Dog Friendly Cottages in Pooley Bridge

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Lucy - Verified booking

  While the cottage was mainly as advertised several issues became evident throughout our stay: -Firstly the cleanliness of the property was awful.

  While surface level tasks such as clean surfaces and fresh sheets had been provided there was an evident lack of deep clean for a very long time. To ensure we left the property as advertised we used the hoover. Whilst hoovering the downstairs hall area, the cylinder of the hoover was completely filled and some areas of the carpet were so dirty they changed colour when cleaned. This small area is only around 5m2! - This accumulation of dust and debris meant there were huge numbers of different insects. There was cobwebs present in practically every room of the house and large numbers of spiders throughout the property. Uncountable numbers of flies were present in the cottage, and while it was a warm weekend a large proportion of these were in the property upon arrival. We organised an afternoon tea and unfortunately had to dispose of the leftovers because the flies were so numerous over the food. Sharing food was made difficult as flies would land on any plate of food after seconds. Huge numbers of moths were present in the property to the point that one member of the party opened their luggage once home and found a live moth within! There were clearly issues with pests before our stay as there was a fly zapper (though this didnt work!) at the property. - there were key maintenance issues throughout the property including a toilet that broke on 2 occasions and had to be fixed, and a shower that did not work. These were all in the double ensuite upstairs. When we used the washing machine there was a horrendous smell in the kitchen which wafted through the property. And while we couldn't see any obvious blocked drains or leakages it was evident the drainage had not been maintained in some time. - One of the key reasons we selected the cottage was it's inclusion of use of a local spa. I had to email prior to arrival to check how this could be arranged, and even within this conversation there was no mention of additional discounts on food and treatments. If we had known this in advance we would have made use of the spa more and we only found out while looking for information in the pack. This information also said that to access the spa we would require the spa pass attached to the property keys. As the keys were barely attached together at all it's unsurprising that the spa access card was missing. Luckily for us, we have used this spa before and were willing to try and discuss this access upon arrival. The spa were very understanding but many people would have missed out on this inclusion in the cottage. - The property advertised as having zip link beds, and there was no way of communicating when booked how you required the beds set up. Therefore I sent a separate request for how we required the rooms fo be set up. We asked for 2 singles in the 2 zip link bedrooms and both were made up as king size. Ultimately we could use these beds as was however if we had had particular requirements for the rooms these would not have been met. The bedding provided was unseasonal and as such was very warm overnight! - we also had issues disposing of our rubbish as the instructions in the pack were very limited and indeed non-existent when it came to recycling. We had gathered for a special occasion and unfortunately this stay put a real strain on the enjoyment of the weekend. The odd path to direct communication with the owner created by Sykes meant resolving simple issues was impractical. The cumulative effect of the lackluster property maintenance led to a several key issues.

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• Sara - Verified booking

  Wonderful cottage in a lovely location, hope to be back soon!

  I booked Garth End for a girls week away with friends & dogs to celebrate my birthday & I wasn't disappointed, it is one of the nicest properties I've stayed in by a long mile!!! Everything was beautifully presented, furniture & facilities were quality & it was immaculately clean. There was everything we needed for our stay ... and more!! We always take loads of dog blankets, but there was a plentiful supply, plus lovely human blankets too!! The information folder has to be one of the best thought out & really helpful & the welcome gifts were beautiful & so thoughtful, thank you Lisa! Although we were lucky with the weather, having the door leading into the utility meant it was easy to get rid of coats, boots & wipe paws. The kitchen was well equipped, no shortage of crockery, glasses, cutlery or pans. I forgot tea & coffee but there was a plentiful supply, so we didn't miss out on our morning cuppa & it was nice having the choice of eating round the island or at the dining table. Good TV, audio & wifi provision with excellent option of streaming services. The flexibility of bedroom set up meant everyone had their own bed & the bathrooms were lovely with good showers & plenty of hot water. The garden was fully enclosed, private & dog friendly ... the snowdrops were beautiful and it was lovely to see the daffs coming out. The patio furniture wasn't out (being winter) but will be a lovely area to sit out in warmer weather! Didn't get chance to try the pub as opening times were limited due to the time of year, but the menu looked really nice & everyone we met from the village had time to stop & have a chat, it was nice to witness the genuine sense of community! Having the park with its kids playground, bmx bike track and field where you can give the dogs a run was a definite bonus. Thank you Lisa for a wonderful birthday celebration in a beautiful property.

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• Elizabeth - Verified booking

  Unfortunately I have a very mixed review for this property.

  I will start with the positives. Fantastic rural location, clean bed linen and towels. Plenty of towels (we didn’t use all of them). Extremely comfortable beds and pillows. Negatives - When I arrive at a holiday rental, my expectations are for it to be clean and plenty of space for me to put my things, downstairs every drawer seemed to be crammed full of bits and bobs of no particular relevance with no particular order. The house was grimy, dusty and cluttered. As soon as we arrived, I was cleaning crockery and utensils that had old crusted food on them. Door handles on kitchen cupboards were sticky, the microwave buttons had food still on them and inside it was dirty. My husband found grim and dead insects in the kitchen cupboards. Work surfaces and tables were sticky. The dishwasher was not maintained as this became obvious as the week progressed. It didn’t clean the dishes very well and by no means did we over fill it. It was also a slimline, which was not adequate for the size of the property. There was also donkey stables on the end of the row of houses, which meant we were getting woken at different times of the night. This property could really do with a de-clutter, and a really good clean. It was a shame really, as I wasn’t expecting to be cleaning a property as soon as I arrived. There is much more I could say but I feel I have said enough, needless to say, sadly, we won’t be returning.

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• Eric - Verified booking

  Although we had a very enjoyable stay, there were several things that we feel were not up to Sykes's standards;- 1- There were quite a few light bulbs not working in every room, upstairs, downstairs and outside.

  the outside light over the door worked but was useless for shedding light on the door lock. 2- A dirty towel had been left in the linen bin in the pink bedroom. 3- The sink in the pink bedroom had been leaking for some time and had a bowl of stagnant dirty water underneath it which had not been emptied for a long time. 4- Some cupboards and doors do not close properly. 5- the freezer could do with defrosting. 6- The grey toilet in the bathroom above the kitchen does not always flush away waste properly - it took between 1 and 10 flushes to move it. Seems to be the pan design does not circulate the water effectively. This is unhygenic and unacceptable. We left a note for the cleaners detailing the above things. The cottage itself is in a very quiet location, is laid out very well and is very convenient for driving to local towns and castles. There are quite a few pubs / restaurants within a 15 to 20 minute drive ranging from cheap to relatively expensive and all dog friendly. As mentioned initially, we still had a wonderful time. It was a pity that several things, that a couple of days maintenance would sort out, tarnished a very good break.

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• Lydia - Verified booking

  This was a lovely holiday destination.

  We were 8 of us including 2 children and 3 dogs. Originally only 2 dogs a booking, but the host was kind enough to allow 3 dogs. We were greeted to a lovely welcome bowl with snacks, tea and a bottle of Prosecco. The house was very spacious and we were really happy that each room had its own bathroom facilities. The games, tv and speakers were a great touch and we were pleasantly surprised to have internet as it said they will be none. The beds were so comfortable and cosy. It was located not too far from the beautiful sights and everything was quite easy to get too. Unfortunately on the first day we had no hot water. We noticed the boiler hadn't been turned on, but once we turned it on there was hot water the next day. No hot water ran in the first room on the first floor during our stay. The house was cleaned well, but cob webs were everywhere. Other than this we had a beautiful family holiday and everyone loved staying in this cottage including our 3 shih tzus. Thank you for making our holiday with this spacious lovely cottage.

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