Dog Friendly Villas In The Lake District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Deena - Verified booking

  Firstly the cottage has not been cleaned on arrival.

  With two children and after a 4 hour drive we had to them sit in a local pub for 2 hours whilst it was cleaned. (Sykes did give us some compensation however 6 days later have still not received). On arrival back at the cottage it was still not cleaned to a suitable standard. There was hair stuck to the carpets upstairs and fat splatted at the back of the cooker. The hob has residue left on it and the bathroom has marks on the floor. The parking situation outside of the cottage caused havoc. The advert stated roadside parking opposite the cottage. This is not true. There are double white lines painted therefor you cannot park opposite them, which when we were loading and unloading we were told by numerous ‘locals’ who would go out of their way to tell us we can’t park. There is also a parking warden issuing £35 fines. To find somewhere to park in a village of this size with no parking available was an absolute nightmare. I was baffled on arrival at the front patio which is actually the door step… you would also never want to sit out there on a main road through the village? To watch tv we tried using the sky box which asked us to insert our viewing card. Firstly it’s 2023, who still has these type of devices and secondly, if we did, why would we bring the viewing card on holiday?? Wifi is chargeable, we had to buy this daily at quite a significant cost. There are no instructions for the cottage left out we had to search cupboards but this was minimal. As there is no garden, there was also no access to an outside bin so the kitchen bin became very full and we had to start taking rubbish out with us to find a bin? The welcome we received was the most unwelcome I have had in any cottage I have stayed in over the years. There wasn’t as much as half a toilet roll in the bathroom… The whole experience left us baffled, frustrated and put off from ever staying with Sykes again. It was an inaccurate listing of a property. That said, the village itself had 2 nice pubs with very friendly staff.

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• Mel - Verified booking

  Stayed October 2023.

  This was our second stay at Ivy Bank, and it won’t be our last! A fantastic property. It has all the comforts you need for a holiday. Lovely little homely touches throughout. There was a welcome basket of tea/coffee/biscuits, games/DVDs, smart TVs in lounge and bedrooms and a travel cot, highchair and stairgates (the stairgates made it so easy to be away from home with a very active 1 year old, thank you!!). Really good quality bedding and kitchenware. There was a really well put together info book with activities, restaurants, house info, walks and local tips, etc. The master bedroom on the top floor is beautiful and has the most comfy bed I’ve slept in at a holiday cottage. We had the best nights of sleep! They obviously try to support local too - with the hand wash and moisturiser from a local shop and some of the artwork from a local photographer (who we met at the Bowness Sunday market and bought some of their work, stunning!). Perfect location in the centre of Bowness - walking distance to shops, pub and restaurants as well as Lake Windermere, boat cruises, car/foot ferry and transport links, etc. A huge added bonus is the car parking space, which became a must for us after having stayed in bowness for the last 6 years and struggling year on year to find on-road parking, even with a permit! We have a Volvo XC90, so a very large 4x4, and can park it (just!) in the space. The owners are really friendly, communication is great and they answer any queries. We’ve had two perfect family holidays staying at Ivy Bank now! Thank you!

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• Daniel - Verified booking

  Lovely cottage and lovely hosts.

  Very compact living area with large bedrooms, each with own en-suite. Dining table and chairs are available and folded. It is possible to make space for them by moving furniture but most adult groups probably wont bother. Kitchen is tiny but very well thought out. we found it easy to prepare food in kitchen, but having a crate to store bulk food elsewhere turned out to be useful. We brought our little dog who felt welcome there and got on well with the hosts' dog. There was lots of space for her for constitutional walks although no enclosed garden. The area is absolutely lovely for walking and cycling: much quieter than the central Lakes. There is a pleasant pub in the village which serves food as well as a selection of real ales. We did not go in during our week as the vegetarian options were not terribly appealing and we were off drinking following Covid. There is also a great little cafe that serves nice lunches and proper teapot tea. Overall, a nice cosy place to stay with very friendly and helpful hosts. Overall, would highly recommend

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• Karen - Verified booking

  The property was falsely advertised.

  Photos made the appearance of the property spacious, however, dangerously cluttered with furniture making it very difficult to move around. The WiFi did not work and no card for the sky box. There were food bits and chewed gum on the floor and couches. Surfaces very dusty. The photos showed outdoor space with garden. There were lawn chairs in the house and no place to set them.outside. The mattresses were extremely hard and uncomfortable. There was a pair of boy's underwear under the duvet of the twin bed and stains on the duvet. I talked with a representative on Friday who told me to respond via email. This is my second complaint and I have had no response from Sykes. I have rented via your company many times, I am very disappointed that there has been no follow-up on your behalf, poor business practice in my opinion and very hesitant to further rent a property listed with Sykes. I await your feedback and some resolution to the absence of advertised amenities.

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• Rachel - Verified booking

  What a beautiful property!

  It was just perfect for our family. Had everything we needed. I really liked the fact that there were plastic cups for my daughter to use too. Tea, milk and biscuits on arrival too. The bedrooms were a great size and the beds were sooo comfy. There was a travel cot for our baby and a lovely high chair ready for us. It’s the perfect location too. Just a short walk to the town where everything is. I loved that fact that we didn’t need to book a restaurant we could just walk into wherever we wanted to eat and get a table. Also dog friendly too. We had staff coming over offering water and dog treats too. We will definitely come back to Ivy Bank. We were also chatting to the neighbours in the cottage at the back who were lovely and spent the time chatting to our daughter. I will say that parking is tight. But we found that if we reversed down the main drive and drive on to the drive forwards it was better for us.

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