New Year Cottages in the Lake District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Wayne - Verified booking

  We had a very disappointing experience at Beck edge.

  It does look exactly like the pictures on the website but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Parking is a problem. The roads around the property are very tight and very busy, not only with vehicles squeezing around the corner but also cyclists and pedestrians passing by right in front of the house, making it difficult to park and unload the car. The road noise woke us up in the morning due to a manhole cover which clank’s every time it’s driven over. The allotted parking space to the side of the house is really tight and you have to park close to the house wall to not block the neighbours drive. The key safe is located on the opposite side of the property through the rickety gate next to the side door and a scruffy rotting log store (not a great first impression). The key safe itself was difficult to operate and the front fell off once it had unlocked. Before we arrived we did received a message informing us the dishwasher had broken, which is annoying but these things happen. (There was a hand written note in the kitchen confirming this). The general feel of the place is dated and maintenance and investment in the property over the years is clearly lacking. Some of the issues we encountered were mentioned in a previous review and had apparently been resolved. The front door lock sticks and is really difficult to lock and unlock from the inside. (It’s identified in the safety paperwork as a fire exit which obviously is a big safety concern). Cupboard fronts, doors and plinths in the kitchen are poorly fitted and tired. I’m not sure the filters in the extractor fan have ever been cleaned? They are yellow with grease and the ceiling above is stained. The fridge doesn’t seem to be working efficiently, the lights doesn’t work, the bottom shelf is broken and the door is being held together with some sort of foam/adhesive. The manual in the kitchen is partly handwritten and difficult to read especially the oven instructions which have been crossed out and sketched in biro! There’s a sealed unit in the rear kitchen window which has broken down and is full of condensation along with a spotlight and bulb that have blown. This room just smelt very stale so we had to open all the window to freshen the place up. The blinds throughout the property are dirty and offer no privacy from the surrounding properties or roads. As previously mentioned the array of towels supplied are very small and really old, I’m not sure why they haven’t been replaced years ago. The main bathroom was functional and the water was hot but the rainbow shower curtain wasn’t very clean and had mildew around the bottom of it. The beds were fairly uncomfortable but the bedding old and worn, the single bed didn’t smell great and my son refused to sleep In it. We had a 2 night stay booked but decided to cut it short and travelled home a day early as we felt really uncomfortable at Beck edge. Although this property might be acceptable to some we felt it is in desperate need of a refurbishment and freshening up, there has clearly been no investment in the property over the last 20 years and it shows. And for such an outstanding area of the country where you have to pay a premium to stay, the standard of this property is simply not good enough. It’s very disappointing as we’ve used Sykes on several occasions and properties are usually of a very good standard, but unfortunately not this one.

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• Rachel - Verified booking

  Beautifully decorated and comfortable - thanks.

  Things that could make it better: 1. Individual information about the surrounding area and facilities rather than standard Lakes information e.g restaurants/pubs/cafes, walks, cycle routes, special events etc. 2. All knives in the kitchen need sharpening. 3. Blind in the bathroom does not give any privacy at night - although the property does not have anyone overlooking the rear, we shared our parking spaces with neighbours from number 1 as they were originally told they had 2 spaces, so people were outside at all times! Could then see anyone on the toilet or in the bathroom if the lights were on!! 4. When the shower was being used, smelly water and debris would gurgle up the bath plughole and leave sick-like residue in the bath. 5. Shower plug hole trap needs cleaning regularly - shower curtain tray started to fill with water so I checked and it was black and full of hair. I unblocked as best as I could and have a picture if you need it. 6. Days for bin collections and location of the recycling area may make people more likely to help out rather than just saying in the folder that it would be helpful for people to take the recycling into the village. We only found the location in the last couple of days so were unfortunately not prepared to move it all at the end when we were getting ready to come home. 7. Before booking, I asked Lakes Cottage Holidays if there was an enclosed garden as it was difficult to see from the photo or description and was told yes. This was disappointing and probably the only downside of the property as we had to take the dog out on his lead each evening and were not able to let him roam free when we sat on the patio. 8. The buttons on the extractor hob do not always latch into place first time and take a bit of wiggling and attempts to get it to work without standing and holding them in. 9. Some of the replacement drawer handles in the bedrooms come loose / off as the screws are not long enough to hold them. 10. Tin opener does not work. 11. Lights on the patio and one above the toilet in the shower room are starting to flicker on and off so may need replacing very soon. Other than these minor points (which I feel if I did not mention, you would not know about) the property was in the ideal location to explore Coniston and the surrounding areas and the view of the lake was amazing - we all miss it already. We made use of the washer, dryer and iron a few times which worked just fine and the cushions provided for the patio were very comfortable.

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• Cat - Verified booking

  Overall the stay was very pleasant, the location was great.

  We had great weather and there are so many great things to do in Coniston. We so enjoyed having family time together. The property was mainly as described. However I would not book again for the following reasons: - The mould in the single bedroom meant this room was un- useable. This was supposed to be my 10 month nephews room. However the room smelled so strongly of mould even after the window was open all day. He was moved into his parents room, which disrupted everyone’s sleep in the property and meant the stay was less restful than we were anticipating. Although the mould is not an easily solved problem there was recent growth which could have been cleaned before our stay and might have improved the situation. - I contacted the property owner about the mould half way through the stay, although I specified that we had moved round accordingly and did not want anything done about the mould as this would be further disruption. So they know for the future etc.. My email to date has not been responded to or acknowledged. When the owner has promptly responded to a previous couple of emails re check in. I find this unacceptable customer service, all that was required was to apologise, acknowledge it is a problem and ask if they could do anything to remedy it. To which I would have said no, just sort it our for the next booking. It leads me to consider if something was really wrong would we have received any response ? This is the main reason I would not rebook. We payed peak august prices £1100 for the week. - Additionally there were a few glitches in the kitchen the induction hob didn’t work effectively, the microwave was also glitchy and there were a few other bits of equipment that I would have expected to be there and weren’t. So although the property is set up for self catering. The reality was it took a lot longer to cook because of glitchy equipment. As I say overall a lovely stay, great location and overall this would be a great stay but I would not rebook because of the lack of response on the mould issue.

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• Chris - Verified booking

  The cottage is in a lovely location only three miles from Coniston.

  Close to several fells and interesting quarries it is ideally placed for walking. The inside of the cottage does have some appeal but is tired in appearance, The kitchen is well appointed with implements but is short in some vital things such as a mixing bowl. The plaster above the cooker hood is loose and some fell into one of our cooking pots. The lounge would benefit from a rug on the cold slate floor and the log burner is missing a grate and we ended up almost servicing the vents. It was so log consuming and we felt a better supply of logs could have been provided having paid over £1k for the week rather than enough for one evening. Internet access is poor and if you need to 'work' it was not enough. We couldn't download a film in the evenings. In the main bathroom the bath side was constantly falling off and the towel rail was loose. The water supply was good and constantly warm. The bedrooms were cosy with two double beds, on the first floor the bed is placed such that in a morning you can lay in and enjoy a view of the woodlands opposite. Little notes were left all around the property which was annoying! The worst experience I had however was impaling my foot on a nail from a piece of wood that had been removed during renovations of the shed roof and left abandoned in the long grass next to where the recycling bag was. Fortunately it didn't pierce my foot but did my boot sole. Photographic evidence is available! Would I recommend the cottage? No, but the local area is beautiful. Did I get value for money? Certainly not. I know times are hard and fuel prices are rising but for this cottage I paid a lot more that I did for a better appointed premise last New Year which had a hot tub!

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• Paul - Verified booking

  The ground floor windows are locked shut, which means all the insects which enter through the stable door cannot escape.

  The latch on said door is faulty and it will nip the fingers if you’re not careful. The rear step has a loose triangle of sharp edged broken slate. The grass hadn’t been cut, a foot long! My service dog got a tick on both days we spent entirely in the garden. £45 per tick from the excellent vets in Ambleside. The garden is a haven for midges, it’s quite a marsh beyond the gate. Patio and garden are not private, having strangers mill around your back door is not relaxing or pleasant. The bath was hugely disappointing, the hot water is pond coloured and definitely not inviting a long relaxing soak. We all chose the electric shower instead! The laminated signage (of which there are many) don’t add anything to the overall ambience of rural cottage. Be aware that no washing powder nor dishwasher tablets are included in the price. Some cutlery had caked on foodstuffs. Despite previous comments (we read all before booking) still only the one pint glass. Kitchen is poorly lit, I’ll thought out and we all chuckled sitting at the table; with our elbows at shoulder level (Low chairs & high table)! Don’t inspect the mattress or bedding until the end of your stay would be my advice. Don’t expect any phone signal nor any useable Wi-Fi. The router blinks red 99% of the time. Don’t expect any help whatsoever if you’re stuck with no water. Water being essential for life; I’d not recommend this cottage. Excellent location but too many negatives. The very long black hair remains where I found it; on my sink, between the taps!

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