Braeside

Great place, thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

Facilities were great apart from the outside table being in disrepair other than that it was great and we all loved the Wilson's arms...cracking pub.

The property was dirty from the moment we have arrived.

It needs restoration and maintenance all over. There were no cleaning products or mop, to clean around. We have vacuumed kitchen and living room as we thought it’s more than enough thinking we were there to relax , not to scrub someone old dirt. But unfortunately we have been sent 2 bills of about £1000 total amount, saying that we left mess, which except the toilet and 2 towels were a child puked after eating lasagna , were we did clean as much as we could without having any cleaning products or mop around , and it was anyway in the toilet were is tiles and easy to clean by spraying a bit and wiping off. Now it’s ridiculous to pretend such a huge amount by sending some word documents, made by the host or someone in charge of, saying that it needs a specialist for matching the colour of the paint and paint the rooms (what?!?!) it’s just insane . They charged from my card , without authorisation almost £500 already for cleaning, really?!?! What cleaning costs £500????? First of all , we pay so much per night to expect some cleaning after us, and not us to scrub around like fanatics. This is not acceptable how the host is trying to put on our back the restoration of the house . Totally ridiculous. I should have trusted the other reviews that had a lot of complaints for this property .

We really enjoyed our Christmas stay here.

It’s is ideally located near to Coniston Lake and a stone’s throw from a really nice pub/deli. The house is warm and cosy and mainly has everything you need. Our only issue was that we had ten people for Christmas dinner but only 8 forks! But overall, I recommend staying here.

Braeside was a lovely place to stay with fantastic walks on the doorstep.

The house was spacious, comfortable, clean and welcoming. The beds were all comfortable and there are two large bathrooms and an additional toilet. The kitchen was well equipped with plenty of crockery and cooking utensils. The owner was very responsive and helpful. Unfortunately, communication with Sykes Holiday Cottages was very poor, which took the shine off an otherwise lovely stay.

Tough one to write this, as the cottage is lovely and ideally situated.

After staying 10years ago couldn't wait to return. However the cleanliness and general levels of maintenance of the house and garden are in need of attention. The stench on arrival and uncleaned hob weren't acceptable. Everything else is minor and slight maintenance would work wonders, possibly being slightly too picky as know how the property once was but there are a quite few bits that need TLC. Overall though it is still a comfortable base ideally situated both for peace, tranquil surroundings and exploring the lakes. It is well equipped with all you would require for your stay. The local of the Wilson arms is also lovely with fabulous food.

Had a fab family weekend at Braeside.

Lots of room for all 9 of us. Kitchen had plenty of crockery and utensils. Comfy beds, cozy sitting room with log burner and dining table for us all to sit round. Great location. Did a walk from Braeside and ended up at the nearby Wilson’s Arms - delicious chips!

Very simply, great property but needs some TLC, as does the Garden.

The laminate floor in the upstairs bedroom is terrible. Huge gaps between the panels, can be painful underfoot if you slip into the gaps. The BBQ was not useable at all, this is a highlight for some people. Nothing a bit of paint and silicone can’t fix.

The property’s location is great and on walking through the door everywhere ‘looked’ clean & tidy.

However on closer inspection it had only been cleaned where you could see - so the carpets (which need a good steam clean) only hoovered around furniture so build up of thick dust in corners of all rooms. Although the pillow cases/sheets/duvet covers were clean they covered a multitude of worn dirty stained pillows, ripped duvets and mattress protectors. We know this as we stayed 2weeks and asked for a change of bed linen that we would change ourselves. Although the bath/toilets/sinks were clean the shower door seal in the bathroom is thick with green mould and the dust build up behind the fixtures had been there a while. The bins in bathrooms had not been cleaned in fact the one in the upstairs washroom needed emptying (horrible) and all needed antibac wiping. There were no cleaning materials under the sink other than a sponge and 2 jay cloths, & only one tea towel ( to last a week) so for the first hour on arrival I had to do a quick clean with bought cleaners (which I’ve left for the next lot of visitors to use, I also bought a pan scrubber) all bedrooms were thick with dust in corners. There was only one pillow per person on the beds, fortunately some of our party brought their own so we were able to share what was available. I found one dust covered pillow flung on the floor of a cupboard in the first floor bedroom and another in a similar state in the downstairs double room wardrobe. Also old dust covered woollen blankets stuffed in the airing cupboard and downstairs wardrobe. Obviously over a couple of days 8 people make a bit of a mess crumb wise and debris wise eg leaves, grass, bit of mud but there wasn’t even a brush to clean up. I did find a dustpan & brush so it was a hands and knees job everyday. The oven was a disgrace - thick with fat/grease and I feel it isn’t up to a visitor to start cleaning a stove. Cushion covers could do with a wash too. Just to add insult to injury one of our party mislaid a precious ring (which was found) so we all set to looking for it which meant pulling chest of drawers away from walls and apart from years’ worth of dust, broken pencils, old lipsticks behind every one, we found a ‘vape’ behind the chest of draws in the children’s bunk bedroom. Oh and lots of lightbulbs need replacing and the ones in the utility room cupboard didn’t fit. It’s such a shame as the house is so lovely, comfortable and spacious for 8 people and we had a really good holiday but it’s a shabby, tired place and just needs a bit of TLC. Perhaps a quick visit from Sykes & housekeeping may do the trick and speak to whoever owns it. I took pics of pillows,duvet & green mouldy shower screen seal and will send them if you want to see them. This isn’t so much a complaint as suggestions to rectify things, and to be honest it wouldn’t cost too much to to put things right. When you spend a few thousand pounds you expect at least the standard you have at home and we’ve stayed in Sykes/Lakelovers properties for many years -this was well below par.

Lovely place to stay, everything you could need and a great location.

Only negatives are that it needed a good hoover and the booklet is very out of date.

We have enjoyed a number of lovely holidays using your company over the years.

However, our experiences last week at the Braeside property in Torver, Lake District, have made us reconsider for the future. When we arrived the property was clean and well-presented but very cold with no heating in any of the rooms. We managed to start a fire in the living room wood burner, but all attempts at trying to start the central heating failed. We struggled to contact anyone about this issue as the property handbook was very out of date (incorrect emergency contact numbers and the contact for the fuel oil company two years out of date)! Since it was getting late, my two granddaughters (both under two years old) had to be put to bed in freezing rooms wrapped in blankets. We eventually managed to speak to a contact within Sykes who put us in touch with a heating engineer (Andy) who was a star. After holding a video call with my son-in-law we managed to get the boiler in the garage working. Sadly, my son-in-law then had to go around every radiator in the property and bleed air out of the system as this was the cause of the malfunction with the boiler. This took another hour as we had to use kitchen utensils to perform this task. During this time we had started to prepare an evening meal, but half way through cooking the electric hob and oven broke down! We checked the house fuses and adjacent plugs but all attempts to rectify this situation failed. Luckily our party are keen campers and we managed to cobble together a hot meal on portable camping stoves we had in our possession. This fault was also reported to the Sykes team but could not be rectified that night. The following day Andy the heating engineer attended the property and did further work to the boiler, but we had no contact about the issue with the cooking facilities so we had a cold breakfast of cereal and fruit. I was eventually contacted by the maintenance company looking after the property at 12.30pm. I was assured that someone would be sent out to fix the cooker and I specifically asked to be updated about any progress so we could plan the rest of our day – this did not happen and we had to spend a considerable additional amount of money on an evening meal at a restaurant, only to find the cooking facilities fixed by the time we returned home. One other issue to report was that we found out that the property is currently listed as for sale locally, which may explain why so little maintenance is currently being carried out. A number of light bulbs in the property were not functioning, there was a broken light switch in the kitchen and a dangerously malfunctioning bedside light in the main bedroom which clearly had a wiring malfunction. This property does not meet your high standards and should be removed from your portfolio immediately. I wait to hear your reply and how you intend to rebuild our confidence in your company. Yours Paul Brown

Had a wonderful stay thank you!

Only thing to mention was there was a lack of toilet roll provided but apart from that it was great!

Lovely place with a fantastic garden view.

The instruction manual seemed very out of date however so i expect it doesn’t get much attention from the owners. The email instructions were also unclear and vague with regards to checking out. It was nicer than the photos. A few basics in the kitchen would have been nice such as salt and pepper, oil etc. Lovely home but better customer service is needed.

WELL EQUIPED WITH QUALITY STUFF.

excellent location

We arrived at 4:30pm after receiving an email saying we could check in from 4pm to still find the cleaners there saying that we should have had an email informing us check in was actually from 6pm.

When we eventually got in we had a look round and saw that the BBQ which is listed as a amenity was in the shed, rusty and still full of coal from previous uses. The big bin outside for our rubbish to go in at the end of our stay was full and overflowing bags onto the drive before we had even checked in so then our rubbish just had to pile up on the floor also. The grill feature on the oven didn't work so we had to oven cook sausages and bacon for a breakfast. The shower tray in one of the bathrooms didn't drain properly so you had 5 minutes to shower before it overflowed onto the bathroom floor. Overall the house was nice and it was in a good location but just a few aspects needing bringing up.

The kitchen is very small for a house for 10 people with very limited freezer capacity There was a drains smell when we ran the washing machine The plastic garden chairs were all broken and unusable The rubbish bin had not been emptied for several weeks and was overflowing and malodorous.

Having said that the location is good, bedrooms bathrooms all very adequate, good parking, nice views from the back of the property.

In this time of COVID we would have expected the cleanliness to be perfect.

It was far from that and I spent the 1st hour of the holiday cleaning and sanitising, this was completely unacceptable. I have photos of what your cleaners think is acceptable. Cobwebs in every corner, thick dust, a disgusting bin, crumbs on table and kitchen worktops, dirt in sink, crumbs on settee, under beds have not seen a Hoover in a long time, dirty fronts of kitchen cupboards and inside fridge. You need to remove bbq from your listing as it is unusable.

This is a beautiful property in a beautiful location and we feel lucky to have been able to use it and make amazing memories as a family.

This is an excellent cottage, clean, spacious and comfortable.

It is wonderfully situated with a lovely garden to sit out in and very well equipped. Often in cottages we've found too few cups or glasses and not enough kitchen equipment generally but this one had plenty of everything. A concern was flagged up about the fridge and freezer by a previous visitor. The fridge is a good size but there is only a freezer box, so plan accordingly.

We had a wonderful family holiday with our offspring and grandsons, age range from 8-72 years.

Fantastic accomodation, beautiful terraced garden overlooking the 'Old Man' and brilliant location with numerous walks from the door or within a short drive. Careful planning required food wise for large family gathering as only one standard fridge with a small freezer compartment but we adapted accordingly

Lovely cottage.

Extremely spacious. Very clean. Had everything and more we could of asked for. 1 minute walk away from a nice pub with good food. Would definitely go back.

It was a spacious house and suited all our needs, It was spotless and was cosy and warm, we were very happy with the accommodation.

An excellent cottage with lovely pub nearby.

A really spacious property with so much to keep the children occupied, and enough space to make sure we were not on top of each other.

The games room in the garage was a great escape, and the garden was really amazing. The house was well looked after, and we really enjoyed our week there. Thank you to the owners, and for Sykes for arranging our holiday!

Spacious house with most of the stuff in place.

Towels, beddings were clean, cleaning stuff were provided. Kitchen were fully equiped. Smart TV, wifi connection was there too. Only concern was cleanliness which could improve. Spiders and spider webs were in places and some dusts on some surfaces. Carpet was stained in places. We had to vacuum as the first thing after getting in. Floorboards in the bedrooms were loose in places. TV remote was not fully functioning. There was a music player but not playing any CDs and bluetooth was not detecting any device. With little tweaks this property can achieve better.

We enjoyed the space this property had for a large party including children.

Everything was provided, although we did run short of loo roll. Great location to walk into Coniston, and visit surrounding areas. Would definitely recommend this house.

Spacious accommodation, pool table in garage nice surprise!

We had the best time at Braeside, what a stunning house and location.

We arrived and were so blown away by the property. There were 7 adults, and 3 children aged 1, 13 and 15 and everyone had a fantastic time. The garden is absolutely beautiful, with a great seating area and breathtaking scenery out the back! We had great weather which helped and we spent each night outside. The 2 pubs locally were great and in particular the Church inn which had amazing food and service. We visited Windermere, Ambleside and also Tarn How’s (National trust) and had a fantastic experience with again breathtaking views walking around the lake even hiring for free a mobility scooter so that my less abled Grandma could enjoy the experience with us! Thank you for the memories.

Very obvious that cleaners continue to be time-restricted (We were here last year).

The usual areas were immaculate but those extra touches which consume so much time (ceiling corners.....) need attention. Basically what my old Gran would describe as "needs a good 'bottoming' ". The plumbing needs serious attention:- 1) There's an airlock in the heating. A couple of radiators never come on AT ALL - makes ground floor pretty cool. 2) Upstairs toilet stinks - water volume severely throttled back; takes multiple HOURS for cistern to refill. Not adequate for level of occupancy targetted.

Our second stay at this fabulous property as it works so well for myself and group of friends running the Coniston 14.

We literally feel so comfortable here and although there are 10 of us it's large enough to still have some personal space. There's also the added bonus of the Wilson arms 200 meters along the road to treat ourselves to a delicious meal.

The house is amazing, bigger than expected, full amenities and the garden was lovely.

Just a shame the weather didn't stay nice enough for us to enjoy the garden more. Would highly recommend.

The cottage was beautiful and in an amazing location.

There were a couple of windows that were a bit drafty but that didn’t affect us because it was super toasty with the log burner on. Would definitely stay there again

Yes.

Maintenance and housekeeping needs to be looked at. Lights were not working properly in lounge and some bulbs were out. Radiators did not work in lounge, probably needed bleeding as 1 radiator was working, made the lounge very cold. lots of old thick cobwebs on ceilings in all rooms really, mould on blind in one of bedrooms and wooden blinds in lounge thick with dust, although generally cleanliness of villa, bedding, carpets, bathroom and kitchen was good. There is not enough glassware for 10 people mixture of odd glasses i.e 5 wine glasses, 4 pint pots for e.g. and there needs to be 2 dinner service sets (that are not old, scratched and chipped) so if you are cooking at home there's enough to do dinner for a 3 course meal without having to wash plates in between courses. The location of this villa is excellent just needs a few tweaks to make it more than a 7/10.

For a week at Christmas with ten people including four grandchildren a vacuum cleaner and other cleaning materials would have been very useful.

Surprised that a house of this size did not provide these. A vacuum cleaner box and some accessories under the stairs suggested that there once was one. Excellent location, good views and local amenities.

Really loved Braeside it was just a bit let down by the facilities company that looked after it.

The dishwasher didn’t work, all the dishes hadn’t been cleaned very well, there was items still left behind by other groups so couldn’t have been vacuumed very well, the toilet brushed need replacing. The wi-fi didn’t work it was intermittent between green and amber so couldn’t log into it. It was a shame because the cottage was lovely and comfortable.

Lovely house and great space - stayed there earlier in the summer with friends.

This time bit disappointing that all the radiators were turned off on arrival so the house was freezing. We did turn the thermostatic valves on each one on but only about half actually warmed up - the others stayed stone cold. The house was just about warm but I wouldn’t call it cosy. Also the shower over the bath needs a new head and pipe. It’s obviously been repaired with sellotape at the top but the water squirts everywhere from the join between head and pipe. We had a nice weekend and the house was ok but if these couple things got sorted it would be great.

There is no lock on one of the bathroom doors.

The fridge is very small for 10 people. There weren't sufficient glasses for 10 people.

We spent the first day cleaning up.

Bags of rubbish were piled high outside attracting flies and upsetting neighbour.Bowls and plates were dirty in cupboards. We had to finish cleaning floors and surfaces in kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen bin had rotting food in it.The cleaners had visited and worked hard but didn’t have enough time to clean the mess, upstairs was clean.The shower came away from the wall when we touched it.It was not up to required hygienic conditions. Without this terrible start the cottage would have been lovely. Location lovely and lay out of cottage was great.

What an amazing place perfect for our group of 10 friends to use as a base whilst running the Coniston 14 and for our pre race meal together on the Friday evening and just a couple of mile to the start and finish area.

Thanks to the size and layout of this property we never felt on top of each other and all had our own space, the bathrooms were so also spacious so we're the bedrooms and so nicely decorated. Fantastic garden area so quiet and peaceful but just a stones throw from 2 very nice pubs one with a very unique fish-tank one could think you'd had one to many!!!! Once again Sykes have not let me down I think they even ordered the good weathers for us I just hope we can book the same accommodation for next year as brilliant time was had by us all. Christine on behalf of Run4Fun.

my daughter was over from australia with her partner and 2 year old grandaughter and my son and family came as well and it was ideal for us to spend the weekend alltogether the property had plenty of space for us all and there was nothing to want for even childrens games and dvds and the view from the back was stunning with the snow capped peak of the old man of coniston behind the woods overall it was a fantastic place and a great weekend

Lovely house in a friendly village.

The wilson pub was cosy and well decorated with lovely staff. Within a short drive to great walks and activities. You can also walk from the house. Great place to stay.

A fantastic stay and gorgeous property.

Very homely. Loved the wood burner. Only negative comments would be slow internet signal and poor tv reception. Hooked laptop up to watch any television. Overall a fantastic stay and would defiantly like to return in the future. Thank you for a lovely stay