Dog Friendly Portinscale Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Helen - Verified booking

  This cottage is described as dog friendly, which is why we booked it.

  We were told right from the start that dogs were NOT allowed on the beds, or indeed any of the furniture, and were not to be left alone in the property. These are usual requirements, and perfectly reasonable, and we would do this anyway, without being told to. What we were NOT TOLD until we arrived there and found the notice on the table, is that dogs must be confined to the "ground floor". At first glance, this doesn`t seem unreasonable, however in practice, due to the layout, it means that we had to shut our dog in the kitchen at all times, and only the kitchen. If we wanted to relax in the lounge, watch TV, have a drink in a comfortable chair instead of a hard kitchen chair, we couldn`t have our dog with us.A " dog friendly" property where the dog can`t be in the lounge?We paid to hire the whole property, but in practice, could not use the lounge area, or have the enjoyment of it.This put something of a damper on our holiday.We are not happy, and feel deceived. We realise that this is the owners choice, it is his property, and it may suit some people, who wouldn`t mind. However, prospective hirers should be told the terms on the write up, so that they know what to expect, and can make an informed choice. We had these terms, previously not mentioned, forced on us on arrival. We holiday with our dog because we want her with us. Had we known from the start that she had to stay shut in the kitchen, and not join us in the evenings, we would never have booked this particular property.

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• Sarah - Verified booking

  The owners are clearly doing what they can with the layout of this property and we acknowledge that some things can’t be improved due to the sloped ceilings etc.

  The positives: Overall very clean, quirky accommodation with ample goods such as toilet rolls, cloths, washing up liquid, hand wash etc. Great location. Good instructions and no issues getting into the property. Negatives: We couldn’t find anywhere to park to unload on arrival late at night. This was up and down all week, sometimes it was easy to park outside and other times we were way up the road. Needing to kneel in the bath for a shower. We accept that this is the only likely option in this property. The crockery and glasses looked like they’d been hand washed by the previous guests and put away. Some weren’t clean. We ended up leaving a day early as the beds were crippling us. We like a firm mattress but these were beyond a joke. I ended the holiday exhausted with a sore back, hips and shoulder. My partner really struggled with his back after the first night but by day 3 was in agony with his shoulder to the point he couldn’t lift his arm or drive by the end of the week, which has righted itself since we got home. We tried putting blankets under the sheet for him which didn’t do much, but a padded mattress topper may have resolved this. It really took the shine off our trip. The house feels like a compromise due to the parking and shower. We’d have accepted this for the price if the beds were comfortable but sadly it’s unlikely that we will return here again.

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• Tracey - Verified booking

  On arrival there wasn’t even a pint of milk for a coffee.

  When we went upstairs on the first corner step it threw you off balance and into the corner- we think the step is broken. The bed nearest the window was like sleeping in a crisp packet because of the mattress protector it crackled every time you moved and there’s black mould and torn paper underneath the window in the bedroom. Polystyrene tiles on the ceiling in the downstairs loo and boiler room, the door to the boiler room would not close so this could not contain a fire. There’s no warning sign in place to for the boiler room because as you go through you step up and my husband who is only 5’7” banged his head with some force the first time he went through. The extractor in the bathroom didn’t work and only one light worked in there. There were 6 empty air fresheners doted around the property 4 of which were placed like ornaments on the shelving in the dining area. We know it’s an old property but it could be beautiful and there’s so much wasted space, it’s all worn and very dated. We love the area and as you are aware normally love where we stay but we will be much more careful picking our next accommodation. We are aware that we could have contacted the Keswick office regarding these issues but we did not want to wait in for someone to come and we did not want a stranger in while we were out. The property should have been checked thoroughly before we arrived.

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• John - Verified booking

  Great cottage.

  Good location, great views. Only a couple of niggles and suggested improvements: The fridge had an opened tin of spagetti left in it and container 'rings' not cleaned. The cooker top was not clean - greasy. You came along after we moved in to supply more tea spoons, replace a broken light bulb and install a missing one - thanks but these should have been in place from day 1 along with a proper clean and check. After 50 years of cottage rental, its unknown to us that pepper and salt are not standardly supplied to a let. Take a lesson from others (eg Airbnb) and suppy a starter/welcome pack with essentials in it (bread, milk, tea, coffee, sugar, cooking oil ...... and yes, salt and pepper) and even stretch the expense to a bottle of wine!? The supplied welcome pack was cheap and inadequate. The house would also benefit from kitchen tongs, a cheese grater and vitally WIFI. The TV was low quality (no sound on ITV and dodgy remote), the TV and phone signal strength was poor so decent WIFI on BBand is essential. There's a fibre cabinet just outside the front gate! Not really that dog friendly if the dog has to remain in the kitchen/diner and not allowed into the living room.

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• Marilyn - Verified booking

  We booked this cottage as it was advertised as pet friendly and had an enclosed garden.

  We always expect that the terms of bringing pets is that they are not allowed in the bedrooms or on furniture and are happy with this. However, this cottage is on 3 floors, the kitchen/diner being the first floor, the lounge on the second, bedroom and bathroom on the top floor. On arrival we found that pets were only allowed on the ground floor and not to go upstairs. This meant our dogs were confined to the kitchen and could not relax with us in the evening in the lounge. The " enclosed garden " was hedges and a wrought iron gate enclosing the steps leading up from the pavement to the entrance to the cottage and so small it was totally unsuitable for the dogs and for us to sit out and relax, especially as the closeness to the pavement meant people with dogs were constantly walking past. The cottage is lovely in itself but we feel you should make it clear in your description that pets will be restricted to the kitchen and that the enclosed garden is also not suitable for dogs. We have rented cottages from Sykes before and have always found them ideal for bringing our dogs with us on holiday so this was a disappointment.

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