How End

When we arrived the cottage was absolutely freezing, despite it being 25C+ outside.

We could not get any heat into the property and got no help from Sykes or from the owner. It took 3 days before the temperature in the property was comfortable, by which time the vacation was nearly over. I booked from the US using Vrbo, and if I had known it was a Sykes cottage I would not have booked it as we used them before and that was bad as well. Certainly won't be using them again! Their customer support is no existent.

Patio facilities need upgrading (no umbrella) Pool table needs refurbishing More than one hairdryer would be useful Apart from these minor suggestions, a fine establishment in a fine location.

The property lived up to our expectations for a special family weekend, the property itself was amazing along with the views.

We were disappointed for there not to be a welcome basket of basics such as tea, coffee, sugar, and milk, perhaps even some biscuits. We have stayed at other lesser expensive rental properties and have always had a welcome basket.

Wonderful place to stay, with fantastic scenery and location.

The reason for visiting, was to celebrate my 70th birthday with my family and we all thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. Only downside, is the continuing, post covid, leaving arrangements. Not sure if these over the top rules, are required anymore. A large party trying to complete these tasks by 09.00, is not easy or realistic.

Thank you for a lovely stay.

The property is beautiful and we loved the original features and character. And the view...! The house was in a great location although the road (and associated noise) was much closer than we had realised at the time of booking. There was also a very musty smell on arrival. We opened all the windows but unfortunately we could not clear it from the main bedrooms at the right hand end of the property for the duration of the stay. Midway during the week we found a hedgehog in the cattle grid. We lifted it out and called a local hedgehog rescue centre who kindly came out to the house. They reassured us that it was a healthy uninjured female, possibly with young, and we put her back in the garden. They suggested that we ask you to consider putting a brick ramp (or similar) into the bottom of the grate to avoid it happening again - apparently it's quite a common problem with cattle grids! Anyway, thank you again for a lovely stay. It is an area of the Lakes we have not visited before and we will definitely return. Best wishes, Philippa

Beautiful cottage with everything we needed in a really lovely location.

The bottle of wine was a nice touch and appreciated. Lakelovers were very quick to sort out the problem with the carbon monoxide detector on our arrival, despite it being late afternoon on a bank holiday.

How End is a fantastic property in a wonderful location!

The house was clean and spacious, plenty of room for 6 adults and a 5-month old. Having a bathroom per couple and still 2 spare was a real benefit and a rare find! The views from the secluded garden and from the huge window in the upstairs lounge area are simply stunning. With Whinlatter Forest literally on the doorstep, so many different walking routes from the house, and 3 pubs in the village, you could easily not use the car all week! We had a wonderful time, were lucky with the weather, and would definitely recommend this property for anyone looking to explore this area of The Lakes

Lovely property very clean and comfortable with stunning views.

We very much enjoyed our stay and would highly recommend.

We had a wonderful family week in Howe End.

.the property was very well equipped & we loved sitting in the main lounge area with the stunning views over the mountains. We would definitely recommend & will certainly return in the future .

House was amazing, even better than the photos.

Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it and would love to go back there. Incredible views from every room.

We had a wonderful week at How End.

The location and facilities were perfect. Lovely touch that the woodburning stoves were all set up with wood to light when we arrived. We would definitely stay there again

Fantastic house and grounds with exceptional views and great location for exploring the Lake District.

Fully equipped kitchen with everything you could need for a weeks holiday. Property lovely and warm, cleaned to a high standard. Lake Cottages also quickly responded to a request for a replacement kettle. Would certainly recommend the company and the house to anyone heading for a stay in the Lake District.

I think the beautiful house would benefit from having a twin room or zip and link beds to make a super king size bed or twin beds

For a premium-priced cottage the quality of what was provided was simply inadequate 1) The toaster did not work 2) One of the measuring jugs in the kitchen was cracked and leaked when used - nearly scalding one of our party.

3) There was no dishcloth, and only sufficient washing-up liquid for one day - we had to buy both 4) there was insufficient toilet rolls to last us the week 5) We were required to put bed linen and towels into bags at the end of our stay but insufficient bags were provided (only 2 bags for 9 people) 6) there were no spare bin liners. we had to use one of the laundry bags meaning there was only one for laundry

How End is amazing, perfect for special occasion holiday with our grown up family.

Would highly recommend.

Stunning house in a perfect location.

We were 2 families of total 7 people. House was large with extra rooms we actually didn’t even use! One thing to note is that the description says it has only one en-suite bedroom- there are two king rooms with en-suites. The upper floor room using a shower room on the second floor and the third double has use of a shower room opposite. In total there are 5 shower rooms! Sykes Cottages responded very quickly to a query we had - can’t fault a thing- and I’m picky:))

We booked this house because it had a games room.

However, when we arrived there was no equipment for the Pool table or the football table. We rang your office and were told this was due to COVID. Whilst we fully understand, it would have been helpful to have been informed of this before we went. We could have taken our own.

Great weekend break , cottage was as expected with everything you needed , loads of room as well the place is huge and easy to find ( well it was for our little group ) , 10 minutes walk to the pub what more can you ask for .

Will definitely be heading back to How End cottage next year .

Loved the property and had a wonderful week here.

Only two comments, firstly the property could do with a tumble dryer, the boot room isn’t always warm enough to dry clothes, especially in the winter. Secondly, it would be night to have a curtain over the entrance to the bedroom and bathroom off the main sitting room. There is already a curtain rail there and has obviously had one before. It just gives some privacy if the users of the bedroom are using there bathroom whilst other people are sat in the living room.

We had a wonderful family holiday celebrating my 60th birthday with all 3 generations of the Middleton family.

Every thing about the house and area was lovely . The only things that could be added would be a tumble dryer and perhaps some outdoor benches and childrens play area? The games room was a bit tight for the men to move around in but they managed and the pool table needs recovered, the guys do take their pool seriously ;-) The walk down to the village was great and the village shop is terrific also the royal oak was ideal for a family lunch . I would recommend your company and especially this home to friends .

Amazing communication from Fiona the whole way - before, during and after.

Thank you! The cottage was so beautiful!!! Had everything we needed and more. Brilliant location and the views were stunning. We were a group of 8 and we were all very happy with the accommodation. The only downside was not being able to open the windows in the kitchen, besides just the one, which only opened about 10cm - not helpful when trying to cook and the alarm going off! Not a big deal, just some feedback for you. I looked everywhere for the keys and couldn't find them! Thanks again!!!

We'd loved the cottage and had an amazing week in the lake district, but as I work in PR, just some feedback to make the cottage even better: No tumble dryer to dry clothes and the clothes line was slightly broken (couldn't extent the full height) If the sofa in the sitting room was a sofa bed, it could allow for 1-2 additional guests in the house as it was quite large and plenty of bathrooms.

We found the views out of the large lounge window very beautiful and the kitchen was stocked with high quality equipment.

We really enjoyed our Holiday. Things that could be improved. 1. The hood over the hob was too low, the taller members of our family kept hitting their head on it! 2. We did not feel in control of when the central heating was working. It would be good to be able to put the system on boost for an hour or so when required.

Unfortunately the top bedroom bed broke on sitting on it on the second day so had to sleep with mattress on the floor.

Overall great experience Was tricky to find as not on sat nav and a road was closed at the bottom of the hill

Friendly & helpful staff in the Lakes Cottages office in Keswick who gave us some useful advice when we picked up the keys regarding some roadworks near to the house that we were renting for 4 days.

The house was absolutely superb and provided 8 of us with a home from home for 3 excellent days celebrating a family 60th birthday - perhaps the only slight criticism is that the house was much better equipped than described. The kitchen in particular was very well equipped and has absolutely everything that 8 people would need to live permanently in the house. The Library has a load of books, games and jigsaws (which several of us did on the floor in front of the great log burner in the upstairs lounge) and the magnificent view of Skiddaw across the valley from most of the rooms is a joy to behold. A simple half mile walk into Braithwaite (remember to bring a torch as the road is completely unlit) for a choice of pubs but special mention must go to the Royal Oak - great food, friendly staff and an excellent atmosphere. We would love to go back!

We had a great holiday.

Great large house with all you could want. Great high pressure showers. Christmas tree and decorations were very nice. Much apprececiated the bottle of wine and panettone cake. The only niggle we had was with the heating. After a while it just goes off and we had to continually keep turning it back on to keep house warm when we were there. I appreciate that this is probably an energy saving measure, but it would be nice to have the house at a constant temperature while we were in.

Lovely house which could easily accommodate more than 9 guests.

Lots of space . Could get lost playing hide and seek in here!!! Warm and cosy with lots of hot water. Nice 10 minute stroll to the village which had plenty of facilities ( no supermarket - stock up before you go - plenty of of fridge and freezer space) Check in time could be earlier - particularly when only staying for 3 nights ( 6 hours between change over) another set of keys would have been useful

Fantastic property.

Amazing views and the whole experience warrants a 10 out of 10 score. Only minor drawback was the squatters ( chickens ) who left lots of their " calling cards" all over the place, and the roosters in the pack were a little zealous with their alarms. We have to expect when the countryside to accept the surroundings but I would suggest that future guests should be discouraged from feeding them, as they are very persistent in trying to enter the property. Would I go back to How end ? ……………….without a doubt !!!!! This minor setback does not affect my overall score !!!

We really enjoyed the stay again - a lovely house with stunning views and very convenient for Keswick and the rest of the North Lakes area.

One small point - the "spare" freezer (in the utility room) turned itself off on one day, so the ice creams etc in it defrosted. Not sure how, but it then started to work and was OK for the rest of the holiday.