Villas In Coniston

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Simon - Verified booking

  Unfortunately, our stay was not the relaxing one we had hoped for.

  Online the swallows nest appeared far more suited tom our needs than the bluebird loft we had stayed in before. On arrival, the toilet was noisily continually on flush. Whilst we appreciate that we arrived on a bank holiday and instant maintenance would be difficult, we were left feeling less than cared about. Sykes team did what they could, but we had a running toilet for the whole of that night. It would have been nice if the owner had at least got in touch, apologised and promised to do what they could the next day. But unfortunately, no. Nothing. We were left with what amounted to Chinese water torture for the night on what might be the most uncomfortable bed I have ever slept on. So soft, we were almost on the boards. I joked that we should have got the air bed we had camped on before we arrived and slept on that. I should have done. Both my wife and I have very uncomfortable backs upon our return. Fast forward to Wednesday I think and whilst cooking dinner the smoke alarm went off. The door of the alarm unit is broken and I was unable to turn the alarm off. I also could not at first get any answer from the alarm maintenance company or Sykes. No answer from the maintenance company and every Sykes phone number went to the same answer phone message, even the emergency number. Eventually we found one that asked us to leave a message. Which we did and eventually we got a call back. Eventually we also got through to the alarm company too and they came and stopped the alarm. It had been going for an hour and a half. We had half the neighbourhood coming to see what was going on. Never mind eating a cold dinner in the front garden. It was a good job it wasn't raining. On top of all that, it happened again on Sunday morning. We were that upset that we decided to go home a day early and whilst cooking breakfast off the alarm went. Even though I had been shown by the technician how to turn the alarm off I still had to do it three times because the door was still unrepaired. This holiday had its redeeming features, but they weren’t the swallows nest.

  Read more less >

• Anne - Verified booking

  There’s no parking, so a warning to be prepared to pay £3 for 2 hrs at the car park across the road, or some other helpful advice, would be good.

  The last email we got, a week before arriving, said the host would be ‘available to greet you from 17:00’ so we expected to get the keys from a person. The number on the email was a call centre and completely unhelpful and it took much exhausted searching on the doorstep through email archives (no internet till we got inside!) and the fortunate assistance of some other chance-met guests to figure out the ‘keysafe’ system and get it to work. We’d have given up on it if we weren’t stranded and desperate by now. Very sticky and awkward to open, needed 3 hands! Not a bad apartment though pricey, maybe that’s just the Lake District for you. Nice bathroom, good location, decent hot water system. Kitchen was adequate EXCEPT oven didn’t work (wasted a whole frozen meal) which is poor for a not-cheap self-catering apartment. The ‘appliance book’ didn’t have an oven page. Stove top worked. Cafetière spout was broken, which we didn’t notice till after we made/wasted the coffee. The bedroom was nice (good view out the window) though the bed was uncomfortably soft for our taste. We had to strip the bed and bag up all the towels and linens (supposedly due to covid !?), as well as put all the crockery/cutlery/pans in the dishwasher before leaving, which was ok (if not quite expected at the price) except you also have to be gone by 9am! We didn’t try the TV so can’t comment. Wi-fi was good.

  Read more less >

• Lynne - Verified booking

  The property was very comfortable and well located.

  There is a significant problem with the heat sensor system within this property. There is a note by the hob that says that the alarm may go off and will stay on if it’s triggered. I cooked on the first evening and the alarm went off. I opened all windows etc and it did not go off. In fact it was on for 2 hours plus in the whole building which disrupted the other flat and neighbours. I tried to call your helpline but got no answer. I left a message and received no response from you for our whole visit. We eventually found a phone number in the sensor system downstairs and called them. They are based in Chorley , 2 hours from the property! The noise was deafening making us leave the property as did our upstairs neighbours. We were both competing in a lake swim the next day and were very stressed about not being able to get rest before an early start. We also had the added expense of abandoning our dinner to go to a local pub instead. The engineer did arrive about 10pm. He was able to reset the alarm. This must be attended to by you landlords. It’s not good for them or their customers. It was a shame this tarnished the experience of staying at the swallows nest. I am very unlikely to return. Your helpline should also be reviewed as it did not help us in any way.

  Read more less >

• Lynn - Verified booking

  Lovely location and surrounding area.

  Beautiful view from the garden/sitting out area. Everywhere accessible by car - we think it may have been a long walk into Coniston itself and we weren't sure how to get there so we only drove in. We had three lovely cruises on the lakes but particularly enjoyed the "Gondola" on Coniston Water, we drove through the three passes including Kirkstone and Wrynose, visited "Hill Top" the former home of Beatrix Potter (go early, it is timed admittance and gets very busy!), the Lakeland Motor Museum, Hawkshead (very pretty pedestrianised village) and enjoyed some lovely walks (Esthwaite Water and Tarn Hows). Also can thoroughly recommend the "Bluebird Café" (beautifully clean and the cakes are awesome) overlooking Coniston Water and the supermarket "Booths" in Windermere, lots of choice and fresh produce. All in all a lovely, relaxing holiday with a comfortable cottage to come home to each day. A vacuum cleaner at the property would have been handy as we had muddy shoes some days!

  Read more less >

• Julie - Verified booking

  Great location for us and accommodation very comfortable.

  We didn't find the 'bins' info etc until we were leaving as its in the 'Appliances' folder and we didn't look in that, there was no other info about the local pubs, cafes, food shops etc. The only slight thing was that we would have appreciated a tea bag or spoon of coffee when we arrived but there was absolutely nothing and thats quite unusual nowadays and we only had 3 cups so had to wash after each use - again not life changing, but more crockery would be great and I see it's been mentioned previously. I wonder if daytime parking would be an issue in peak times but we had no trouble. But, that doesn't take away from a great stay in a beautiful part of the lakes, this area having not been visited by us greatly before.

  Read more less >