Kendal Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Allan - Verified booking

  Kentmere Fell Views holiday cottage is set at the end of a quite valley, lovely views.

  The cottage is reached down a 4 mile single track road that is not for the faint hearted, very few of the locals are inclined to back up so allow plenty of time for the trip. The tractors go very fast. On arrival the porch was dirty and dusty. We found several unserviceable items including one of the 2 hobs in the main kitchen (owner aware but not fixed) there are another 2 in the “small kitchen”. Having to use the 3 available hobs over 2 kitchens to cook the same thing in 2 pans did not make meals a family dining experience. It is also a safety risk moving between kitchens with hot pans. Noting it is a 6 person property induction pans big enough to cook for 6 would be useful addition. Be aware the “fan Oven” icon on the dial was the defrost setting. There is nowhere to store groceries in the main kitchen. The oven in the small kitchen made a terrible noise, also note the “fan Oven” icon on the dial was the defrost setting (no instruction book available). The downstairs shower/toilet door does not close from the outside, a hygiene issue at it is the only door between the 2 kitchens and you have to walk past it when using the other hobs. With the induction hob in the main kitchen needing induction pans. The pans were mixed up between the 2 kitchens. Very small kitchen can use conventional pans. The general level of cleanliness was poor, dust and debris in main rooms particularly around the bottom of the fridge/freezer and cookers. The “rustic” table had mouldy food in the cracks (hygiene issue). We could not use the main oven because it was filthy and had the most awful smell. The Information pack was in poor condition, loose and dirty pages. It would be a good idea to print out new sheets and laminate. Especially after Covid. In the information age it could be made available along with all manuals online, e.g. a Dropbox folder, you could then view before arrival. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/jw2b3r3mwujyrdzcfjui7/ADPGqTeLKUHk8NJOexZnqD8?rlkey=ldmwb566rul780bgqbnvn0sa6&st=7g6fmt37&dl=0 We arrived on the Sunday, informed Lakelovers the owner of the problems, cleaners came on Tuesday to clean the oven. Tradesmen came on the Wednesday to look at the oven in the small kitchen. My Granddaughters are 12 and 7. It was not a pleasant experience to witness cleaners and tradesmen coming in twice. Indeed, seeing the state of the oven and the smell. We did take photos of all the issues. We went out to eat. We would not recommend; the owner was more interested in what we paid than the issues. Lakelovers informed us the owner was aware of the hotplate not working. Lakelovers and the owner have been informed and hopefully will address all the issues for future guests.

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• Deena - Verified booking

  Firstly the cottage has not been cleaned on arrival.

  With two children and after a 4 hour drive we had to them sit in a local pub for 2 hours whilst it was cleaned. (Sykes did give us some compensation however 6 days later have still not received). On arrival back at the cottage it was still not cleaned to a suitable standard. There was hair stuck to the carpets upstairs and fat splatted at the back of the cooker. The hob has residue left on it and the bathroom has marks on the floor. The parking situation outside of the cottage caused havoc. The advert stated roadside parking opposite the cottage. This is not true. There are double white lines painted therefor you cannot park opposite them, which when we were loading and unloading we were told by numerous ‘locals’ who would go out of their way to tell us we can’t park. There is also a parking warden issuing £35 fines. To find somewhere to park in a village of this size with no parking available was an absolute nightmare. I was baffled on arrival at the front patio which is actually the door step… you would also never want to sit out there on a main road through the village? To watch tv we tried using the sky box which asked us to insert our viewing card. Firstly it’s 2023, who still has these type of devices and secondly, if we did, why would we bring the viewing card on holiday?? Wifi is chargeable, we had to buy this daily at quite a significant cost. There are no instructions for the cottage left out we had to search cupboards but this was minimal. As there is no garden, there was also no access to an outside bin so the kitchen bin became very full and we had to start taking rubbish out with us to find a bin? The welcome we received was the most unwelcome I have had in any cottage I have stayed in over the years. There wasn’t as much as half a toilet roll in the bathroom… The whole experience left us baffled, frustrated and put off from ever staying with Sykes again. It was an inaccurate listing of a property. That said, the village itself had 2 nice pubs with very friendly staff.

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• Victoria - Verified booking

  The property really needs more attention to detail.

  This was not a cheap place to stay and I think perhaps because it was the busy summer period standards slipped. There were spiders everywhere. Every. Where. Infested. The cobwebs were so thick in places it was like candyfloss. We had to hoover up about 80 spiders in the first 4 days and they were still appearing after that. The place seems to be riddled with them. Even after hoovering we kept discovering webs. Spiders in every corner is not exactly relaxing. The wooden doors for each room don't help as the backs of them just seem to have webs in all the gaps. We also noticed a great deal of webs under the beds when we were checking around before leaving which was rather disconcerting! We also read in the guest book about welcome packs that previous guests had received and we had nothing like that. Again it could be due to the rush for turnover in the summer but standards should never slip. Upon arrival the dining room table had crumbs across it, the kitchen floor had bits on it and combined with the spiders in the corner of every room it wasn't the greatest start. First impressions count and we were on the back foot straight away. The curtains are ridiculously light, the sun was waking us all up and we had to try to hang throws over the curtains to try and block out the light. Who had the idea to get white curtains? Quite odd. The lower stairs are extremely noisy, good luck trying to go downstairs in the morning for a cup of tea without waking your family or friends. We have stayed in the Lake District many times and this is the most disappointed we have been with our accommodation. It did not meet expectations and it was nice to get home and not have to have eyes scanning the ceilings for spiders all the time!

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• Eric - Verified booking

  It gives me no pleasure to give such a review, but I feel obligated to warn potential future guests that this property is not what it appears when looking at the photographs provided.

  What no photograph can convey, is the terrible and overpowering smell of damp that hits you the moment you enter this property. Like a musty cave or old damp cellar, the air is thick with damp. Quite frankly, it is a health hazard. I booked for three nights with my family, and everyone was shocked by the state of the place. Apart from the smell, the bedsheets were unchanged, damp to the touch and even had pubic hairs on the base sheet. My room was worst affected by the damp. ( Left of the entrance ) and it was impossible to sleep there. I was forced to sleep upstairs on the couch but that brought it’s own problems as it was full of dog hairs, this being a ‘pet friendly’ establishment. My eldest son, daughter and son in law were forced to leave early as the damp in their rooms were causing them breathing problems. Cobwebs and spiders were everywhere, and the whole place was in desperate need of a deep clean. All surfaces were sticky to the touch and the shower drainage was blocked causing the base to fill with foul water when showering. Nobody should be sleeping there until these problems are fixed. It is a sad state of affairs, because the potential this converted barn has, is clear from the photos they provide. The upstairs is spacious and appealing to the eye, but it is totally spoiled by uncleanliness, neglect and above all, a very serious damp issue. These concerns were raised in private with Sykes cottages who promised to speak to the owner and get back to us but unfortunately after chasing them for a week there has been only silence in return.

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• Eric - Verified booking

  It gives me no pleasure to give such a review, but I feel obligated to warn potential future guests that this property is not what it appears when looking at the photographs provided.

  What no photograph can convey, is the terrible and overpowering smell of damp that hits you the moment you enter this property. Like a musty cave or old damp cellar, the air is thick with damp. Quite frankly, it is a health hazard. I booked for three nights with my family, and everyone was shocked by the state of the place. Apart from the smell, the bedsheets were unchanged, damp to the touch and even had pubic hairs on the base sheet. My room was worst affected by the damp. ( Left of the entrance ) and it was impossible to sleep there. I was forced to sleep upstairs on the couch but that brought it’s own problems as it was full of dog hairs, this being a ‘pet friendly’ establishment. My eldest son, daughter and son in law were forced to leave early as the damp in their rooms were causing them breathing problems. Cobwebs and spiders were everywhere, and the whole place was in desperate need of a deep clean. All surfaces were sticky to the touch and the shower drainage was blocked causing the base to fill with foul water when showering. Nobody should be sleeping there until these problems are fixed. It is a sad state of affairs, because the potential this converted barn has, is clear from the photos they provide. The upstairs is spacious and appealing to the eye, but it is totally spoiled by uncleanliness, neglect and above all, a very serious damp issue. These concerns were raised in private with Sykes cottages who promised to speak to the owner and get back to us but unfortunately after chasing them for a week there has been only silence in return.

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