sort the problem. Other issues include the en suite bathroom as it stunk and the drainage didn’t work properly. Small things like the 5 bulb chandelier in the main bedroom only had 3 bulbs working, were disappointing. Lastly we were awoken on Friday morning at 7:30am to a leaf blower outside the bedroom windows which went on for an hour - no sleep ins at the Belfry! Overall the property has real potential - it’s nicely decorated, lovely furnishings (the table, chairs and couch) and it’s in a great location however the fundamental issues with the property far outweigh any of the benefits. Given the price we paid to stay at the Belfry, it fell well below expectations and the cleanliness alone is enough for me to not recommend it to anyone.

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• Vera - Verified booking

  Negative stuff: Some issues with the ground floor shower - lack of pressure/cold water - which we think might have been to both showers being in use at the same time.

  Fridge could have been bigger. Noisy cooker fan and first floor bathroom extraction fan. Place didn’t have any signs of damp but there was a slight humidity/dampness that made it impossible to dry any washing and we couldn’t get the drier to work (might have been user error didn’t check instructions and managed to dry most stuff outside). Outdoor furniture was old greyed teak passed its best but useable. 6 chairs - one broken chair (unuseable) and one broken, but repaired. We did sit out a lot as there was a great view. BBQ looked new, but wasn’t clean so didn’t use it. Positive stuff: Lovely quiet location and possible to walk along footpath (1 mile) to Mason’s Arms pub for a pint. Everything work (except for intermittent water issues in shower). Lots of kitchen equipment, pans, crockery etc. Place was clean and all beds made with fresh linen and towels available. Good location for south Lakes - off the beaten track but all the better for it if you want to avoid the crowds at Bowness etc. and have walks that aren’t full of other people.

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