Dog Friendly Cottages in the Lake District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• L - Verified booking

  This is a really interesting historical building and is very handy for the school, which we were opposite to.

  We were on a sailing course they run. There are some good features to the house, the bedrooms are nice and the bathroom is quite new. Downstairs is not well designed and needs sympathetic built in oak furniture and probably a modular sofa because it feels dark, and oppressive with the brown leather, black floors and small windows. Some lightbulbs were out. The freezer was inaccessible really, when coats were hung up, and needed a rethink. A more traditional dining area could really help. It’s the wrong shape and takes up too much room. I found downstairs very grubby with black animal hair on everything. Didn’t mind that too much but it is irritating. There’s no view whatsoever if you can’t go out in the garden due to bad weather and that makes the place depressing. The weather was poor and the clothes dryer was broken which caused some irritation. A man came out to fix it but obviously he couldn’t do it within the time of our stay. No logs were provided either and a fire would have been handy. My biggest concern was a feeling of vulnerability in the property. It was very close to the busy road, loud cars and passers by, at all hours, and despite the big back gate it seemed that bin men and gardeners just came in whenever they wanted to. I didn’t like that and found it unnerving. Others have mentioned the parking too, and that was an issue too. There isn’t really enough and the aggressive attitude of the neighbour about any perceived infringement of her space was another reason to feel vulnerable and edgy rather than relaxed. I’m a country dweller so perhaps I’m not used to the hustle and bustle, nor the aggressive territorial neighbours but I really think this a property worth about half what’s being charged. Sorry. The house itself deserves better and could be lovely.

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• 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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• Mr Hawkins - Verified booking

  We had such a lovely 4 day stay here, upon booking via the Original Cottages website I asked on the special requests if they could do anything to make it special as it was my partners birthday, there was a birthday card with a bottle of prosecco and little bottle of local gin with glasses ready for us on arrival which was so lovely of them! The property was spotless and had all the utensils we needed to cook our meals as being self-catering during this pandemic was important. The outside seating area is lovely to enjoy the last bit of sunshine in the evening and the bed was really comfy too which is always needed after a long day out walking. We could not have picked a better property to stay in and the location was great too, we travelled to lots of different areas from where we was staying and it was initially easy to find upon arrival on the directions provided. Also the car was parked right outside the door so it was easy for us to carry our belongings in and knowing we had a allocated parking space. Highly recommend this to anyone who is considering staying in the Lake District. Amazing weekend!

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