Christmas Villas In The Lake District

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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• Ritchie - Verified booking

  Ground Settings and views stunning.

  The whole place over all was very charming and a good base for us to explore the surrounding areas and relax in between.. lovely views to wake up to . Whole experience only Let down by a few things. 1. The room was generally cold. Heating pre programmed with control from us, and not coming on nearly enough for what was a cold Easter weekend. Only one radiator in the room and it was also set to a low heat. We had to open the bathroom door to try and heat the main space as it was the only warm room in the house. We called through to reception a few times to ask but no answer. Also sometimes no hot water so had to have Luke warm shower. 2. Towels were old with one having a tear in it. 3. Some simple essential things like salt and pepper, tea bags etc go a long way when renting a place and not have to go out and buy all these things when travelling. It makes a massive difference and this could easily be provided 4. The noise coming from the other flats was at times very intrusive. Walls etc are paper thin and you can hear everything. We had a family with young kids next to us that seemed unaware of how thin the walls are. Maybe customers can be made aware of this and asked to keep noise down? 4. There wasn't adequate cleaning materials. Just one dish sponge and an almost empty bottle of fairy liquid that I had to add water to. Again a simple and cheap thing to provide so we don't have to go out and buy all this for just a few nights stay. 5. Cooker was awful. Took forever to heat up. 6.TV must be 20yrs old and needs updating. 7.internet was shocking. I know place is rural so maybe can't be helped. I needed to do some work and at times was unusable. Seemed to always go down at night? Maybe something to pre warn customers before booking as if essential work was needed done then this would have been a problem. 8. Bed was very comfortable but pillows not great. Again, a lovely place. Friendly and helpful staff. Glad we stayed, but will look elsewhere next time given the above issues.

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• William - Verified booking

  Lovely cottage.

  The bedrooms were well furnished and the beds were all comfortable. The kitchen had everything needed. The lounge was lovely. The windows in the lounge and main bedroom were very difficult to open and had to be wedged to stay open. For an older couple this would be very difficult to do. The property was very warm almost stuffy so having a fan provided was very welcome. The parking whilst tight wasn’t too much of a problem. It would be useful if the spaces were fully marked out and painted on the ground. The difficulty of trying to speak to someone about a matter after our trip was a little worrying. I don’t feel confident if we had run into a major issue like missing keys or something during our trip we would have been able to get hold of anyone in good time. The number given was a landline and mostly automated. It kept repeating I should go online to resolve any problems we had. I had to leave a message and wait for someone to call me back. This wasn’t an issue this time, as our holiday had finished but imagine urgently needed assistance and there is no one available. To be honest that lack of support available would stop me booking again.

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• William - Verified booking

  Lovely cottage.

  The bedrooms were well furnished and the beds were all comfortable. The kitchen had everything needed. The lounge was lovely. The windows in the lounge and main bedroom were very difficult to open and had to be wedged to stay open. For an older couple this would be very difficult to do. The property was very warm almost stuffy so having a fan provided was very welcome. The parking whilst tight wasn’t too much of a problem. It would be useful if the spaces were fully marked out and painted on the ground. The difficulty of trying to speak to someone about a matter after our trip was a little worrying. I don’t feel confident if we had run into a major issue like missing keys or something during our trip we would have been able to get hold of anyone in good time. The number given was a landline and mostly automated. It kept repeating I should go online to resolve any problems we had. I had to leave a message and wait for someone to call me back. This wasn’t an issue this time, as our holiday had finished but imagine urgently needed assistance and there is no one available. To be honest that lack of support available would stop me booking again.

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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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