Barrow-in-Furness Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Steve - Verified booking

  First off. We really enjoyed our time at Millwood Manor.

  It was the first time in 4 years that my 84 year old mother had seen our children and the reunion was special. The entire group was excited for the stay, and I had shared the listing with them all before we arrived. Overall, the property did not live up to the hype. But again, we all really enjoyed our stay and the house gave us plenty to talk about. Here’s how it could be improved: 1) We arrived in the dark and the house looked grim and forbidding from the outside. A simple photosensitive outside light would have made the first impression so much warmer. 2) The front door has seen many better days and sticks as you try and open it. It requires a big shove and makes a squeal like a banshee. 3) The house was chilly upon arrival. The thermostats were all set to 17C, so the first impression was of cold and damp. 4) Nice touches like the bread, milk, juice and biscuits, plus fire materials won some goodwill back. If the fires had been laid and the ‘welcome’ basket presented as a ‘welcome’ all could have been forgiven. 5) as per the pictures, the house is arresting and quirky. The hall and the main bathroom are the highlights. Having the dead light bulbs replaced in the ceiling lights would have really shown the hall off in all it’s glory. 6) The bedrooms were from a different time - damp patches, on the walls, musty smellsand saggy beds. 7) Location is great, lovely walks through the woods and the wild garlic carpets and bluebells were delightful. 8) Of the three vacuum cleaners in the property only one worked (one made everything dirtier). 9) The house had pretty much everything we needed, save some cleaning clothes. 10) Broadband speeds were in the single digits, but stable. If you need to jump on a Teams call, you might want to bring a Starlink or OneWeb. Basically, this is a lovely, quirky property that could be amazing. It just needs some TLC and and it’s windows cleaned.

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• Fiona - Verified booking

  Beautifully decorated and super clean - but this is not a cottage, it is a basement flat.

  We would never have booked it if we'd understood that from the description given on the website. The flat is built into the hill beneath the hosts' busy home and the two bedrooms are dark and cold - they did provide a dehumidifier for the damp in one of them and extra blankets which were needed in AUGUST when we visited, though our daughter still had to sleep in her fleece it was so cold. As both bedrooms are partially underground they have very little natural light and only one small window in one wall above head height - which opened at foot level of the hosts’ own garden so we had to keep the blind shut as you’re completely overlooked. Same at the front of the flat where you're eye level with the hub caps of up to 4 vans and cars parked right outside coming and going daily during our visit - until the second week when the hosts asked us to park in the next street so they could resurface the driveway for the next 2 days. Clearly work that had been planned in advance and should have been forewarned when booking. There were positives: lovely shower room, big squishy sofas, really well equipped kitchen and cakes, milk and eggs provided on arrival. Sadly this did not make up for the misleading description which does not make clear that this is a basement flat and there was no privacy or peace and quiet - which was what we really wanted. The hosts did say when we arrived that they had family staying with them but I'm not sure they realise that every footstep, toilet flush and children running up and down goes straight through the ceiling into the flat below. If you are used to people walking around above you and don’t mind people walking up and down right outside every window, you’ll be fine. We were very disappointed and had we not endured a 400 mile drive to the property would not have stayed after seeing what it really is when we arrived.

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• Nikki - Verified booking

  Lovely warm and cosy cottage.

  The kitchen is well equipped although I really missed a dishwasher! I cooked all our meals and seemed to spend alot of time washing up. A dishwasher would have been easier. The lighting in the kitchen isnt great either, it needs some lighting under the cabinets. However, it was very well equipped and i found everything I needed. The cup cakes were a lovely touch and the kids loved them. We took our 2 dogs and the garden area is safe and secure and you can close the gates and leave them out without worrying about them. Beds were comfortable and cosy and lots of nice big towels in the bathroom. It is worth noting that the cottage is below the main house, so you can hear the owners walking across their floors from quite early in the morning. It didnt bother us that much, but it did wake the kids up on our first morning. There was no wifi or phone signal which was ok for the couple of days we were there, but it would have been annoying and inconvenient if we had been there for any longer. The upside to this was the kids put their tablets down and played with each other, so not all bad!! We went to the beach most days which is either a 2 mile return walk from the cottage or you can drive to it and park right up on the beach. You need to go when its low tide though, otherwise its all pebbles which is tough walking for the dogs and kids. When the tide is out, its a fabulous long sandy beach. Overall, we had a lovely short break and its a sweet little cottage.

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• Alison - Verified booking

  This was a beautiful warm large comfy house .

  Great for large groups with the bar, games and space and we did on the whole have lots of fun . The owner was lovely and contactable (but only after paying full amount ) and whilst in the property. However , I cannot say the same for Sykes who did not return any of my calls or emails when I had pre- concerns about the configurations of the rooms. I would have changed to a larger house if I could have but they would not reply or help until it was too late ! ( I add I tried from August until November) We had 12 couples and I needed 12 doubles . 1 of the rooms was a child’s room ( off the family double) sharing a bathroom and not big enough for adults so 2 of my guests had to sleep on sofas which marred the experience a little. The hot tub did not work and we had to borrow extra cutlery from the adjoining garden center but these are minor things and I would certainly return if they were rectified ( although not with 12 couples and not through Sykes ) sykes, if you are reading this please check your complaints emails , WhatsApp’s and telephone chats as well. One man I eventually spoke to did promise verbally to look into my concerns and reply to me before I paid the balance but he never did . I did eventually get 1 email ( once it was too late to cancel ) stating that there were 13 doubles and no one would have to share but this information was in correct . A reply would at least be curtious .

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• Sylvie - Verified booking

  The house was brilliant for a large multi-generational family- huge, comfortable with plenty of room and lots to entertain everyone.

  BUT the Wifi let it down badly and is a deal breaker for returning next year. My elderly mother spends most of her time on the internet so ruined the holiday for her, my cousin had an extremely important meeting on Zoom and my partner was trying to register his Taekwondo pupils for a competition which was time sensitive. The only usable wifi hotspot was in the hall (next to the router) as the remote hotspots in the rooms repeatedly went down (even if standing under them). The owner wasn't interested. He said had a cheap contract and they couldn’t come out till Thursday (we were leaving Friday 10am!). And guess what? They didn’t turn up on Thursday! Come on this is 2022 and ‘the wifi is patchy’ because a rural area is no longer an excuse. Sykes did their best though, and a door with faulty hinge was sorted straight away. For the benefit of future users of this property, bring some large saucepans, a decent frying pan and a colander if you are catering for a lot of people. It was complicated using multiple small pans. Also no baking trays or ceramic lasagne-style dishes. Plenty of cutlery and crockery though. A dustpan and brush would have been useful, and a sign on the front door to show people the house was privately rented. That said, the property itself couldn't be faulted, huge, plenty of room and great fun to be in.

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