Dog Friendly Cottages In Ambleside

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Steve - Verified booking

  First of all, we did enjoy our stay, it's a wonderful location and ideally placed for exploring the area without having to drive.

  The facilities that have been fitted into a very compact space are excellent, and the property is well fitted out - the custom carpentry is very impressive! The kitchen has everything that could be needed, with the single exception of a rolling pin (I used a wine bottle). Both the bathroom and the bedroom suffer from very low ceilings. The photos in the listing do show both rooms as they are, but it's difficult to get an idea of just how little headroom there is from the images. It's not possible to sit up in bed and have a cup of tea, for instance, as the ceiling is too low. The bed is very comfortable though. In the bathroom the only oart of the room which allows a normal sized adult to stand up is the strip between the door and the toilet - other than that bending over is required - an inconvenience when using the sink. When we arrived there was a cleaning welcome pack - nice idea, but not well executed. It had dishwasher tablets (there is no dishwasher) and bin bags that were far too big for the small pedal bin in the kitchen, and no washing up liquid. This was rectified with a trip to the co-op, but the contractors doing the servicing were clearly not paying attention. Also there was one roll of tolet paper provided - this is not enough for two people, for a week. It was a nice touch to put up some festive decorations, we appreciated it. Although we came prepared as we have a log burner at home, it would also be a nice touch to have an initial supply of kindling & logs for at least one night. The information pack with local walks was very useful and got us to do some walks we wouldn't otherwise have attempted. But why in the list of pubs & restaurants is there no mention of the Swan? It's the nearest & we had a very good Christmas dinner there!

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• Louise - Verified booking

  Such a charming little cottage and I would definitely return if staying in this area again.

  We had 3 nights, on one of which we stayed in and cooked Italian and lit the log burner, and it was so cozy. Everything was as clean as it could be (in a rural setting, you are going to expect little cobwebs) but the important stuff like bedding and towels, soft furnishings etc were spotless. Indeed, the slanted ceiling upstairs would be a challenge for taller people after a few days, and the staircase a challenge for less able bodied guests (although, access to the upstairs can also be achieved via the outside staircase…so this is fine!)……but this little place was just magical. (Not really big enough for 3 adults…more of a couples or single traveller place)… A 5 minute walk to a lovely pub with excellent food (dog friendly), and a very pleasant few more minutes into the heart of Grasmere. There are lovely walks direct from the cottage, one of which we had the pleasure of seeing a couple of otters playing in the small lake. (And on the day of arrival, a red squirrel was in the cottage garden!) My only “miff” would be that there was no welcome pack….I have used Sykes cottages several times, and most have left a little tray with the basics on arrival to have a cup of tea/coffee and a biscuit….but luckily we had our own. The village shop is currently (as at October 2024) being refurbished, so the nearest shop is in Ambleside. Highly recommend this little place!

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• Matthew - Verified booking

  Not sure where this feedback is going as I cannot seem to display feedback to customers which is disappointing - seems that only good feedback is shared.

  Shock! This property is not pet friendly and I am extremely upset about my stay. Within an hour of my stay I had to leave the property due to my dog getting injured from going up the stairs. I appreciate it states in the listing about the stairs but this cannot be sold as pet friendly. Shortly after arriving I used the toilet, upstairs, my dog followed me up. As it was a new environment for her this is not an unusual behaviour to have. However, she fell off the stairs as they are dangerously steep and injured her front leg. I vacated the property and booked in at the Swan at Grasmere Hotel - a lovely hotel (stay there instead). This set me back £450 on top of the cost of the cottage to stay at Dovecot. I sent a complaint to Sykes cottages and they said I did not have a case for any compensation as it is advertised on the listing. I completely understand it’s on the listing, however the property is no where near dog safe - if it was, there should be a stair gate at both ends of the staircase. When I suggested this to the customer service agent I spoke to she said “well did you ask for one” as if to say it is my responsibility to check if it is safe for my dog. Anyway I would stay away from this property if you have a dog, it is not safe and is being miss-sold. There are lots of other places to book which would make your stay a lot less stressful.

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• Suzanne - Verified booking

  Just back from a fabulous week in Ambleside with sunshine from dawn to dusk .

  The house reviews are mixed but honest : Acorn Cottage is ideally situated for access straight into town , ideal for the park & fells Parking permit was superb , as were the kitchen appliances and top floor bathroom . Beds were comfy , and sofas seemed quite new . Fluffy towels and plenty hot water , The negatives are mostly around cleanliness , the lounge carpet is dirty and has a smell . The fridge hadn’t been cleaned , nor the kitchen floor . The gas fire in the lounge doesn’t work . Huge dirty cobwebs Hanging from ceilings . Seating in the lounge us for 4 and it’s cramped ( we only had 3 of us so that wasn’t an issue to us) There is no folder with any instructions for heating , boiler, or kitchen appliances or recycling. The back door area does have 4 stacking chairs , but even although we had gorgeous weather wouldn’t have sat with the bins , old dumped floor mops and disused plant pots . Just needs some tlc , thorough cleaning in and out . If we saw this house had replaced the flooring and sorted the decor downstairs would definitely stay again for the location .

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• Jonna - Verified booking

  We loved the fresh cake and prosecco with dog treats - this was a really lovely suprise.

  The property overall was fine although we hadn't realised that there was no windows in the main living area so we had to hang out in the bedroom if we wanted a view - and that was limited by the trees. The property heated up well - this was needed since it was jolly cold while we were there. However there were no logs for the log burning stove - we brought some up with us incase this was the case - but if you advertise a log burner and say fuel is included you should provide logs. We tried to get in touch before our holiday to find out if logs were provided and simply couldn't get in touch with Lakelovers - I tried on many occasions and eventually left a message for them to get back to us - still no reply. Very bad customer services - will try to avoid Lakelovers in future. If there was a real problem I have no confidence that we would have got any sort of response from them. We saw a few rats scurrying around outside the property and there was an alarming russling behind the sink so i think the owners need to address the rat situation.

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