Romantic Cottages in the UK

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Peter - Verified booking

  The cottage is generally clean, pleasant and comfortable.

  We had some niggles (such as no wifi for the week, the vacuum cleaner falls to pieces every time you use it and the hot water being off on arrival meaning cold showers on the first morning) but we enjoyed our stay all the same. My constructive feedback to the owner would be - this could be a great cottage were it not for the clunky kitchen. I suggest you either build an island or else a wrap-around counter to separate the space from the lounge. Please also provide some side tables & coasters in the lounge - I don't want to have to get out of my seat with each sip of wine! A good kitchen designer would help you think about and overcome the following friction points - * It's poorly laid out - nothing flows. Despite it being a large kitchen everything feels like it's all either on top of each other or else at the opposite side of the room * Lighting - feels a bit stark and/or dingy * The appliances all take some fathoming. The aga-style cooker is probably somewhat intimidating to the average guest; reading a load of user manuals before cooking the kids' tea isn't my idea of a holiday. * This leaves just two hobs and a tiny standalone oven for meal preparation, both of which are cramped into the corner of a massive room * Inexplicably, wooden spoons and utensils are at the opposite side of the room. There's enough cutlery to feed a small army but corners have been cut with useful things - flimsy broken cheese grater, no bottle stopper for opened wine, etc. * Child friendly plates & cups would be very welcome * The dishwasher opens across the very cupboard you want to put things away into * The fridge stands out like an eyesore * A few small touches like a coffee machine or an instant hot water tap would go along way * In that vein, please don't be tight; providing a thimbleful sized bottle of washing up liquid takes the biscuit (which means to say I'd rather you remove the complimentary biscuits if it came down to a choice) * I suggest you add a quick user guide/poster on the wall by key appliances - lots of people have never used an induction hob for example

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• Tash - Verified booking

  We had a wonderful week staying at Dancing Beck.

  Our children, 11 and 9 loved the cottage so much so they went into every room on the day we left saying goodbye. None of us wanted to leave. We were extremely lucky with the weather and explored many different activities including hiking up Catbells Fell, White Water Rafting in Windermere, walking Llamas, cycling in Keswick, paddling in Lake Derwent and having a brilliant day on the beach at St Bees. We were extremely happy and comfortable in the cottage. The welcome pack was lovely (thank you!), the bedrooms were comfortable and the master bedroom upstairs was a real treat to stay in. The views from the bedroom and lounge were tremendous. Just a few helpful pointers. Be careful if it has been raining when opening the back door by the Beck. The step is very slippery and I fell quite badly on the first day. Be mindful that the hot water will run out if you don’t read the instructions properly! The kitchen space is a little tricky as there is not much surface space to prepare meals however given that we ate out a lot it really wasn’t an issue. Just pointing it out for fellow residents. Overall we agreed as a family that we had the best holiday we have ever had and we would highly recommend Dancing Beck Cottage for a family holiday. I shall miss sitting with my morning coffee on the bench looking out at the wonderful landscape of the Lakes. Thank you for making our annual holiday one to remember.

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• Mat - Verified booking

  Such a shame.

  The advert was lovely - the place looked great - we gambled on not having a garden but instead relied on the decking area for our kids to be able to have outside space. We were sadly disappointed. With no warning, we arrived to discover the decking out of bounds - not a good start. We then went in to discover general cleanliness wasn't great despite the warnings galore about leaving the place in as good a condition as you found it - crumbs over the worktops and a facemask down beside a sofa weren't in our definition of clean... The house is getting tired - a few years ago I'm sure it was all decorated to the highest standard, but there are cracks everywhere and the floor in the kitchen seemed to have fallen away. We raised all this with the team, who seemed uninterested in pursuing this past giving our complaint to the owners who wouldn't consider any kind of partial refund; despite a large draw for the property (the decking) being out of bounds. It's a shame as the experience has rather soured our memory of the holiday and given Heart of the Lakes lack of interest in their customers, I think it unlikely we'll use them again either.

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• Sharon - Verified booking

  My sister sat on a chair on the decking outside, and it fell through rotten decking.

  We had a very strong smell of paraffin coming from the again, we had to open all windows and doors to rid of the smell. Phoned site manager who arranged for a handy man to come out, this was late evening. Handyman cut off oil supply, so this stopped central heating and hot water. Did supply us with two small (that were not very good) connector heaters, for a four bedroom, upstairs, downstairs house. Once the handy man left we discovered he had turned off the water supply. There was some bottled water in the cupboard so we used this, but we couldn't even flush the toilets. After phoning a few times next morning, site manager got back to me and instructed me how to turn the water back on. Heating engineer arrived almost 24 hours after initial phone call. My 86 year old mother had to have blankets wrapped round to keep warm. We will not return to this property.

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• Yvonne - Verified booking

  Really enjoyed our stay in Dancing Beck cottage.

  We have been travelling to the Lake District for holidays for over 10 years and have always stayed in good properties but we were very impressed with this one. The facilities were very good, especially kitchen wise. Often the equipment is basic and inadequate for self catering meals but this was certainly not. All of the furniture and fittings were of very good quality and really felt like 'home from home'. The location was great for walking - both straight from the cottage round Bassenthwaite or a short drive to popular hikes like Blencathra & Walla Crag etc. and is close to the facilities of Keswick and has easy access to both the coast and Ambleside, Grasmere and the Southern lakes. The views are stunning from the cottage and it is a quiet location. We will definitely be re-booking next year!

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