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per nightJulia - Verified booking
DOMVS was in a great great location - a few minutes walk from Windermere town & railway station, and slap on a bus route.
It is a beautiful house with a grand, but comfortable, living room with large bay windows facing the lovely garden and wonderful views beyond. There is a small conservatory attached and access to the garden and patio sitting areas (one house level and one lower) which were lovely places to congregate at the end of the day for early evening drinks, as the weather was good. The kitchen was a good size and reasonably well equipped (see comments on inventory later) with a useful utility room. Likewise, the dining room has everything needed and just fitted 12 people reasonably comfortably around the table which occupies most of the room. This looked tight but worked well. Of note, it would cause less confusion if Sykes called this property the name actually on the gate as looking for DOMVS reveals absolutely nothing either on Google, or when there, since the house is called Rannerdale! (Itâs also impossible to say, DOMVS!). 4 of the ensuite bedrooms were ample or large, and attractive, doubles, 2 seemingly quite luxurious (see later). The 2 twin bedrooms were, by contrast, very small and basic, with some issues (see under âroomsâ). Of note, all the bedrooms, with the exception of the huge garden facing âmasterâ bedroom, had an aspect onto the road and were therefore subject to traffic noise and less interesting views (curious the house was built with most of the rooms not facing the beautiful garden and view at the back!). Not a major problem, but one needs to be aware of it as it is a well used road. As mentioned, this made it convenient, which was the upside of that. Issues with the property. 1. Very few bedroom windows opened, and if they did, it wasnât very wide, which was a major downside and should be clearly indicated in advance. Ventilation in a bedroom is absolutely key, especially as most people in a shared property want to shut the bedroom door for privacy. A few of the rooms had fans, but a fan can only circulate air and, if there is no fresh air coming into the room, it is simply circulating stale air. We appreciate double glazing is to keep road noise out, but it must be down to the individual whether they prefer fresh air with traffic noise, or recirculated stale air. This problem was unfortunately, particularly noticeable in the small twin rooms, and in the tower room. This room, although fabulous visually, with multiple small windows along all four walls (so like the master bedroom, had a great view over the back from one set), gave rise to enormous challenges as not a single window was openable (despite a large claw bath in the room, which was a wonderful luxury in one way, but problematic ventilation wise, therefore, in another and had necessitated a dehumidifier in the room which did itâs best). Secondly, not all the blind pulleys worked properly or were accessible (??), so blocking out the sunlight on hot days was challenging. So we had to do some fixing of the little chains, some of which were insubstantial plastic, which came apart at the slightest tug. Since there was a significant amount of (wonderful!) light, it needed occlusion on hot sunny days and of course at night. Opening and closing every single blind each morning and evening was something of a challenge, not least, because there were so many to do, but also because some were almost impossible to reach, due to the geography and furniture of the room and the inaccessibility of the blind pulley chain. A taller person with a longer reach may have fared better. We set up a âHeath Robinsonâ on one window over the stairs, leading down to the loo/shower room, in order to be able to adjust the blind. 2. No inventory; Sykes were not able to tell us what was and wasnât there. For example, we were told there were no hairdryers, so some of us went to the bother of packing one, but in fact there were several. As most of us were travelling by train and some from overseas, this was not an inconsiderable nuisance, carrying the extra weight and taking luggage space unnecessarily. Also whether things like tea towels, dishwasher tablets, bin bags etc were provided. Whilst we appreciate that self catering means you provide your own food, by and large, it is absolutely impossible to bring every possible ingredient or kitchen item you might need for cooking, and it is customary for simple basics to be provided. There were some of these things there, but Sykes were unable to tell us, which which meant a lot of extra things being brought unnecessarily by the two side cars. This increases packing and unpacking time considerably and it is a waste of time. Clarity on exactly what is provided is essential, down to the number of cutlery, crockery and glasses sets, the types of kitchen implements etc. Cooks need to know what they are dealing with, which will dictate what kind of cooking they can do. 3. A certain amount of wear and tear was evident; as is to be expected in an old property, but certain functional things do need fixing, eg the dishwasher cutlery holder had large holes in it, which meant that cutlery dropped through, potentially hazardous to the function of the machine if not spotted, and with 12 people was hard to keep track of who knew, and who didnât and who would remember! The glass shelf over the handbasin in one twin room was loose and hanging off its fixings, rendering it usable; therefore needs repair. 4. The waste disposal system was very confusing. The notices told us to put everything in the one large wheelie bin, where it would be sorted by the contractor into recycling and other. The large wheelie bin had a very big sign on the lid saying âno recyclablesâ! Weâre also not aware of any other company offering this service and remain dubious about it, since, hearing the head of waste management in the UK on the radio recently talking about contamination of recyclables, it is pretty clear that prolonged exposure to grease permanently contaminates recycled paper for example, and it is hard to imagine in any case how any contractor could separate food waste from plastic, paper, card and so on. We would love a full explanation of how this is possible and it needs to be crystal clear. Everyone needs to be recycing as much as possible these days and we had taken great pains to keep our recyclables separate and were fairly astonished and sceptical when it was clear there was only one bin in which to put it all. 5. Rooms. The two twin rooms are quite pokey. It needs to be made very clear that the four doubles and the two twins are of very different sizes and standards. Twin rooms can be just as luxurious, but these were of inferior quality and really best for young children. We were six couples, ranging in age from late 60âs to mid 80s, and it was very hard allocating the twins for obvious reasons! Inevitably, neither couple were happy. If we had known in advance, we may well have chosen a property with more equal quality rooms, or, if we had decided this one was the right property, could have organised the room allocation in advance by whatever means, but it made a very awkward and time consuming first evening discussing allocation before we could all settle into the room we were finally allocated. 6. Other bedroom issues Moreover, the twin bedsâ bedposts stick out at the top and catch the unwary; residents of these rooms sustained nasty bruises as a result of a hard knock, which didnât add to their dissatisfaction of being in those rooms! Poor design. 7. One of the twin rooms had a faulty shower from the outset. The owner was there on our arrival day trying to get it fixed and was extremely apologetic and gave us two bottles of bubbly to compensate for the temporary inconvenience, which was felt reasonable, assuming the shower would be fixed the next day. It wasnât though and, despite multiple visits from a plumber, remained unusable for five of the seven days of our stay.
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Laura - Verified booking
Wonderful Stay at Tispy Bee We recently had the pleasure of staying at the stylish and relaxing Tispy Bee, fantastically located in the heart of the Lake District.
Credit to the owners for the wonderful design and amenities that made our stay so comfortable. The cottageâs decor is both chic and cozy, and we especially appreciated the comfy beds and sofa after all of our walks and climbing! The house is well-equipped with plenty of plates, cups, glasses, and more, ensuring we had everything we needed. The location is perfect for exploring the beautiful Lakes. Itâs just a short walk into picturesque Bowness, which boasts some fantastic bars and restaurants. A bit further, Windermere also offers great places to eat and drink. We are an active couple with a four legged friend and enjoyed a lot of great hikes and treks all with a starting point of the Tipsy bee. A walk we would highly recommend is the to Wray Castle you can cross the Ferry for £1.10 down at the marina and is a round trip of 19km. We also summited Scarfel Pike, we drove to the car park in Wasdale it was around an hours drive but a very scenic route and well worth the walk. During our stay, our favorite place to eat was Porto, where we enjoyed a lovely table on their idyllic terrace. For lighter bites during the day, we loved Home Ground in Windermere, which offers great brunch and lunch options; you may have to queue, but itâs worth the wait. Another top find was the gorgeous outdoor terrace at Craig Manor. We enjoyed a cocktail on the newly refurbished terrace, although the kitchen closing at 2:30 pm was a slight drawback. Overall, our stay at Tispy Bee was simply wonderful, thanks to the thoughtful design and amenities provided by the owners.
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Catherine - Verified booking
Merlestead is a lovely property- more like a home than a holiday rental.
It is one of the rare places we have stayed where running out of plates and cutlery is just not possible as the kitchen is really well stocked. We were delighted with a lovely welcome pack from the owners - very thoughtful. The bedrooms are beautifully decorated and the beds are really comfortable. The en-suite bathrooms are gorgeous and perfect for a group of adults staying in the house. Merlestead has a lovely garden, and on the right days you can sit on one of the two patios and enjoy the sunshine and the views across to Derwentwater. Sadly the weather was not kind to us so we werenât able to make as much use of theses facilities as we would have liked. The house is right on a public path which doesnât disturb you, but which is really handy if you want to climb the hill behind. It is a five minute drive away from Keswick and Iâm sure there is a nice walk too, but we didnât use it as one of our party does not walk too much. It is conveniently located to see all of the Northern Lakes - close to Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite, 30 minutes from Buttermere, Crummock Water and Ullswater. We saw one or two comments in previous reviews about the steep access to the house. All we can say is that it is up a hill, which gives you fantastic views, but access is simple in a car and not at all difficult. There are a few steepish steps up to the front door from the drive, so donât pack really heavy bags that you canât lift! Donât be put off by negative comments. The house is lovely and well worth a visit.
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Elizabeth - Verified booking
Eagle Farm House was gorgeous.
A beautiful house wonderfully restored. The location, right under Helvellyn, was glorious. The kitchen space is fabulous and so we barely used the gorgeous lounge at all. Observations that might improve the overall experience; The instructions were very limited, when we found them tucked amongst some recipe books and it would be great to have a bit more info about the house, how to work things. Where to eat where to walk but we did figure all this out. We enjoyed sitting outside in the glorious garden but there was a regular smell of sewerage which seemed to emanate from the river, and given the similar and corresponding smell further up the river from the campsite toilets we wondered whether there might be an issue with their plumbing. The same smell did back up via the shower/toilet ? in the Jack and Jill bathroom. The house was cosy generally although it might have been good to have a working towel rail to dry towels. Final comment is to suggest eye masks for those who struggle to sleep without darkness as the bedrooms have skylights that are not covered in anyway. I improvised by tying a pair of tights around my head !!! Overall, it was a perfect spot and we had a wonderful holiday. Thank you.
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Susi - Verified booking
The cottage is beautiful and in a lovely location.
Unfortunately our arrival was marred by the fact that we had our 4 large mountain bikes with us and had chosen the property because it said it had lockable storage for bikes and boats. On arrival there was no key for the garage and after a number of phone calls we were told that there was no access to the listed storage after all. This was extremely disappointing and annoying. We had to keep two bikes outdoors and two in the hall which meant we couldn't light the wood burner to dry our clothing. That aside, the cottage is very nice and beautifully finished, lovely furnishings and very cosy and warm. The electric gate is extremely temperamental and often wouldn't open or shut when we wanted it to. Also nowhere to dry clothes other than a tumble dryer. But the Aga was great, the wood burners easy to use, the wine cellar very welcome, the view / sound of the beck was fabulous and the beds were comfy. The huge bath was a real bonus too. Overall a lovely cottage and one we would return to, but only if we didn't have our bikes with us!
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