Dog Friendly Kendal Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• 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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• 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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• Stephen - Verified booking

  We were very unhappy with the fact that on our first night, the lock on the only door jammed, and we were unable to get out of the property.

  The 24/7 Emergency number was not answered and it was the following day that we were able to get through to anyone and a maintenance man arrived in the afternoon. The only access was through a narrow window and even the thin maintenance guy had trouble getting in to fix the lock. He removed this, and then left us with only a Yale, rather than a 5 lever Chubb for the remainder of our stay. We were told someone would come to replace the lock but no-one did.We effectively lost a full day of our holiday, being unable to get out of the property. The ground floor was damp, with black mould in a number of places. We have contacted Sykes a number of times, but they are hiding behind a blanket, standard response that says they can do nothing, and neither they nor the owner would pay any compensation, as this is a Health and Safety issue!! We would like the owner, who we are unable to contact, to confirm that this problem, both the door and the lack of proper escape windows has been sorted, so we can feel comfortable that any other renters are safe in the property. There would appear to be no route to report this issue to Health and Safety Executive, only to Sykes and Lake Lovers. We feel there is no way we can give any positive recommendation for the property without confirmation that the issues are resolved. We are also very unhappy that Sykes have at no time made any direct contact to apologise for the problems we have had,

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• Melissa - Verified booking

  This was a last minute deal, I wouldn’t pay full price for this property.

  Although some good points, this cottage needs attention from the owners. Good points: Convenient parking close to front door. Nice well equipped kitchen overall . Good to have a dryer when it’s wet outside. Love the open plan space upstairs. Pleasant enclosed garden. Quiet spot in a pretty village. Beds comfortable Bad points: Sticky kitchen table. Bathrooms grotty, and need an update, new sealant needed on bath and extractor fan not working properly. Smell of damp downstairs. Missing light bulbs and fire alarm needing new battery. Basic maintenance is poor. No pint of milk or tea, which would have been appreciated after a long journey. Information pack was poor, no info on recycling or working the TV. A guest book would be helpful so folks can recommend places to visit. We really enjoyed visiting Ambleside and Blackwell the Arts & Crafts house. Tip: Take some DVDs and games with you, (the games we found were old) Note: Both toilets are downstairs (bedroom level), we have family members who have to take extra time negotiating stairs, so just a heads up! Note: When finding the property the bins were blocking the house name, luckily friendly neighbours helped us find it. Conclusion: A cottage of two halves, living area nice upstairs but downstairs needs an update. Maintenance needed.

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