Group Accommodation Cottages in Lake-District

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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• 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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• 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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• Janis - Verified booking

  First the good: the location of the cottage and the cottage itself are wonderful.

  We loved how quiet and remote the area is. The age of the cottage is OK, as long as the amenities, cleaning, and other items are kept up to date, it is clear it is not a priority The bad: it was clear the cottage had not been cleaned. This is similar to other reviews we read in the guest book and online. If this is up to the management company then fire them and hire someone else. There were dirty dishes in the dishwasher, an old tea bag in the teapot, cobwebs in every corner, really quite disappointing. We needed to wash all dishes, we would have anyway but with the state of the cottage it made it even more necessary. The mop is DISGUSTING - we are happy to clean up after ourselves, and we know we left the cottage cleaner than when we arrived, but for heaven's sake - provide tools for your tenants to use! The alarm in the kitchen was ridiculous, we tried every which way to prevent that alarm from sounding, I think we were successful 1 day, and this was just with regular toast preparation, nothing was burned, nothing was smoking, and the alarm still sounded, highly recommend changing the location or finding a solution. When using the upstairs shower it leaks down onto the teapot area The key for the cabinet was no where to be found The refrigerator is a bit small, for a group of 5 (or 6 as advertised) it was crammed full. The directions for trash disposal need updating, one said Wednesday, another said Thursday Would we stay there again, most likely not, in the area yes, at the cottage, no

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