Villas In The Lake District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Kate - Verified booking

  Very disappointed with our stay overall.

  It could have been amazing as the cottage is in a great location and ideal for what we needed. Looks very nice from first appearances etc. The owners have thought about all the items that will be needed so the kitchen etc was well stocked. The bed was very comfy but one of the sofas in the living room was not so made it difficult to relax on an evening. Unfortunately, when we arrived we got an overwhelming smell of paint in the entrance porch. We later discovered this was probably to hide all the mould that was appearing on the walls. We had to move the shoe racks and coats inside as the coats got wet paint on them from touching the damp walls. At the start of our stay (Saturday) we didn’t notice any mould but this began to grow and we could see it appearing on the walls by Monday, by the Saturday we left it was everywhere, so had obviously been wiped down before we got there. The owners clearly knew about it as there were 5 dehumidifiers in the bedroom, 2 behind the bed under a massive damp patch and dehumidifiers elsewhere all over the property. The black mould was mostly in the bedroom but some in the bathroom and living room too. I understand old cottages/houses etc can get mould and it can be difficult to clear, we left the bedroom window open to allow for condensation to escape but this made no difference. The main thing that annoyed us was that the owners clearly knew about it and had just thought dehumidifiers would fix it, rather than assessing the full extent of how bad it was and closing the property to fix it. The heating system using storage heaters is very confusing too and seems to come on in the middle of the night and the day when you’re out, but not on an evening when it might actually be needed, and if you try and switch it on it takes forever to warm up. We only used to log fire once as it kept constantly going out so we gave up and used blankets. The only solace is we were able to get a partial refund, although it wasn’t even 50% of what we paid which is what we asked for back. We contacted Sykes on the Monday in the hopes that they’d be able to move us somewhere else, but didn’t get it resolved until we were home so stayed in the property so we didn’t completely ruin our holiday by cutting it short, but they were very helpful.

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• Sarah - Verified booking

  The house is very well appointed, the bed comfortable, the shower powerful and hot.

  Cooking facilities and equipment generally excellent. Given it’s new I’d give the following feedback and hope it’s helpful going forward. Quilt tog of 15 was far too hot even after we turned the radiator off for the following 4 days. A full length mirror in the landing or in bedroom would be useful. Wi-Fi code info needs to be in brochure as would how to open bedroom windows as I didn’t fathom this either. It would be nice to include an initial bag of logs… if you arrive at 4/5 or later it’s not ideal to go looking and a real fire is part of the attraction… or provide for a small charge? A shelf in the bathroom for toiletries would be useful… otherwise people will put stuff on window cill and the paint will quickly be marked. Some baking sheets would also be useful … the pie dishes were fine to put things in but again will be marked very quickly … as I found them not easy to get all marks off even with a good dose of elbow grease. There is a leak from next doors waste pipe out the back and this gives a constant slapping sound which is irritating at night. And finally we would suggest being more clear about the tightness of access and egress from the cottage in a medium to large vehicle… we found it a challenge in our Kia Nero especially if the bins are not pulled right in… even worse in the dark. But these did not distract from a great time in a fab location… just might be worth consideration for the future…. We walked everyday from the property without using the car… did cat bells, round the lake, latrigg fell and the railway line to Threlkeld. In the car we went to borrowdale, bassenthwaite, and buttermere. Great hearty food at the dog and gun… goulash is huge! And tasty. Best meal a tFellpack… modern dining. Great selection of beers at the crafty baa.. and very filling sharing platter. Tourist information office full of very helpful staff, ideas for walks and guide maps at £1.25 for about 5/6 walks from the town. Highly recommend a stay. Many thanks

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• Ed - Verified booking

  Overall, this is a lovely cottage that is generally well-equipped and in an excellent location.

  Staveley is a lovely village to stay in. The following comments are just things to be aware of / for the owners to consider to really improve the experience of staying at Stone Cottage. Firstly, and most importantly, please replace the mattress and pillows as these are very uncomfortable. I also don't think the bed is king-sized as per the listing. Secondly, little things, but please leave more than one toilet roll for a seven night stay. It doesn't cost much to provide enough toilet roll for the week, but it's very annoying for guests to have to go and buy their own. Also, please provide a towel and/or kitchen roll for the kitchen. Also, for people with a dog, regarding the garden, people should note (as the listing doesn't) that: 1) the neighbours have a right of access through the back garden so can just walk through the garden if they need to. They only did once in the week to put their bin out while we were there. 2) the gate to the garden is a metal gate with gaps between the bars so if you have a very small dog, they could probably fit between these bars. Someone had commented that they had this problem in the guestbook. I didn't mean this to be a complaining review as we had a lovely week, but I just think these are small changes that could really improve people's stay or things that people should be aware of before booking.

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• Connor - Verified booking

  Disappointed with the stay overall.

  While the cottage is very good looking, and it was clean and well stocked, it could be frustrating to stay in. The only methods of heating were the storage heaters which despite the instructions given were not easy to use and only seemed to come on when we didnt particularly need it, especially the evening. When they were on, they took a long time to heat. And the wood burning fireplace, which went out very quickly and we ran out of wood. Due to this a lot of evenings were quite cold. The bed was lovely, but the couches were not particularly comfortable. The parking instructions were not entirely clear, and we parked in a small parking spot beside the garage after misunderstanding the instructions which said "in front of the garage". The owner confronted us on this and we were more than happy to move but before we could finish explaining the misunderstanding, he cut us off very rudely. I understand we made a slight error, but it was no way to approach it with guests. Every appliance from the heaters, to the towel warmer, to all of the kitchen appliances were not switched on, so our night was spent trying to find how to actually get all of our facilities on, some of the sockets more hidden than others. Unfortunately I would not stay here again, as I have had better experiences in other cottages in the area, for similar prices.

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• Connor - Verified booking

  Disappointed with the stay overall.

  While the cottage is very good looking, and it was clean and well stocked, it could be frustrating to stay in. The only methods of heating were the storage heaters which despite the instructions given were not easy to use and only seemed to come on when we didnt particularly need it, especially the evening. When they were on, they took a long time to heat. And the wood burning fireplace, which went out very quickly and we ran out of wood. Due to this a lot of evenings were quite cold. The bed was lovely, but the couches were not particularly comfortable. The parking instructions were not entirely clear, and we parked in a small parking spot beside the garage after misunderstanding the instructions which said "in front of the garage". The owner confronted us on this and we were more than happy to move but before we could finish explaining the misunderstanding, he cut us off very rudely. I understand we made a slight error, but it was no way to approach it with guests. Every appliance from the heaters, to the towel warmer, to all of the kitchen appliances were not switched on, so our night was spent trying to find how to actually get all of our facilities on, some of the sockets more hidden than others. Unfortunately I would not stay here again, as I have had better experiences in other cottages in the area, for similar prices.

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