New Year Breaks In The Lake District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Lesley - Verified booking

  Gyll bank - The Barn, 9 - 16 Sep 2022 We have had a good stay here.

  We know that most people dont bother to tell you what needs attention, but we think it is important. Overall the accommodation is adequate but needs some help. The kitchen tap is dripping relentlessly and it is really annoying. The kitchen is poorly equipped. I know it is the end of the season but surely the cleaning staff run an inventory? All the four saucepans are the same size!! 8 inches ish. Do the other apartments have all the big pans??? There is a knife block, all the knives are blunt. Two other knives in the drawer are blunt, including 3 inch knife that is not useful other than to deal with an apple. Luckily I read a comment from a previous holiday maker that there were no sharp knives, so I brought three of my own. I also bought a wok which we used instead of their small frying pans. The baking trays in the oven were burnt and unusable, which we saw immediately and the owners sorted that out as they were here for a short period. There are no black bags and very little cleaning materials. The top of the cooker is severely stained. There is no hob cleaner which would help the burnt on stains. And the washing up liquid is provided in tiny plastic containers. Would a whole bottle of washing up liquid break the bank? The settees don’t appear to have been hoovered recently. There were wrappers etc under the three piece and we were looking for something down the back of the sofa and it is full of crumbs etc. The downstair toilet door needs oiling. Because the floor is tiled downstairs with hard kitchen surfaces and there is very little soft furnishings, the whole place is very echoey. So dripping taps, creaky doors, they really have an effect. The cupboard doors in the cupboard need soft closing stops as again they bang away. The ad says that there is super broadband here. Thats as may be but it suggests that signal and connection would be good, but we have had long periods of no connectivity. It seems to be connected to how many people are using it during the day . I know you can’t do anything about that but do say that signal is still patchy despite super broadband. These comments are offered in the spirit of helping people that come here to enjoy this property after us. Lesley Dike

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• Ashley - Verified booking

  Lovely little cottage which worked well for us for our week.

  Perfect for a family of 4 for a holiday. Cottage itself was as described. We didn’t appreciate at the time of booking that there were 3 properties in this building. We had the central section which worked well for us but would have possibly booked elsewhere if we had been aware as more stressful with a young puppy with dogs either side and two boisterous boys. We were constantly worried about noise from the kids annoying the neighbours or the dog barking. The cottage doesn’t have a garden, more surrounding fields with sheep. Not ideal for our dog who is used to roaming an enclosed garden. For both the kids and dog, watching out for sheep and sheep poo was an issue. Although they were lovely to see and hear, especially when they were in the patio area!!! The cottage itself has most of the necessary items but lacked a few of the basics to allow you get going without having to head back to the shops. Our neighbours had supermarket deliveries which, if timed right, would be ideal. Also of note, there is Wifi downstairs but it doesn’t extent to the upstairs and the TV doesn’t have any smart features - easily overcome with a firestick bought at the Argos in Kendal. Also, very dusty throughout and need of a bit of a deep clean. Not too much of a problem but I had to wash alot of the kitchen items and sinks before use as I wasn’t convinced they were clean on arrival. The cottage is in an idyllic spot at the top of a hill just outside Staveley. We walked down to the village in 30mins with two 9 year olds. Bit of a trek back up again in the sun. Also, the drive up isn’t for the faint hearted as it is a tight, single track road with minimal passing places however, it does make the area very quiet. Staveley itself was perfect. Everything you need for a holiday and in close proximity to Windermere and Kendal. The owners of the cottage came to check on us and make sure we were getting in fine which was a lovely personal touch and very much appreciated. Overall, a lovely place to spend a week provided you are aware of the surroundings before booking.

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• Jitender - Verified booking

  This is the third time we’ve booked with Sykes but most likely our last as standards are dropping.

  We stayed at Dalesway cottage for a weekend break in February 2025. We found the cottage even late at night, more by luck though. Would recommend the description includes what three words as this might help newcommers. The cottage is cute and served us well. Our main complaint however is that the main bedroom sheets were not clean. There was a disgusting brown stain which we had to cover up with a towel as it was too late at night to do little else . Phoned Skye’s on Saturday morning to get sheets replaced and was told this would be done, just leave the keys in the secure box. Came back later in the day after a great walk nearby (lovely trail at the back of the property) only to find no sheet change or even new ones so we could change them ourselves. This is really disappointing and frankly spoilt an otherwise lovely stay in the lakes. I blame Skye’s maintenance for this and this lets it down for the owner. There are some minor TLC issues that need sorting in the property though such as a mould stain on the wall beneath window in main bedroom. We could live with that though as overall it was a good property and we made the best of our stay, just very disappointed about the bed sheets issue not being resolved during our stay otherwise it would have been a 5 star rating if this was acted upon. This has left us with a poor experience with Skye’s so we’ll go elsewhere now for cottage breaks.

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• Nicola - Verified booking

  These are no fault of the owners but they should consider changing who looks after the property for them!

  I had to hoover up on arrival - the play room had dead flies all on the floor. Living room had not been cleaned properly, my daughter was playing downstairs and a nail was found under the rug/mat. - need a new hoover as the one provided was not great either. The toilet was dirty, this had not been cleaned - I don’t think I need to go into detail. Smoke alarm had been disabled in the play room I’m guessing by previous guests, the smoke alarm on the bedroom landing was beeping when we arrived, I called customer services who posted a battery through the door and then I had to fit this myself, I called customer services as it is not down the guests to service health and safety features - no one attended or called me back! I had an email once we left the property to say that these had been sorted - this actually was no good to us and our holiday had ended and this situation had caused us to worry. The stairs are very tricky with a toddler who wants to go up and down, these were not represented on the listing properly. The stickers on the oven for degrees and grill/oven etc are none existent so it was tricky to know what to put the oven on. Luckily we had plans and were out most of the days but unfortunately I would not stay again.

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• Mr Alistair Brown - Verified booking

  Spent a week at Tanglewood Lodge in July and had a fantastic time.

  The lodge is situated in a lovely part of the park just seconds away from the lake edge and picnic area. The lodge had everything that is required and and there is plenty of glasses, plates, cutlery etc. so no need for loads of dishwashing! It was spotlessly clean and beds really comfortable and plenty of hanging space. The main shower was broken when we arrived so we had to all use the ensuite shower, but the repair was organised and completed swiftly through the customer services team. The washing machine and tumble dryer was a great addition especially after using the swimming pool! The outside decking area was superb and had frosted glass to give that extra privacy from the neighbouring lodge and car parking was in front of the lodge. It is only 5 minutes walk from the bar/restaurant and swimming pool. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable week in the Lakes in a beautiful lodge. What did you enjoy most about your stay? The lodge location in the park What one experience (e.g attraction, walk, day out) would you recommend for our future guests? The Beatrix Potter Experience in Bowness

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