Betamere

This is our 4th or 5th year at Betamere.

Why do we keep coming back? The location is great - with it's elevated position you get a glimpse of the lake. As well as the well-kept grounds, it's nice to be able to sit in the private garden if the weather is fine. It is nice and light inside and generally the equipment is very good. The towel rail (which people have commented on in the past was working fine and was much appreciated) This time there were a few issues. The storage radiators (the main source of heating) had been turned off. We had to make do with a fan heater and it was on the cold side for the first evening. We had no hot water for 4 days because of a problem with the immersion heater but fortunately there is an electric shower and a dish washer. It would have been more efficient if we could have been in touch with a local person rather than having to go through Sykes al the time. Luckily we were in on 3 occasions when tradesmen called, otherwise it would have taken a lot longer to resolve. The other problem was with the TV - the sound was very distorted when trying to use catch-up. I don't know whether it is a problem with the TV or the broadband. But overall the benefits outweigh the problems, which are just nuisance things, and would not stop us booking again.

We had a lovely stay at Betamere.

Lovely garden with a view of the lake. Window seats so you could enjoy the views even on a colder day. Comfortable and pretty accommodation, comfy beds, very well equipped kitchen, it was a real home from home in the lakes. We can't wait to go back to Betamere.

Very nice place to stay, very handy for buses and ferries, there was hot water was only tepid .

But overall had enjoyable holiday would visit this property again

Betamere had some nice features such as the garden and a well stocked kitchen and comfortable bed.

However, disappointingly there was a poor level of cleaning and maintenance throughout. Some of these issues have been raised by other guests’ months ago and still not actioned/rectified. Very disappointing. Cleaning issues included food under dining table and round room edges; all ledges and edges dusty and grimy; thick multiple cobwebs across a whole corner of the bedroom (clearly been there a very long time), cobwebs above bed and over lights, and throughout property in abundance – all of which were unmissable. All the soft furnishings were in desperate need of cleaning too. Also sorely in need of redecoration – grubby, marked wallpaper, paintwork chipped and grimy; mould in bathroom; all window frames in a shocking state of disrepair (see below). Six light bulbs either blown or missing; horribly grubby, torn, mouldy window curtain in bathroom. Betamere is in desperate need of a deep clean. Worse still, on arrival evening suddenly lost all power to the sockets including oven and fridge freezer with my week’s worth of food in it. Had to ring the emergency line. Tried to find fuse boxes to see if the switch had tripped for some reason. We thought fuse boxes were in the locked cupboards but eventually found them in the cupboard marked bird food! (Incidentally, no bird food). Emergency line arranged for maintenance to come on the Sunday to check all the electrics were safe. No one showed up! Had to ring emergency line again Sunday evening. So two nights worrying if the electrics were a fire hazard. Meanwhile realised that you could open the bedroom windows but not shut them again. They are two very thin 5ft pains of glass in thin, warped and corroded metal frames (as were all of them). Having injured myself in an effort not to break the window whilst trying to shut it, this was something else as well as the no-show for the electrics to ring the emergency line about. Other issues included no hot water initially, curtain pulley by TV too stiff to be able to close curtains fully – 2ft drafty gap left was worsened by windows not closing properly; kitchen cupboard hanging off – again unmissable – why wasn’t this fixed either? Wall lights in lounge constantly fluctuated up and down in level of light – had to switch them off as headache inducing. No ceiling lights and one of 2 table lights didn’t have a bulb either! Different cleaner showed up on Monday and cleaned it properly as far as was possible. Maintenance fixed some things but not others. I appreciate it’s an older building, but there’s no excuse for poor cleaning and maintenance. I’m hoping that better levels of cleaning and maintenance will ensue from my feedback and that future guests will benefit from me having wasted 1.5 days and two evenings of my precious holiday trying to get these issues fixed. It’s a great shame, as this could be a lovely property if there was less apathy and complacency and it was cleaned and maintained properly. If that happened and could be assured, I might even consider staying again. I’m still waiting for a follow-up contact from Sykes following my emails to them.

Property suited my needs perfectly in respect of location, parking, and facilities.

It was also very spacious. Points to raise: there was little instruction within the folder in respect of what to do at end of stay in respect of towels / linen. Also instruction of where outside rubbish bin was located would have been handy. Some kitchen cupboard doors could do with adjusting as well as replacing blown light bulbs. All these are minor points but would enhance the experience

Enjoyed our holiday at Betamere there was everything we needed.

Lots of lovely walks from the property so didn’t need to use the car much.There was just a few little things that would improve the property, the toilet seat in the bathroom needs changing and the net curtain has a big hole in it. Also a boot tray near the door would be helpful when you come back from a muddy walk. We would love to return

I would return to Betamere, when the leak/hole in the ceiling and the wallpaper coming off the shelf have been repaired.

Didn't effect our stay but not an acceptable standard. Sykes have been told about this.

Stayed here some 25 years ago and is still a gem.

Wonderful busy garden, delightful views and still classy. I give the property ten out of ten. The Lakelands agency less, I found it frustrating having to deal with FAQs and no human contact. However, would book again.

Good central location, enjoyed our stay, lovely view over the lake.

A lovely situation overlooking Lake Windermere with its own small garden.

It is close to Ambleside with all its amenities but you feel as though you are in the countryside. Comfortable lounge/dining area. Main heating is storage radiators, which are not as flexible to manage when the weather is changeable. Plenty of crockery but could do with a some more glasses. There are few minor things where repair/upgrade would be beneficial.

We have stayed at Betamere many times now and although the decor remains dated we always appreciate the small refurbishments that occur over the years, between our visits.

The apartment is warm and cosy and has almost everything we need. This time we noticed new carpet, a footstool and cushions in the lounge and new flooring in the en-suite cloakroom.

First impressions were good.

The ground floor had a lovely view of the lake and fells. Short walk into Ambleside village and ferry. Nice spacious living space with open plan kitchen. Kitchen was well equipped with large oven and good size fridge freezer, plenty of crockery and utensils, dish washer and washer dryer. Bad points In the bedroom was a large cobweb. It covered the ceiling light and extended to the corners of the room. Paint work through out the property covered in dust. Large stain on the carpet in the hall, water stain mark on the hall ceiling. Black mould on the bathroom ceiling and around the window. Over head shower over bath. Bath quite high so would be a problem if you had mobility issues. Could hear noise from apartment above. Worse to come. On stripping the bed when leaving, found that the bottom sheet had old mildew stains on it. This property would be worth the money if spruced up in areas and more care taken with the cleaning.

Overpriced for the quality of the facilities.

Both the bathroom and en-suite need to be updated. There was no soap, washing up liquid, refuse bags or kitchen roll - these should be available within the cost of the property.

The views are amazing.

Staying in May when the sun was shining was great. Listening to the birds in the garden was so relaxing. But without double glazing I would think twice about staying in winter.

Betamere is in an excellent position with views over Windermere and we enjoyed sitting in our own private garden.

An excellent centre for walking. The lounge was lovely and light with the big windows. There was plenty of crockery and cutlery. A few instructions would have been useful eg how to get the best out of the storage heaters and I could not get the heated towel rail to work in the bathroom - I could not see how to switch it on or it may have been faulty. The bed was perhaps getting to the end of it's life

Excellent location with lovely view.

A pleasant walk into Ambleside with two alternative routes. Comfortable furnishings. On the negative side some of it was dated particularly the microwave and the water pressure was low in the bathroom. However these did not detract from our stay.

Beautiful apartment 200yds from the lake.

Beautiful garden to sit in. Absolutely perfect. Could not fault a thing.

A lovely stylish cottage with more than enough room for 2.

Super private terrace with seating and limited views to the lake and hills. Ten minute walk to Waterhead and 15 minutes into Ambleside. We used the excellent buses for transport to and from our walk start and end points; the car didn't move from its parking place other than for a trip to Keswick Market. Would stay again in an instant.

A previous reviewer likens the property to a comfortable pair of slippers.

- We agree, .. but rather dated slippers perhaps ! - Comfortable, but needing update in areas. (Eg. - Wooden toilet seats stained and unacceptable, Mismatching gold/ chrome fittings, mould on shower curtain.. faded 1970’s ‘pampas’ coloured suite. Light coloured lounge carpet with spot stains. Dust/ dirt behind bedroom dressing table. Exhausted batteries in remote controls… Old ice in freezer and breadcrumbs in bread bin.) Storage heaters in bedroom turned off on arrival ( thanks for the fan heater !) Dishwasher intermittently working- but by the time we’d confirmed problem, ( and tried to contact local Ambleside numbers provided … ( which through go to Sykes cottages in Chester !! - (we booked with Heart of the lakes !! )) The guy in Chester tried hard to contact owner or caretaker to action repair.. but couldn’t get in touch with them ...Unacceptable ! Property definitely overpriced compared with equivalent premium operators nearby ( Langdale est. amongst others) Finally, the starter/welcome pack is pathetic. … indeed insulting! - We have had four other premium cottage breaks since April. This is by far the worst. .. and the lack of any basic cleaning materials is unprecedented. Any COVID excuse simply won’t wash ( no pun intended

This was the second time we stayed in Betamere and it is a very nice property, well fitted out and in a lovely position, which we enjoy very much.

We have also stayed many times in other Heart of the Lakes properties, and have always been impressed by their quick response to any issues. This time (July 2021) our two week stay was somewhat marred by a maintenance problem with the en suite toilet flush, which we reported on arrival. The newly centralised Sykes customer service response was non existent; when a local maintenance person called a week later, he had never heard of the reported problem, and to be fair, it was then 'fixed' promptly. Unfortunately, one fix led to another problem, with the loo now leaking; that too was 'fixed' quickly, but the soiled carpet continued to smell in the poorly ventilated en suite. To be fair, our complaint was eventually upheld and we were paid fair compensation.

Lovely cottage, ideally situated, everything you need for a peaceful, relaxing holiday

Stylish accommodation in a lovely location.

The property is very well presented and maintained and we can most certainly recommend Betamere.

We loved the apartment and it’s quiet yet not remote location.

It was very well equipped.

The apartment is in a lovely position with a view of Windermere and hills.

We enjoyed having access to the garden and were fortunate to have lovely weather.

We have stayed in 2 cottages this year which were booked through 2 other holiday rental companies and were very pleased with the experiences.

The information packs in these other properties had been condensed on to disposable photocopies-more Covid safe than files. The file in this property contained some information but no local info re doctors, hospitals, essential shops etc. I noticed some sticky patches on the ‘kitchen’ floor. When I wiped the patches, the wipe became quite dirty. I think the floor had not been adequately cleaned. Stain spots and maybe an orange juice stains were on the carpet. Having a very pale coloured carpet certainly showed up marks. On Monday 21st June, we reported that the toilet in the en-suite, was difficult to flush and although looked at promptly, it had not been fixed by the time we left. The heater in the bathroom didn’t work. It was not clear from the details given before the holiday, if towels were provided, so we had to pack a pile of our own towels. Lovely clean fluffy towels were provided. When we arrived at our previous holiday homes, we were delighted to receive a welcome pack. This included essentials e.g. milk, bread, eggs, tea, coffee and even wine and nibbles. There was nothing at this apartment. The following note is not a complaint but a suggestion. Bees have found a home in a metal vent on the back wall of the house and future guests ought to be made aware of this as they may be allergic to bee stings. Having said all this we must say the property is delightful, the garden lovely and the grounds special. We had a lovely holiday. Thank you

When we arrived the apartment hadn’t been cleaned.

There was apparently a mix up with the owner and the Company. It was a Sunday but we managed to make contact and someone arrived after a little while to service it. We went for a meal whilst this was being done for which we were refunded . Not a good experience initially as we were tired after our journey. However, rest of week everything fine.

We have used Heart of The Lakes for many years and we have never once been disappointed with the properties .

If anything has needed sorting out whilst staying in the property it has been dealt with very quickly. We have stayed at Betamere a number of times and it has been maintained very well . A beautiful elegant property . Many Thanks.

Very spacious and very well equipped. We loved the private garden and breakfasted outside (when the weather was good!).

I always describe the property as a comfy pair of slippers.