Last Minute Cottages in Lancaster

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• John - Verified booking

  I really don't want to sound negative about Poppy Cottage as regular users of Sykes cottages this was the lowest quality one we have stayed in, I will explain my reasoning around this though.

  The good points are its a lovely location and lovely and quiet and the accommodation is spacious. However this really needs some TLC and a bit more effort on the cleaning front we only used the ground floor double bedroom and found the following issues. Lamp shade above the bed covered in dust and lots of cobwebs, the bed linin whilst clean was of poor quality and and sounded like you were lying on a plastic bag which made it difficult to sleep because of the noise everytime one of you moved. The adjacent bathroom is in need of some maintenance its dated and at the head of the bath it looks like the shower screen is leaking and water has leaking down the wall and has had poor attempts at fixing so smells of damp and signs of mildew, cleaning not great either again lots of cobwebs. Kitchen area whilst reasonably well appointed the fridge cabinet is clearly broken as the door doesn't fit flush with the rest of the cabinets and feels like its falling forward, other cupboard doors do not shut properly either some of the upstands around the worktops are loose and not secured.Kick plinths do't fit properly. Oven not as clean as it could be and would benifit from a deep clean, the dishwasher basket is broken and rusty in places and needs some attention. The wall behind the hob could do with a much larger cleanable splashback as there is lots of cooking stains on the wall. There are under cabinet lights either side of the cooker hob we never did find out how to turn them on. The General living area was comfortable but again attention to detail lots of cobwebs not very well cleaned. There were DVD's on the shelf but NO dvd player. No visitors book or instruction manuals for any appliances. Very little information of where to go or local attractions no information about local restaurants or pubs etc. No hand soap in any bathrooms or kitchen space. All other sykes cottages we have stayed at have also included a small welcome pack ie milk, teabags, possibly some bread etc but there was nothing here. Limited cleaning products available. Also on the day of our arrival we had a thunder storm and the rain was hammering against the front of the property so we closed the window in the ground floor bedroom and the water flooded through the frame onto the windowsill opening the window allowed the water to run down the inside of the frame but not into the interior of the property which I feel is a bit counter intuitive. My personal opinion is that all these issues could be easily resolved with a bit more attention to detail and better maintenance between clients.

  Read more less >

• Katie - Verified booking

  We had a lovely stay at Dale house farm It is situated in a great area to explore the countryside, and our visit to White Scar Caves just a 2 minute drive away was fantastic.

  The house was lovely and warm and very clean. The owners Judith & Simon we're very helpful throughout our holiday but communication was quite slow before & after our stay which was a bit worrying at times Just a couple of things that could do with attention. The chairs in the dining area could do with felt bottoms as they made that dreadful scraping noise on the stone floor every time someone moved. Coat hooks & a shoe rack in the entrance or in the hoover cupboard would help greatly with such a large group to accommodate. The double bed in the room with the mezzanine floor was very hard and could benefit from a mattress topper. All other beds in the property we're comfortable. Where the driveway meets the main road definitely could benefit from some maintenance. There were large potholes and we skidded every time we entered or left the property This was quite dangerous when entering such a fast stretch of road. My only reservation to staying again as a big family group with children! would be the worry of spillages on the kitchen/dining area stone floor. This is a beautiful stone floor and required specific cleaning solution that was kept at the owners property next door. It meant that we couldn't fully relax as we didn't want the added expense if it were to be stained by accidental spillages. (Maybe a big mat in the dining area would be an easy affordable solution) I hope these suggestions will be helpful for the future Best wishes Katie & Family

  Read more less >

• Lesley - Verified booking

  The property was lovely and ideal for our family break.

  Three families all together for a week and we had plenty of space and privacy. The en suite bathrooms were a great size and the bedrooms had plenty of space for everyone. The dining area was much more spacious than the photographs made it appear. We had five children aged from 7 - 15 years and they all played outside and had ample space in the large shared bedroom upstairs for sleeping and keeping them entertained. Only three used it as a bedroom but it would have been equally as comfortable with four occupants. The kitchen was well stocked but, as other reviews mentioned, the cooking facilities (oven and hob) would have benefitted from being larger (double oven, separate grill etc) to more easily cater for a party of twelve. We were only ten and we had to get creative with dinners. We fed the children first most evenings before cooking again for the adults to make it work. The owners next door were very helpful regarding a tea spillage and feedback about a small maintenance issue. We would highly recommend the property for a large group based on all of the above and the location being excellent. The driveway down was bumpy but to be expected on a working farm with agricultural traffic using it.

  Read more less >

• Nanette - Verified booking

  We were only staying at the cottage for a few days as we were attending a wedding.

  Whilst the cottage did its job for somewhere to stay, the rooms were large and the cottage well laid out. However I feel like some love and care needs to be given back to these cottages, they could be beautiful and a real asset to the owners but instead they are out of date, run down and not looked after. They need a good facelift, proper garden furniture with a garden that isn't over grown. There was no welcome hamper, or even just a few tea bags, coffee etc. No logs were provided for the fire, even though it said on the information that there would be. No information booklet on the area, said there were woodland walks but these were blocked off with pallets so we couldn't take our dog into the woods. My husband was told he couldn't go down the road past the caravan park as it was private but there were no signs to say this, in fact there was no sinage at all. If you are allowing people to bring dogs, then they need to be informed of where they can be walked around the area to avoid any issues. As I said, such a shame as these could be lovely properties, they need to up their game

  Read more less >

• Caroline - Verified booking

  The downstairs bathroom has an awful smell, assume its the drains.

  An air fresher would have helped alleviate some of the odour. The toilet flush needs attention, 2 or more flushes needed to clear the bowl. The photos must be years old, the garden is definitely not as shown with mature tress on either side instead of the open views we expected to see. The upstairs bed and downstairs twin next to the window are very uncomfortable, 2 of our party did not sleep well at all, pleased we were there only 3 nights. If we had known what the 2nd bathroom was like we would not have booked, now I know why there are no pictures of this or the other bathroom. Towels were rough. The access road and the cottages need better signage, walked from the long barn cottages to find Poppy, up a private road with tight turn on left which is easily driven past. Would be very difficult to find in dark. We were very disappointed and Poppy Cottage is not in our opinion 4 star accommodation. Dishwasher shelves starting to rust. It was not worth the amount we paid. On a positive the bedding was clean and comfortable.

  Read more less >