Dog Friendly Cottages in Hawkshead

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Linda - Verified booking

  My husband and dog Bonnie had a lovely stay at Blithe Hare Cottage last week I think the price reflects the minus points.

  Lounge was small with a comfy 2 seater settee, it would not be suitable for a 3rd person as there is only a hard chair to sit on. Wi-Fi didn’t work but that didn’t bother us, central heating is great we only needed to use it a couple of times, would have loved to have had a fire but it would have been too hot I think it would be wonderful in the winter months, bring or buy everything needed for a fire though except matches. Kitchen had just about everything one would need, I think at some point maybe the owner had 2 cottages as there was about 12 of everything plates glasses etc, no pint glasses for anyone that likes a pint, 6 saucepans 3 frying pans and numerous bowls and tins, as previously mentioned by others there is no cupboard space whatsoever for any food, I can’t think why the owner doesn’t address this, I decanted some of it into a drawer in the lounge and put some under the stairs so we had room to put some food in the cupboards then returned it to its place when we left, it wouldn’t be a problem if you don’t mind everything on the worksurfaces personally I like things put away. No little treats like other places we’ve stayed at like a pint of milk and a couple of scones etc, no tea coffee salt pepper etc you need to bring everything, there is a well stocked Spar over the road though. The smell coming from the drains was really bad at times we bought a fresh air spray which helped. Very steep stairs to bedrooms and bathroom gave me a good workout every time I went upstairs! The bedrooms and bathroom were lovely, great shower plenty of cupboard space, my hubby said the lighting in bathroom was not good for shaving 2 light bulbs missing. The jury is out on the bed, I found it quite uncomfortable but my husband likes a firm bed so he thought it was fine. The garden is tiny and needs sorting its quite overgrown with lots of weeds. It’s a bit of a trek to and from the car to the house but it didn’t phase us, possibly wouldn’t be suitable for anyone with mobility problems. There is a great Brooks supermarket just as you get into Windermere, also a Lakeland which was dog friendly as were most of the shops and cafes we visited were wonderfully dog friendly. Good base for exploring the lakes, our dog is very elderly so we didn’t walk as much as we would have liked. All in all we had a lovely time thank you

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• D - Verified booking

  In short: Arrival: Hard to get in with luggage (people parked blocking pathway in and had to force a way between car and bush / house steps).

  House instruction folder has little in it - eventually found some instructions spread throughout the drawers loosely. General stay: Good point is - a great big refrigerator with lots of room. Bad experiences: Shower cold. Shared bathroom doesn’t have lock on one of the doors - which caused issues The main bed has a mattress that is like sleeping on concrete - other bed was exact opposite and luxurious (unfortunately not big enough for us all to share). Washing machine did not work so we could not do laundry at all except smalls by hand Could not get heating to work efficiently Maintenance said they changed boiler setting ‘so should make the shower hotter’ - it didn’t really. Maintenance said they put a temporary fix on washer door ‘so it should be ok - it wasn’t tested to see if it did work for us - and it didn’t! Maintenance said they’d come back when they had a part to fix - we didn’t see them back while we were there. After maintenance had been we started getting power cut outs (fuse tripping) this was especially when using toaster - but also kettle and cooker). These are basic items needed regularly. There was no bin to be found (the instructions where it should be was incorrect - it was not there and we could not find it. We were forced to use others bins and felt embarrassed doing it so sneakily. Unfortunately - we were so disappointed that we pulled out two days early and went home - because of this as we’d had dreadful sleep. Which exacerbated the situation. Suggestion: Starting at basics you should sort out the house file and make sure all necessary instructions are in, together, accessible and clear. You should not have to search fior these or google advice. Police the parking in the street - instruction clearly states no parking but selfish people do exist. Alternatively - provide a park space (there are some available to rent at the bottom of the lane near the house). Have the heating on a sensible setting (not 5 degrees auto!) Have the water temperature on sensible setting for shower / hot water etc. Fix the power cuts issue Fix the washing machine Definitely change the main bed mattress. Ckear some cupboard space (far too many pots/ pans / dishes etc and absolutely no room to put any provisions.

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• Peter - Verified booking

  No room for our food.

  Really annoying. Owners have taken it all up for themselves incl in the old lounge wall cupboards. This has been commented on by previous visitors to no avail. There's room in the kitchen for 2 more wall cupboards in the corner above the microwave. This is a 3 bed cottage. There is an old leather 2 seater settee in the lounge which is ok considering pets are allowed. However a third person would have to sit on a hard back wooden chair to watch tv. There is room for a small armchair if the wooden chair is removed and things arranged better. There is a smell of grease in the kitchen, again commented on by previous visitors. The front of the cooker is greasy especially around the knobs. Changeover team are not doing a thorough job. The upstairs is good. The bathroom is very nice as is the main bedroom. In the small bedroom the door only opens part way before hitting the bedside cabinet and if you want to raise or lower the blind you have to crawl across the foot of the bed so it's best left lowered. The bed is very comfortable. Could do with 2 or 3 hooks on the back of a door to hang pants and shirt on overnight. The hydraulic closer on the kitchen door is set at too strong a pressure and it takes some effort to open the door. So we propped the door open and missed the waste recycling instructions on the back. Oops. Some of the crockery is chipped and needs replacing. There are nice built-in cabinets in bed 2 and at top of stairs. Part of the insides 65 being shelved and part being open. Could do with a rail and/or hooks in the open space to be of more use. Fridge has only a small freezer compartment. Central heating is very good. The Blithe Hare sign by the gate is painted all over black so it's hard to read when you're looking for the cottage. Picking the name out in white would be helpful. WiFi works fine. Smart TV. Best of all is a near neighbour named Roger Mallinson (85). If you get to meet him be prepared to hear the most amazing life story all of which is confirmed true.

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• Janice - Verified booking

  The exterior aesthetic of the cottage is truly beautiful and it is perfectly located with lovely walks from the door and a short drive to Ambleside & Hawkshead.

  The garden is lovely, although it's use was restricted due to lack of funiture (4 old plastic chairs). The linen was clean, water hot, heating adequate & kitchen well-equipped (although no order to storage & not everything was clean). Unfortunately, the negatives far outweighed the positives including large areas of black mould on the window frames throughout the cottage, on the shower room walls & the utility room walls & doors; ingrained dirt in the grouting in the shower room; thd lounge windows were difficult to close & the secondary glazing trims kept falling off; filthy floor, sink & resources (mops, sweeping brushes, hoovers) in the utility room; 2 hoovers available but both dirty and don't pick up dirt so unusable; cupboard interiors dirty; cobwebs around ceilings; broken hinge on kitchen cabinet above the sink - BEWARE if you don't hold it open, it falls down on you; 2 broken dining chairs; water stain & large crack on the bedroom ceiling; electric socket hanging off the wall & 5 of 8 lights not working in lounge; broken kitchen bin; red marks in the bath; dirty laundry in the laundry basket; info folder has incorrect info about bin day (so bin doesn't get emptied because no-one knows to put it out on Wednesday, not Thursday); no key to 'games' cupboard or door from utility room into garage. The maintenance team sorted the lights & socket, removed the broken chairs & banged the windows to close them. The cleaners did a re-clean (it felt very reluctant) but we still had to buy cleaning materials & clean the shower room, bath & utility room ourselves to make them useable. Sadly, the cottage is in dire need of some maintenance work & a thorough deep clean. So many issues have been raised in previous reviews; a shame no-one appears to be responding. Such a shame because it has the potential to be stunning. We left feeling massively disappointed & needless to say, wont be returning.

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• Nicola - Verified booking

  The heating was pre-set and we were unable to control the temperature in the house.

  it was 19 degrees outside and the heating was on with no way of turning down or off. We contacted Heart of the Lakes and we were told somebody would look into this for us. Nobody came back to us. we had to put up with it and on an evening it was horrendous. The whole time we had builders working next door and each day they would start chasing the walls from 8am. You have the videos so you know what I am talking about. At one point the builder actually came through the adjoining wall. The kids were not able to sleep past 8am and the dog was terrified. We had no privacy as builders were wondering into our garden, we have teenage girls so this was completely unacceptable. At one point when we were sitting out in the front one of the builders went behind rather than into the portaloo to urinate right in front of us. I reported some of this to your company and sent pictures and videos. Again somebody was supposed to do something about this but nothing was done and nobody got back to us. Our holiday was completely compromised by the intrusive building work. We could tell by the comments left in the visitor book that we were not the only customers that were very dissatisfied and upset that they were not made aware of building works. This email is a formal complaint. I would like somebody to come back to me to let me know if my complaint has been received and is being reviewed / processed. I appreciate you can’t be responsible for the actions of the builders but I do believe we should have been made aware that there was building work taking place over the duration of our stay and this was you companies responsibility to do so. Please note other than the heating issue (that must be resolved) there is no blame on the owner of this property. My issue is with the company that manage the property. Heating issue aside the property was good.

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