Dog Friendly Portinscale Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Joseph - Verified booking

  We were sadly very disappointed with our stay at Holly Cottage.

  When we first arrived, we were greeted by a cold house with a strong, dank smell, concentrated in the downstairs bathroom and cupboard, but noticeable across the house. This smell was present throughout our stay. Whilst bedding and carpets appeared clean, the house seemed in real need of a proper deep clean or maintenance. There were dead flies in light fixtures, what we assumed to be mud splattered up the wall in the hallway landing, and further dirt marks on the walls in the kitchen, what looked like water marks on the walls of the back bedroom and lounge, hair on the bathroom wall, and wallpaper that was chipped and peeling throughout. The furniture was also tired in places, with the cupboard in the bedroom having parts half hanging off. When we got to the back bedroom, we also noticed that the light and shaving fixture above the sink was hanging off the wall by the wires, with the glass lampshade on the floor. It looked like this had damaged the sink too. Upon seeing all of the above, we were of course really quite upset and wanted to talk to someone who could help. We noted that the first port of call should be Lakes Cottages according to the slip in the kitchen, so we rang them but were sent through a call tree which never ended with anyone who could help. We were eventually able to get through to a person at Sykes, who told us to go to the Lakes Cottages office in town, which we did. We spoke to the individual there, who was unfortunately not able to be much help and didn’t seem familiar with the property, and told us to get back in touch with Sykes, which we did. We got through to a representative, who we explained everything to, and said would call us back. An hour passed before we phoned back to follow up, which was when the number informed us that the phoneline was closed for the evening, which we hadn’t been made aware of beforehand. At this point, I hope you can appreciate we were really upset and felt quite abandoned. We left a message on the emergency line for Sykes, as it was the only number we could find, and in the end booked a hotel room for the evening. We didn’t feel it was right to complain about the house’s condition being unacceptable whilst simultaneously staying there, and wanted to give whoever would respond the opportunity to rectify the situation. We did eventually hear back from the emergency line, who were helpful and told us to keep hold of our receipt to organise reimbursement. We appreciate this gesture, but haven’t heard more about how to actually arrange this. This individual said they would organise a cleaning of the house and maintenance to fix the bulb by the following morning. We did get a call the following morning, from an individual at Sykes, asking us if the situation had been resolved. We went back to the property and were able to see that nothing had changed, which we relayed and were told again it would be resolved as soon as possible. We returned to the house in the evening, and found that the heating had been fixed, but the house wasn’t cleaned and the socket was still hanging off the wall and was hot to the touch. We felt as if nothing was going to change so made the decision to unpack and try and make the most of our stay having already lost out on a quarter of it. We were called again by Sykes who relayed that the lightbulb has been fixed and the heating was working: We were in the room with the lightbulb still hanging off the wall, so confirmed it hadn’t. It wasn’t till the following day that we noted it had been removed. We want to make clear that Sykes does not offer the ability to contact the owner or even indirectly speak to them, which means the owner wasn’t offered the chance to put anything right. What we do hope, however, is clear is how difficult it was to resolve any of the issues that were present, and how let down we felt by the service and the stay. We haven’t ever complained about a stay before, but felt so disappointed and frankly upset that we felt we had to. We would appreciate a response, as well as a response about how to settle reimbursement for the hotel stay.

  Read more less >

• Ella - Verified booking

  This place was great, right slap bang in the middle of keswick, so close to everything including a shop beneath us.

  The location was mostly quiet except a few late night revellers but we didn’t mind. The overall cleanliness of the place was okay but things definitely needed a deep clean for example the cooker top and utilities as some surfaces felt quiet grimey. we loved the space and it had everything we needed such a as a washer etc and drying racks which was great, as after a long day hiking we needed to wash our clothes. there was also a couple tea bags and biscuits left for us which were comforting when we arrived. some feedback, not keen on the 9am check out especially when check in is at 4:00pm! i have been a cleaner and housekeeper and definitely think during a trip in which most days were out busy hiking that the check out should be at least 10 as a place should not need a 7 hour turn around. our relative was picking up our luggage and we were slightly late out but we couldn’t wait anywhere else with our luggage. overall it was a brilliant place to stay and sykes allowed us to pay off the accommodation when we wanted, however i do think that finding reviews for the place , and the listing of amenities needs updating. we were sent a list of things to bring and an oven glove was part of the list, however when we arrived there was one there? and also like a hair dryer and iron being included wasnt on the list, so we brought them with us which led us to carrying more stuff than we needed.

  Read more less >

• Janet - Verified booking

  Holly cottage is in a prime location with the co op supermarket directly opposite and all other shops, bars etc within a few minutes walking distance.

  The bus station is just around the corner. Parking space at the back of property along with outdoor seating area. The kitchen is of a good size and very well equipped. Cleaning products, tea towels,oven gloves are all provided. There were even spare bulbs and batteries if needed. In the kitchen there were also cook books available and herbs and spices if you would rather cook for yourself. The lounge was comfortable and I can see that previous reviews have suggested settee uncomfortable. The owner has listened to their customers views as the settee has been changed . There is a downstairs toilet available which is a bonus. Upstairs there is a decent sized bathroom, single bedroom and a double bedroom. Plenty of wardrobe space and lots of hangers. There is a hairdryer in the spacious main bedroom. The whole cottage is colour coordinated in shades of greys and yellows. On our departure we met the owner of the cottage and she was most interested to hear if we had any complaints or suggestions that she should act on. As far as we are concerned the cottage is perfect in every way and we wouldn’t change a thing. Hopefully we will return to Holly cottage again in the future. A lovely holiday highly recommended.

  Read more less >

• Helen - Verified booking

  A lovely cottage right next to the centre of Keswick.

  Positioned opposite the Co-op and behind Booths so very handy for supplies. Access to the parking space at the rear is a bit tight but essential for Keswick, unless you want to pay in the car parks. We have a Quashqai and it fitted just right. On entering the cottage we were pleasantly surprised by the size of accommodation. The kitchen is a great size with everything you would need. The living room is really cosy and has a fab TV with Netflix, but the sofa was a bit small, it is not the sort you can lounge on after a long walk. A nice wide staircase leads upstairs, the master is positioned to the front of the property and is a great size with plenty of wardrobe space and a nice little dressing table. The bed was very comfy! The second bedroom fits a single, it is the quieter of the two rooms with it being at the back. There is also a useful rear porch/boot room and downstairs WC. There were plenty of towels, toilet rolls and cleaning products, the cottage was very clean, warm and cosy. We loved our stay at Holly Cottage and would definitely look to stay again. A couple of points to note; The garden is not enclosed. The Co-op receive deliveries quite early in the morning.

  Read more less >

• Timothy - Verified booking

  We really enjoyed our first holiday with Sykes in this flat.

  The communication before we went was excellent as were the general directions, instructions etc. The flat was spacious and comfortable with every facility needed for the stay. The wifi, dishwasher and washing machine were a bonus and everything worked as it should except for the Playstation controller but that's minor (to me, tragic to our 9-year old!) anyway. We did dish wash the lovely wine glasses which unfortunately took the red colour off the stems, apologies for that but there was no warning that they weren't dishwasher safe. I would say the only small negatives are that parts of the flat (skirting boards, window frames) could be cleaner and the bathroom could do with updating and some TLC to the door. That didn't detract from how good it was, and what a convenient location it was is. Yes it's above a shop on a busy street but the noise was in no way intrusive, as stated by a previous reviewer who is clearly a pint half empty chap. So all in all a great flat, perfect for our needs and thanks very much!

  Read more less >