New Year Breaks In The Lake District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Thomas - Verified booking

  What a beautiful location.

  That's our fourth time staying on Esthwaite farm since June . First time in Bassenthwaite cottage. We found it fantastic as usual. The cottage itself seemed " more cottagey " somehow, having the panelled internal doors with the old fashioned latches. The wood burner is just fantastic. Sitting there in front of a roaring fire brought back memories of holidays in my youth in County Down. The first couple of days the weather was terrible but it didn't put a damper on things. It was great sitting in front of the fire and looking out at the rain. In fact once I woke up in the early hours, went into the living room, the fire was still blazing and there was my wife peering through the window and I thought, if this weather gets any worse I'm going to have to let her in. I found the fire very easy to light although some people have said they could have done with instructions?? The kitchen had all we needed. The cooker was great but we ate out most days. We went into Hawkshead and got some provisions. Teabags, milk and the like. But a few instructions on how to make a cup of tea would have been helpful !!!!! The scenery is spectacular. A recommended walk would be right round Esthwaite water. Through Hawkshead and then round the west side. About 5 miles but not very hilly. Highly recommended. And that's from an almost sixty something. Other great places to see are Tarn Hows, Hawkshead Hill and Grizedale forest is a must. There's a visitors centre with a cafe and also a pottery shop with a potter doing his stuff. This is where we picked up our ceramic poppies all hand painted. A must see place. All in all another great week. No matter how many times you go to the lakes there is always something new to see. We love the place, especially my wife who says she'd like to move to the Lake District. I said I thought it was a great idea but we should write to each other at least once a week. Tommy & Angie Reid

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• Mollie - Verified booking

  Really nice place to stay.

  Right in the centre of everything from walking / driving distance. The apartment was clean and tidy upon arrival and instructions how to collect the keys from the apartment prior to arrival was very clear. The apartment has the basic things you need for your stay. To access the apartment you need to go up around 30 steps so if you have walking difficulty’s or mobility issues I would check this prior to booking. Salt , pepper , oil , hand soap , washing up liquid , cloths , tea towels and limited dishwasher tablets was also provided what we was unaware off. Also a welcome box with tea bags / coffee / biscuits / sugar / milk sticks was in the apartment kitchen , this was a unexpected nice touch. The allocated parking spot was available the whole time we arrived although upon check out there was a car blocking us in behind our car , but lucky we could get out from a tight squeeze down the other parking space next to it as there was not a car there. If there was we would have not been able to get out. The night before the same car was also blocking us in but by time we went out late afternoon it was gone so had no issue getting out. The only thing I would say and it has been mentioned on another review is maybe a welcome pack , as we was not sure where to put the rubbish and instructions on the Wi-Fi code and maybe how to use the hive and what to do with used towels / if we was required to strip the bedding etc. Overall though it was a lovely stay and would definitely recommend Windermere Crescent , brilliant for small family’s or a couple.

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• Jon - Verified booking

  Our family typically camps in and around the Keswick / Northern Lake District region and spend our summer holidays enjoying the outdoors in our favorite part of the country!

  The birth of our second child in January made us look at other options for accommodation this time around, less canvas and more home comforts and convenience. We splashed out on Howe Keld 4 based purely on the location and the pictures provided on the Sykes website for our 2024 family holiday - upon arrival we were totally blown away by how stunning the property was, so much more spacious and well furnished than we were anticipating … the property just goes on and on and on! We were pleased to be greeted by the enormous hallway which allowed us to immediately unpack our kit for the week, 2 adults and 2 young children - this may seem trivial but made life much easier not having to struggle with 2 little ones in tow - with that taken care of we could park the car, forget about it for the week and get on with enjoying our holiday. Sizeable bedrooms and beautifully finished bathrooms were also a treat and really affirmed that we'd picked the right place to stay and we'd be in for an enjoyable and comfortable week. Upon arrival we did experience an issue with one of the bedroom windows - however we reported this to Angela in housekeeping who dealt with this for us immediately, and was also lovely! The location of Howe Keld 4 for us couldn’t have been better - minutes from Derwent water, Keswick High Street and not to mention the views of Catbells at the front and Skiddaw at the rear … this was truly the base camp we were hoping for! 100% we will be rebooking.

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• Ting - Verified booking

  We stayed at this cottage during the Christmas holiday and found it to be a mixed experience.

  The property itself is charming and in a beautiful location, but there were several issues that affected our stay. The heating in the house is not very strong, making it relatively cold during the winter months, and it cannot be adjusted, which was inconvenient. The shower water was also on the colder side, though still manageable. Additionally, the cottages are part of a connected complex, and one of the other houses triggered a fire alarm while setting up their fire pit. This disrupted all the cottages for about half an hour, including ours while we were enjoying Christmas dinner. We contacted the maintenance team, but they only recorded the issue over the phone and didn’t resolve it immediately. The next morning, the house lost power entirely, forcing us to change our plans and head into town instead of staying in. Overall, the place has potential, but these minor issues, especially during the colder months, detract from the experience. While it’s a decent option for a stay, I would recommend improvements to heating, water temperature, and maintenance response to make it more comfortable for guests.

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• Becky - Verified booking

  Nice apartment although you do get quite a bit of noise coming through the ceiling from the apartment above.

  Facilities were good the wood burner was especially nice after a day of walking. Shared facilities were ok with hand sanitizer provided. The two Hoover's that were provided had seen better days though and I had to empty one before I could use it which in the current climate wasn't great. I was also surprised to see the cleaners when they came to clean a different apartment didn't have any PPE on and one was carrying the towels resting up against her face! Again not great in the current climate! We also found a dirty cup and some crumbs in the cutlery drawer which did make us wonder if the extra deep clean had been done efficiently. There was also broken glass near the bins so didn't seem anyone was checking them. Communication could have been better too as we didn't know what the situation was regarding recycling. All in all though a good apartment brilliantly situated for exploring the South Lakes although getting in and out of the drive wasn't for the faint hearted!!

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