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"What a few days of triumph and disaster."
A lovely house, now passed its best, sparsely furnished badly with second hand furniture that is often horrifically out of period. It became quite homely after the shock wore off. It was warm and dry.
The disaster was the cleaners, who had not changed the sheets from the last visitors, and although they had given a a token clean and hoovered the carpets, they had failed to give a deep clean for a long time. There were sweet papers behind a settee, a crust of (mouldy) bread in a bedroom cupboard, greasy pots in the kitchen. The windows inside remained dirty and cobwebby, did not appear to have been cleaned for at least 6 months.
Sykes did their best by getting the cleaners back twice in day 1 of our stay, with clean sheets and a quick clean up, but the result was a feeling that it did not add up to the sales details, or the Sykes standards. So the cleaners and the gardener needs attention by the owners.
And then there is the garden - potentially wonderful. But although the main lawns were mown, the rest of the garden had gone to weeds. It needed a couple of days work to even begin to get it in order.
The fabric of the building itself is being damaged by climbers and ivy that is even obstructing some of the windows, let alone damaging the brickwork.
I gather the property is for sale, and it is the sort of house we would love to live in. But it needs a lot of TLC.
Dear Peter
Thank you for taking the time to write about your stay at Millwood, and I am glad that you enjoyed your time there.
As you said, it is a period property with a lot of charm, and it is warm and beautiful.
I am glad that you had the cleaner twice on the same day, upon request, and she should have cleaned the areas that you felt needed extra work. Regarding the sheets, I am sure they had been changed before your arrival to clean and fresh ones, but I will make sure to take some pictures next time to prove this. We had instructed the cleaning company to do a deep clean, and we will be monitoring this issue regularly.
There is a dedicated gardener who looks after the garden regularly, part of the garden is a woodland, which grows naturally, and that is part of the charm of the property.
Dear Peter, You are most welcome to come back and have a nice stay with the family and friends, and we will make sure that it will all be a triumph.
Property Owner
Reviewed by Peter2.5★May 2025
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"I have made a complaint and been completely ignored."
Whilst the house has enormous potential it is unkempt and in dire need of updating. Communications from Sykes are very poor, this is either a bad reflection on them or the owner or both. We paid a lot of money and expected a better standard. We would never return and would avoid Sykes at all costs.
Dear Steve
I had spoken to Sykes Sykes, and will make sure that any issue is dealt with quickly and appropriately.
Property Owner
Reviewed by Steve2.5★Jul 2024
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"One of the most beautiful properties we've ever stayed in."
.. Made us feel like we were in a TV period drama... Lovely location close to Dalton-in-Furness and Barrow-in-Furness as well as being a short drive to the Lake District. During our short stay we climbed Scarfell Pike as a family which was less than an hour away. Overall extremely happy and as already mentioned the property and surroundings are very special. The host was also a great communicator and made our entire stay stress free and an overall amazing experience. Thanks very much!!!
Dear Joel
Very happy to know that you enjoyed your stay at Millwood and appreciated its charm. You are most welcome to visit again, and we will be happy to give a discount on the advertised price.
Property Owner
Reviewed by Joel5.0★Jul 2024
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"First off. We really enjoyed our time at Millwood Manor."
It was the first time in 4 years that my 84 year old mother had seen our children and the reunion was special. The entire group was excited for the stay, and I had shared the listing with them all before we arrived. Overall, the property did not live up to the hype. But again, we all really enjoyed our stay and the house gave us plenty to talk about. Here’s how it could be improved:
1) We arrived in the dark and the house looked grim and forbidding from the outside. A simple photosensitive outside light would have made the first impression so much warmer.
2) The front door has seen many better days and sticks as you try and open it. It requires a big shove and makes a squeal like a banshee.
3) The house was chilly upon arrival. The thermostats were all set to 17C, so the first impression was of cold and damp.
4) Nice touches like the bread, milk, juice and biscuits, plus fire materials won some goodwill back. If the fires had been laid and the ‘welcome’ basket presented as a ‘welcome’ all could have been forgiven.
5) as per the pictures, the house is arresting and quirky. The hall and the main bathroom are the highlights. Having the dead light bulbs replaced in the ceiling lights would have really shown the hall off in all it’s glory.
6) The bedrooms were from a different time - damp patches, on the walls, musty smellsand saggy beds.
7) Location is great, lovely walks through the woods and the wild garlic carpets and bluebells were delightful.
8) Of the three vacuum cleaners in the property only one worked (one made everything dirtier).
9) The house had pretty much everything we needed, save some cleaning clothes.
10) Broadband speeds were in the single digits, but stable. If you need to jump on a Teams call, you might want to bring a Starlink or OneWeb.
Basically, this is a lovely, quirky property that could be amazing. It just needs some TLC and and it’s windows cleaned.
Reviewed by Steve2.5★May 2024
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"Can't believe this place doesn't have more positive reviews!"
We had the best Easter as a group of 11 friends staying here. On our way we we worried about it being cold or spooky given it's so big but it was quite the opposite. It was really cosy, there was bread, milk and chocolate left for us and it just feels quite historic/magical.
The only downsides was it was lacking a few things like tea towels, kitchen spray/cloths, not enough toilet paper etc. We also couldn't find the washing machine - assuming it was down some stairs from the kitchen that were locked off from the rest of the house.
The gate is also very narrow so be cautious if you're driving in a big car or van.
Dear Joanna
Thank you for your review, and it is great to hear that you had a good time. We had dealt with all the issues raised by you.
Please do come back, and we will give you a special discount on the advertised price.
Property Owner
Reviewed by Joanna4.1★Mar 2024
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"I booked this manor to make memories with my terminally ill sister sadly she ..."
I booked this manor to make memories with my terminally ill sister sadly she passed away on 13th December, so this was an extremely difficult Xmas but my family insisted we go and what a beautiful place everyone loved the space the grounds the building was stunning everything you need was there in difficult circumstances this was a great comfort to be in a stunning place surrounded by family
Reviewed by Amanda5.0★Dec 2023
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"Lovely property, evidence of some damp in one of the bedrooms."
We were provided with plenty of fire wood and coal for the fireplaces which was a lovely touch.
Would recommend to people wanting to stay in the area.
Reviewed by Lauren4.4★Oct 2023
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"Inadequate level of cleanliness, even superficial cleaning was rudimentary at best."
Several instances of hair being found around the house, stains on the bedding and grime on most surfaces.
Reviewed by Sabaa2.5★Jul 2023
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"We had a great experience, it was a lovely place, accurately described and well located."
The house was in general really clean ( bathroom, kitchen) but we did find a lot of hair on the white bed sheets so we had to clean the sheets.
The house was well equipped. It could use a proper barbecue and replacement of the outside furnitures. Apart from that it was lovely and we had a great time so thank you,
Reviewed by Charlotte4.4★May 2023
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