Dog Friendly Cottages in Cumbria

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Lucy - Verified booking

  While the cottage was mainly as advertised several issues became evident throughout our stay: -Firstly the cleanliness of the property was awful.

  While surface level tasks such as clean surfaces and fresh sheets had been provided there was an evident lack of deep clean for a very long time. To ensure we left the property as advertised we used the hoover. Whilst hoovering the downstairs hall area, the cylinder of the hoover was completely filled and some areas of the carpet were so dirty they changed colour when cleaned. This small area is only around 5m2! - This accumulation of dust and debris meant there were huge numbers of different insects. There was cobwebs present in practically every room of the house and large numbers of spiders throughout the property. Uncountable numbers of flies were present in the cottage, and while it was a warm weekend a large proportion of these were in the property upon arrival. We organised an afternoon tea and unfortunately had to dispose of the leftovers because the flies were so numerous over the food. Sharing food was made difficult as flies would land on any plate of food after seconds. Huge numbers of moths were present in the property to the point that one member of the party opened their luggage once home and found a live moth within! There were clearly issues with pests before our stay as there was a fly zapper (though this didnt work!) at the property. - there were key maintenance issues throughout the property including a toilet that broke on 2 occasions and had to be fixed, and a shower that did not work. These were all in the double ensuite upstairs. When we used the washing machine there was a horrendous smell in the kitchen which wafted through the property. And while we couldn't see any obvious blocked drains or leakages it was evident the drainage had not been maintained in some time. - One of the key reasons we selected the cottage was it's inclusion of use of a local spa. I had to email prior to arrival to check how this could be arranged, and even within this conversation there was no mention of additional discounts on food and treatments. If we had known this in advance we would have made use of the spa more and we only found out while looking for information in the pack. This information also said that to access the spa we would require the spa pass attached to the property keys. As the keys were barely attached together at all it's unsurprising that the spa access card was missing. Luckily for us, we have used this spa before and were willing to try and discuss this access upon arrival. The spa were very understanding but many people would have missed out on this inclusion in the cottage. - The property advertised as having zip link beds, and there was no way of communicating when booked how you required the beds set up. Therefore I sent a separate request for how we required the rooms fo be set up. We asked for 2 singles in the 2 zip link bedrooms and both were made up as king size. Ultimately we could use these beds as was however if we had had particular requirements for the rooms these would not have been met. The bedding provided was unseasonal and as such was very warm overnight! - we also had issues disposing of our rubbish as the instructions in the pack were very limited and indeed non-existent when it came to recycling. We had gathered for a special occasion and unfortunately this stay put a real strain on the enjoyment of the weekend. The odd path to direct communication with the owner created by Sykes meant resolving simple issues was impractical. The cumulative effect of the lackluster property maintenance led to a several key issues.

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• Steven - Verified booking

  We stayed at the Giddy Goose in Windermere for a week in August this year and had a wonderful experience.

  The house is centrally located in Windermere, and having stayed in several nearby cottages, this one stands out as the best. Pros Excellent Location: Walking distance to restaurants, shops, and Bowness (about 20 minutes). The bus and railway stations are also nearby, making it easy to explore the area without a car. Great for Dog Walks: Convenient access to fantastic dog walks near Orrest, either up the hill or along scenic paths. Spacious and Comfortable: Plenty of space for our family of four. Our kids (ages 10 and 12) enjoyed having their own rooms. The house stays cool even on hot days, which was perfect for us and our dog. Comfortable Beds: Everyone found the beds very comfortable. Well-Equipped: Plenty of toilets and showers, a lovely garden where we enjoyed a BBQ Cons (Minor and did not impact our stay): Paint Touch-Ups Needed: Some areas of the house could use a bit of fresh paint. Microwave Instructions: The microwave requires you to set the clock before use, which is different from most microwaves. Some instructions on this would be helpful. Parking Space: The parking space is a bit tight. We managed to fit our Freelander, but larger vehicles might need to use the parking permit, which could mean a short walk to the cottage. Light Switch Issue: The light switch in the living room didn’t work as expected; you have to pull it out each time you press it. This might need fixing. Kitchen Supplies: The kitchen could use a couple more knives and a meat thermometer. Overall, We had a lovely and relaxing stay at the Giddy Goose and would highly recommend it. We would definitely stay here again.

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• Matthew - Verified booking

  It is clearly a new caravan, with new furniture and utensils, and I would confidently say we were one of the earlier occupants of this caravan.

  Which is why the property seemed so lovely when we first arrived, but after we'd settled in we realised this wasn't the case, due to the dreadfully poor level of basic cleaning skills that the owners must have. It seems that as time goes on, this place is only going to get more unclean as people come and go, I feel sorry for whoever stays at this property in the future. The caravan was not clean and we provided plenty of photographic evidence, and one of the owners even came to see, but they still insist that the disgusting amount of dog hairs found in every inch of the caravan and that the unpleasant odour must have "entered the property when the windows and doors were opened." My partner and I love dogs, and appreciate that when staying in a property that allows pets you expect to find some stray hairs here and there, but not this amount. It makes you worry about the other areas that haven't been cleaned well, so we spent the first day of our first holiday in 2 years cleaning! We are fed up with the owners of the property, and Sykes. We are shocked that they both are ignoring the blatant evidence of dog hairs in so many areas both in plain sight and in crevices such as in the shower and on top of the toilet seat - Which I must add, the owner claims to have "polished". All we'd like at this point is a sincere apology, but even that seems to difficult to get. Don't stay here. Don't stay at any property through Sykes. They'll take your money and ignore your comments.

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• Simon - Verified booking

  As detailed on the phone, on the day we arrived the house (Giddy Goose) was not as clean as we would expect.

  The main and most obvious problem was lack of proper vacuuming: all carpets and rugs looked as though they haven’t been properly vacuumed for a while; one bedroom even has a muddy smear that had been left. Telltale bits of debris, cotton, threads, fluff etc were in every room. This is impossible to photograph now (I was not asked to take photos when I rang on the day we arrived). We tried vacuuming the next day and the smell it created was so revolting we had to spray freshener and open windows: the bag was full which might explain the poor vacuuming? I requested a new bag but we weren’t given one. There were other signs of poor cleaning. Cobwebs, dust and debris on window sills, a long black hair still stuck to the bathroom wall, broken glass just under one of the sofas. I’ve photographed all that I can. A cleaner was organised to come on the Saturday at 10:30am, we were given no choice of time. Unfortunately all of our kids were still in bed after a long day the day before, so we chatted to the cleaner and apologised and offered to clean the house ourselves. We did try vacuuming as explained. The last thing you want when you pay to stay somewhere is the disappointment of it being dirty, having to phone and make arrangements and being asked to vacate the property on the first morning so it can then be cleaned properly. All holiday lets are priced to cover the cost of cleaning. In our case that cleaning was simply not sufficient.

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• Catherine - Verified booking

  The Giddy Goose property is lovely, it has everything you need and is in a great location to explore the whole area as well as being able to walk to plenty of shops and restaurants.

  I really enjoyed my stay. The only issue that I have had is with the service post stay, I left 2 tops in the property which of course was my silly fault, especially as one was brand new that i'd bought whilst on holiday. After multiple phonecalls to Sykes I eventually had it confirmed that they had been found by the housekeeper. This took a number of calls and quite a bit of time chasing as it has to go between Sykes, the local branch- Lakes holidays and the housekeeper. By the end of October though I had it confirmed that the tops had been taken to the local branch and I paid the £15 fee for return. It is now mid December and I still have not received them and again after multiple calls the only answer I get is that they must have been lost in the post. Even though I paid for return apparently they are not sent recorded and no proof of postage is taken. I appreciate entirely that it is my own fault for forgetting the tops, but it is frustrating that it has taken so much chasing and that after having them found and paying for the return that you don't send them as recorded or take any proof of postage or anything at all to help a safe return. This would be helpful for the future perhaps or at least if I could speak to Lakes holidays directly to have sorted this. I would have paid for the recorded post as am gutted that I cannot get the new top back especially.

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