Pottergill

The location in Windermere is great for exploring the lakes but the property does need a fair bit of maintenance.

I wanted to take some of the previous reviews to do with maintenance with a pinch of salt but they are accurate. On arrival there were cigarette butts around the hot tub and rubbish from previous occupants (half eaten biscuit in the snug and wrappers on the stairs). The outbuilding was locked and we didn’t get a key until Monday which meant all our freezer goods had to be thrown away. The outbuilding was dirty with tumble dryer fluff all over the floor and counter. The highchair in there was mouldy and the freezer had all previous occupants old food and packaging in it. It was also in need of a clean - mouldy around the edge. The dishwasher did not clean and left a residue even with salt added and the filter cleaned, because of this all the trays, glasses, bowls etc needed a clean. The chair in the living room had a caster missing. The games box was a mess. The bathroom had mould all around the seals of the shower and someone’s clothes in one of the baskets. The bedroom had a broken knob on the radiator and coffee stains down one of the walls behind the bedside tables. The whole place was in need of a hoover. Overall the place needs some care and extra maintenance and cleaning.

I went with friends to celebrate birthdays.

I booked the house and was worried about it from reading the latest reviews. I need not have worried. The house was beautifully decorated and had nearly everything we needed. The location was fantastic. I would definitely book again. It was just attention to detail that was missing with maintenance really, like the odd bulb not working. But not enough for us to complain. We had a lovely stay.

A lovely cottage to relax in after exploring the Lake District.

We found it surprising there was no washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets or condiments and this would have been useful to know beforehand.

This was our second stay at this house.

The location is excellent and it has a great layout for our family, which is why we chose to return. We also really loved the hot tub. Unfortunately, on this visit we experienced several issues. All of the beds were very uncomfortable – the mattresses felt worn, and in the middle bedroom you could feel the springs. The two single beds upstairs and the bed in the middle room also felt quite unstable, as if they might fall apart. In the kitchen, the cupboard door under the sink was hanging off its hinges, and the oven appeared to have problems as the trays would not fit properly due to a loose side panel. We also found that the thermostat in the bedroom was broken, which made the room uncomfortably hot. Overall, we love the location and the property has a lot of potential, but to consider returning again we would need to see some improvements made, particularly to the beds and general maintenance.

Pottergill is a beautifully finished property but has a cleaning issue that needs to be resolved.

On our arrival it wasn't cleaned ready for change over. We had to make our own beds and had no response from the emergency number. We had to lodge a complaint the next morning and they sent a cleaner that in our opinion made it worse. They broke the bedroom stool. They left the garden furniture in disarray and they failed to clean the oven and bathrooms to an acceptable standard. I asked for £200 compensation/refund which I thought was reasonable. The owner declined and I'm now having to dispute through my credit card which is using up my valued time and I will now be requesting more for the inconvenience. The property itself is located in a perfect location and finished to a very high standard and has everything that is listed. It just isn't clean and unless the owner resolves this problem for the future I would avoid booking this property until it states this issue has been resolved.

Great location and parts of the cottage we’re nicely furnished but generally disappointing inside.

Not very well cleaned, and no basics like soap in one of the bathrooms and nothing in kitchen re a welcome pack. Luckily I had brought my own salt and pepper! We struggled working out how to use the kitchen hob. I had the ground floor bedroom with only a blind which didn’t keep the light out. There was a mattress topper on my bed which had been well used and was covered in bobbles which I could feel through the sheet. We struggled to actually close the back gate and couldn’t lock it which we felt want very good re security. Finally the Information pack needs reviewing and updating.

The pros are that the property is in a perfect location right in the town and within easy walking distance of everything.

It is decorated to a high standard throughout and has a hot tub and parking for 2 cars. The cons are the poor cleanliness and general lack of maintenance which just let it down. It could be a fabulous property if it was being better maintained and properly cleaned.

We had a great stay here.

The property is lovely and has everything you need. It is centrally located and it was great to have a parking space at the back, as well as at the front of the property, with the supplied permit. There are 2 things that stopped us giving it the 5 star rating it really deserves. The first is that whilst the property details states it does have a ground floor bedroom, which was great for my disabled friend, you do have to go downstairs to use the kitchen and lounge area and if you wish to use the hot tub. The only other thing is the cleanliness. On the whole it was great, but the skirting boards and some of the light fittings good do with a good wipe down. Other than that, I would have to say I would stay there again.

After our initial disappointment really enjoyed our stay at Pottersgill.

We feel pictures of downstairs and first bedroom taken from selective angles , much smaller and dark than expected . Positive - Location , the cottage is so central , ideal in bad weather as nothing is too far away . Parking for two cars . Sky Tv . Large hot tub Negative - cleanliness, cobwebs throughout , fridge shelf in door needs cleaning , several long black hairs found in bed and bathroom , we think may be the cleaners , stain on bed throw . Shower drain cover in need of clean . Unlike other guests we found the bed on the middle floor uncomfortable, there was no mattress topper and the fitted sheet didn’t fit. Hints for future guests - if using second TV room over winter take a heater as no form of heating . There is a play station but you need to take your own games . Full recycling in the public car park in the next road . Hints for owner - door mat at front door would save the nice carpets you have .

Stayed a few times here, Great location, great facilities.

Unfortunately the cleanliness this time around wasn’t up to the usual high standard but that’s an easy resolve for the owners. Few little maintenance issues which has been fed back separately too. Will stay again

Fabulous house, ideally located, parking was a good send.

Great family get away had by all xxx

his was my second time staying at Pottergill.

The first time, we noticed it wasn't as clean as it could have been, with some dust and mould on the shower tiles. However, on my last visit, we had to call Sykes Cottages. The fridge was dirty, oil was all over the cooker top, a mound of dirt from someone's walking boots, a messy kitchen table, and crumbs and stains on the sofa. I opened the cupboard under the sink, and it fell off. We called Sykes Cottages and sent photos, and they contacted the owner. Sykes Cottages arranged for the cupboard door to be repaired but not the cleaning, as the owner said it had been done. I had no option but to clean up. I did ask for some of my money back, but the owner refused again, saying the house had been cleaned. I won't be staying again. It's such a shame, as if cleaned, it would be a lovely place to stay.

Fantastic place to stay.

Having private parking at rear and on street voucher parking at front is a huge bonus in Windermere. Centrally located yet very quiet. The house was stylish, clean, warm and comfortable. Plenty of kitchen utensils made cooking and eating there a pleasure. Bedrooms and bathrooms were well presented. We went for a group hiking trip and returning to the hot tub was a joy. We’ve stayed in many self catering properties and this was one of the best. Many thanks for sharing your property, we would happily return

The boiler repeatedly cuts out it has a fault, luckily we could fix it.

the sky does not work downstairs. The 2nd floor bathroom floor becomes saturated and then water leaks onto the first floor bed. There is no obvious caretaker number to call for problems. Other than this it’s a lovely cottage with comfy beds and nicely decorated.

Lovely cottage with everything you need Only down fall!

No high ball glasses or just normal glasses in kitchen just small mini wine glasses Bought some n left them for other guests Apart from that everything was amazing Permit left for car on street parking and there car port yard for your car it’s all good Hot tub big enough for us 5 Neighbours lovely And location was amazing right in the town of Windermere

A lovely holiday cottage in an excellent location.

Easy to get to places either by car or bus. Cottage was beautiful, very clean and a high standard of decor and facilities. Enjoyed the hot tub most evenings. Would highly recommend and would book again if returning to the Lake District.

Good Afternoon, Pottergill - December 2023.

I apologise for the delay in this review. My wife, daughter, son in law, and grand daughters along with myself all enjoyed Pottergill. The property overall was what we expected, but unfortunately the cleaning of the property let it initial experience down badly. We feel that the cleanliness in certain areas left a lot to be desired. 1. The upstairs back bedroom was reasonably clean, apart from a pair of a ladies walking boots in a black bin liner left under the bed along with an 'old' Marks & Spencer fabric bag. 2. The front bedroom, there was crisps crumbs on the floor with a Walkers crisp packet and a empty Coke Cola plastic bottle again under the bed. 3. In the loft bedroom, where there are 2 single beds, one of the bedside light shades were missing, and there were remains of an baby's 'cot mobile' in the corner of the room. 4. Main bathroom, There was a large 'clump' of what was hair taken from a hair brush, just placed at the side of the bathroom radio (which did not work) and at the side of the toilet seat, was an empty cardboard toilet roll. 5. The small TV room upstairs, again had sweet wrappers under the sofa. 5. Downstairs in the living room, one of the sofa's had what looked like a reasonably fresh chocolate drink stain on it. After we used some warm water and cleaning agent, this 'stain' was reduced considerably. This is something the 'cleaning team' should have done before we arrived. 6. The outside brick 'shed' where the washing machine and freezer were was okay, but again the lights inside did not work with possibly a blown bulb, again not checked or changed. I have taken some photos of the above mentioned issues. Overall....the property itself was nice but Sykes 'cleaning team' leave an awful lot to be desired, they certainly cannot do their jobs efficiently. This has put a disappointment against Sykes, and the cleaning team need in my view to be made aware of their failings, and brought up to standard as soon as possible. Mr K Ryder.

Thoroughly enjoyed our stay, the location was perfect.

However a few minor things that would have made a big difference were... 1. The bedroom in the middle room was so so HOT, it was impossible to control the temperature and unfortunately led to poor sleep the entire week. Also the bed was incredibly creeky and seemed to need tightened. 2. The shower in the middle room must have been blocked, it overflowed all over the floor if you were in for anymore than 2/3 minutes. 3. A washing machine would have been great, saves a large family gaving to bring back a weeks worth of washing. 4. Loved the hot tub, location and decor of the house.

We have just returned from a long weekend at this wonderful cottage.

It was well located near all amenities around a 25 minute walk to bowness lake which was great. Very clean well equipped accommodation with lots of space.

We really enjoyed our weeks stay at Pottergill.

The location and 2 parking spaces was brilliant. The four storey cottage was a " Tardis", so much room for 5 adults and the overall cottage was beautifully decorated and presented. The heating was very effective and easy to control. We were impressed with the bathrooms and the water pressure, plenty for 5 adults. We also enjoyed the Hot tub, very clean and well maintained. Slight negatives were some pans didn't work on induction hob and no big pans ( luckily read review , and took our own), mattresses could be better quality but weren't terrible, some furnishings were slightly broken(castors on settees , ornament broke and mirror in ground floor bedroom). These slight negatives did not affect our enjoyment of our stay and we would return to the cottage again.

First and foremost, the cleanliness of the property was unacceptable.

We had a quick look at 3:10pm to see if the property was ready, but upon entering it clearly had not been cleaned at all and nobody was in. We left. We saw the cleaners leave the property at 3:55pm. 45 minutes is not enough time to clean a property of this size. The toilet on the first floor was dirty. There was urine splattered all over the toilet rim and then poo splattered inside. The toilet brushes were filthy. There is a layer of dust on a lot of the furniture at the property. One of the lightbulbs in the kitchen does not work. The lamp in the loft does not work. The shower cubicles were not cleaned and there was hair in all the sinks and shower trays. The carpets on the stairs had not been hoovered and neither had the bedrooms. There was fluff under the bath. The log burner had an out of order sign that was covered in dust. Fortunately, due to the weather, we were unable to use the hot tub for the first two days. It was only cleaned on the Monday, despite us being there since the Friday. Behind the back of the sofa there are many colouring pencils covered in dust on the floor. The bottom tray in the fridge on the door is broken. Bottles and milk kept falling out onto the floor. The chairs around the table are stained and require cleaning. You cannot use the PS4 unless you have an account set up. The stairs are steep and narrow, and some of the carpet grippers are coming through the carpet. Be careful if you don't have shoes on as two of us had our feet caught. Beds are chronically uncomfortable, and so are the sofas. The beds make loud noises at each small movement, making a good night's sleep impossible. The windowsills were covered in dust, as well as the back of the radiators. Everywhere in the property felt to have a layer of dust and just needed a deep clean. We had to go out and buy our own cleaning supplies as we felt we could not stay in the property with it being so unclean. This is not what you expect when you go on holiday. It was a shame to start our holiday with all six of us cleaning for over an hour. Additionally, the cooking facilities are not adequate for six people. These comments are meant to be constructive as the property has the potential to be a great stay. We have used Sykescottages many times and have never had an experience like this.

The location is very convenient for all amenities.

The property was clean and the beds were comfortable. However we were extremely disappointed with the many pieces of furnisher which were broken and unsafe to use on our arrival. These should have been checked before our arrival. (Whilst an attempt was made to fix the furnisher during our stay, it was unsuccessful!) Also we were left only small hand towels in one bedroom instead of bath towels. The cottage looks beautiful, but the furniture in the kitchen and lower ground living room is not fit for purpose. Two of the six dining chairs were broken, all chairs were badly soiled, and the table was too large for the space! The feature wood burner was not in working order. The outdoor seating area was unusable, because the chairs and table were broken and there was insufficient room to sit comfortably outdoors. Besides it is a miserable space! A few plants or hanging baskets would make it more appealing. The kitchen is poorly planned and lacks sufficient equipment to cook a decent meal for groups. Whilst the complimentary cleaning pack and tea and biscuits were welcomed, the meagre cleaning materials available were disappointing. Other properties have a decent supply of toilet paper, soap, washing up liquid, toilet cleaner and multi surface cleaner. The small fridge had broken shelves making the usable space within it extremely limited. Furthermore it was extremely inconvenient that the freezer was located in the outbuilding! The carpet in the kitchen is impractical hosting dirt and bacteria! The second bedroom is narrow and there is insufficient space to walk around the bed, making it extremely awkward for two people to share. The cottage is comfortable for two but crowded for four! The property did not meet our expectations.

Lovely stay at Pottergil!

The perfect base for a week in Windemere. Close to all amenities and the cottage was decorated to an extremely high standard.

The cottage was just as listed.

It was close to all facilities and suited us a 2 separate families. The rooms were far enough away to get away and enjoy some privacy yet we were all together and the hot tub was lush.

Pottersgill is a lovely property.

The furniture and decor is of a high standard. The reception areas - basement kitchen dining/ lounge space was cosy. We stayed as a family of four. The off street parking was very convenient. The hot tub was a lovely bonus! We enjoyed the position of the property, just off the main streets of Windermere, so nice and quiet, but a few steps from all the action. Plenty of walks into the lovely countryside from our front door, if not a short drive away.( We took the car ferry across Windermere over to Wray Castle and went for a lovely circular walk.) The downside was that cooking required the patio doors to be opened as the kitchen window didn’t open. Also, the pots and pans wouldn’t have been big enough to cook for 6 people. I had to split pasta cooking between two small pots. There was no frying pan suitable for the induction hob. Other than this, I would definitely return. It was a comfortable property to stay for the week.

Lovely property and in a perfect location!

We had a brilliant weekend away. Only downside was not having heating for the first night and finding strands of hair in one of the beds

The property was lovely but definitely in need of maintenance.

Kitchen bulb was out when we arrived so clearly not checked before handing over to us. Cupboard door under the sink was broken and hanging off. First floor shower was heavily in need of sealing and grouting. Second floor shower, the pipe had small holes in it so the water would spray out. The stair carpet was either extremely worn or badly fitted, my son and wife both stepped down and got a small hole in their feet from the underlying carpet grippers. Apart from that, there was no fire pack provided on arrival, and despite Sykes twice promising to send someone round with this, they never came or contacted us. Overall a lovely house, but lacking proper care and maintenance and also customer service.

On the whole we enjoyed our stay at Pottergill.

The house is nice and fairly modern with hot tub etc. just some pointers for improvement would include another bin. When we arrived on Friday the bin was 3/4 full and by Sunday night I was ‘sneaking’ rubbish in other bins that were sitting out for collection. Not really what you want to do on holiday! The bottle bins were full to the brim when we even got there. Also the issue with the parking permit, it wasn’t there when we arrived. During a phone call to Sykes we were asked to use a pay and display and reclaim the money at £18 per day! No, we were doing that and the parking permit arrived. Also some basic things in the house, ventilation in the kitchen area could be improved, after cooking 12 rashers of bacon to the noise from the smoke detectors, was very annoying. Also little touch up areas in paint at the bottom of the stairs to the first floor would be good and a scrub of the shower cubicles to remove the patches of mould. However, generally Pottergill is a nice house for a weekend, close to facilities, with more than you expect from a rental including Sky Q and a very well equipped kitchen.

The property is beautifully decorated and furnished.

It was spotlessley clean. Could do with front door mat in case of muddy feet. The bathroom is spacious and showers are wonderful. The hot tub would benefit from some form of cover (gazebo?) for privacy and to protect from the elements. The rear parking space is not suitable for larger cars. All in all a lovely stay, thank you.

Beautiful cottage in a perfect central location with the added bonus of a hot tub.

Ideally positioned for shops restaurants and walks

A beautiful cottage in a great location, would have loved to stay the whole week but due to an emergency back home we had to leave early

Dishwasher doesn’t work properly.

The upper arm doesn’t spin. Everything else was fantastic.

Excellent facilities, excellent location.

The attention to detail in the whole of the property was just amazing making it feel such a lovely place to relax and unwind. I would definitely recommend to family and friends. Thank you for making our couple of nights a pleasure.

Second day of holiday no hot water, boiler was leaking on to worktop below.

Engineer was sent and apparently this has been an ongoing problem 4 weeks prior to our arrival. There was also a leaking radiator in the lounge which had a bowl under it to which we had to keep emptying to avoid soggy carpets. Engineer under instructions from the owner did minimal works. Not acceptable a dodgy boiler if its leaking water what else could it be leaking? For what we paid for the rental very disappointed. A lovely cottage in a great location let down by the boiler and the owner. Kind regards Jason and Diana Edwards.

This little house is beautiful, every thing in it is just lovely

Great property with a brilliant location.

Property is set out really well and to a extremely high standard. Bathroom is beautiful and beds so comfortable. Hot tub felt like it needed servicing, jets seemed slow but that didn’t stop us enjoying our stay. Another bonus is the parking space behind the property and the permit for the front. No complimentary logs for the fire so we had to buy some which was worth it as it really warmed up the room. Definitely recommend staying here.

Had a brilliant stay at Pottergill.

Welcomed by tasteful Christmas decorations and appreciated welcome pack. The house was very well stocked with everything we needed. We had our 11 month old baby with us and although there were many stairs in the property we managed fine. A safety gate and fire guard would have been very much appreciated for future stays. Called ahead to ask for highchair and travel cot which were there upon arrival. The house is very tastefully decorated with lovely locally sourced ornaments and art. Local books and helpful leaflets were appreciated. We have a 4x4 vehicle and managed to park on an angle at the rear of the property without problems. The hot tub was a wonderful luxury which we greatly enjoyed. There was no welcome pack for the wood burner when we arrived which we were hoping to use. Overall a really nice stay and we would visit again. Thank you!

We really enjoyed our stay, especially the hot tub and fire.

We thought the parking was going to be tricky but it worked out well although we had two quite small cars. Lots of stairs so probably not good for young children. Great location. Overall we would highly recommend this property.

Positives; great location for all amenities.

Beautifully decorated throughout with lovely furniture and all mod cons, good use of space, hot tub was a bonus, parking permit and complimentary dishwasher tablets/cloths/washing up liquid etc appreciated Negatives: the property is not suitable for infants/small children/elderly due to steepness of steps with no guards/gates available for safety. The kitchen extracter was so loud and using the grill set off all the smoke alarms! On arrival, there were noticeable lipstick marks on some of the glasses in the cupboard and some of the pans were not clean enough to use- we put them in the dishwasher with the items we had used, but ultimately ran out of dishwasher tablets cleaning items from the kitchen we hadn't used- had to question the cleanliness and preparation of the cottage for our stay. There were no instructions or provisions to use the log burner which was disappointing if we had wished to use that. There were no contact details for the owners in the instructions or email information sent to inform of any issues. There were no provision/instructions for recycling items and the recycling box in the shed was piled high with empty alcohol bottles (seems to be quite a lot so maybe from more than 1 previous guest- again felt no preparation had been made for our stay), we had no where to put our recycling. The timetable for council refuse/recycling in the info book was from 2020. There were gaps around the front door so it let cold air and had to be locked to make sure it was closed fully, but even then was debatable if it really was fully closed as there were cold drafts coming in from it. In the entrance there was a notice regarding covid regulations and to put all used towels/bedding in the bags provided upon departure- there were no bags provided. There were hairs and fluff in the bed, under the duvet of the 1st bedroom (entrance floor) so we had to question if it had been cleaned before we arrived. The towel rail in the bathroom (entrance level) became so hot it burned my partners arms due to the limited space in it to move around- obviously a specific risk to small children/infants. The extracter switch was also faulty as it didn't always turn off. The bathroom of the 2nd floor was stunning, however, there was mould around the walk in shower cubicle, and when the shower was turned on water not only came down from the shower head but also sprayed out of the pipe! All over the shower area and out onto the bathroom floor, so we had to use some of the towels mopping the excess water up. On closer inspection, there was a crack in the pipe so we couldn't use that shower at all. The claw bath was gorgeous, but only produced luke warm water from the taps- we had to fill it using the shower head which did have hot water. No bath mat provided for the bath, so again unsuitable for infants/small children. The 2nd floor bedroom was lovely, but the noise from the road outside could be heard and disrupted sleep. The heating system was strange with regards to the different floors- the entrance floor was comfortable, as was the kitchen as long as the oven/grill wasn't on. The 2nd floor was stifling hot and turning the radiators down didn't help. Opening the window didn't cool it down and just let all the street noise in. The attic room (not that we used that) was freezing. There was parking advertised for the property, but it was only suitable for a small car and as some of the local residents parked a white van and taxi directly opposite the space we couldn't swing our car in if we wanted to. Luckily the parking permit allowed on street parking. The back gate didn't bolt/lock as the fixings were not level. The info in the manual gave a code, but not sure what that was for as it was open anyway. We also received an unexpected visit from the council asking for the owner (which we didn't have details for) and when we explained we had rented the property for the week, they then wanted details on who we had booked through etc. They left a letter which we had to leave for the owner in the entrance. Overall, we enjoyed the stay as the location was good and the property did have all the mod cons, however we feel there needs to be improvements for infant/small children to safely stay here. We also understand this was a last minute/same day booking as our original booking for a log cabin was cancelled (as we were setting off) due to storm arwen, but we still expected a good level of cleanliness and contact info (especially due to the cracked shower pipe/heating/water issues and council visit) for a rental property.

We enjoyed a week at Pottergill - great location near to the town center and station so it is very easy to get around.

The house is nicely furnished and the hot tub was great.

Absolutely beautiful cottage!

We loved our stay. Very clean and literally a stone throw away from lovely restaurants and bars. Hopefully we will be back

Gorgeous cottage,well equipped and fantastic location.

The hot tub was a lovely way to relax after a day out.Would definitely recommend.

We really enjoyed our stay.

Great location close to amenities and an ideal base to explore the area. The cottage was really comfortable and homely, with lovely little touches. The roll top bath and hot tub were well used. Would definitely recommend and would absolutely rebook for future visits to the Lakes.

Great cottage, everything you need, very homely feeling as soon as you step through front door.

Location excellent everything at doorstep,hot tub and outdoor seating fab.One for a return visit,Sykescottages have got a good one hear,looking to book next year.

We had a fabulous time, the cottage was beautifully decorated, very comfortable and had everything we needed.

Excellent accommodation, clean and modern.

All the home comforts we needed. Sky TV and smart TV was a nice touch too. All this made even better by a brilliant location. Great stay all round

Was a brilliant place so beautifully decorated, in such a great location so cosy and you felt so at home I will definitely be returning

Absolutely fabulous place so clean and with everything you need, plus bonus extras like the jacuzzi and sky TV, great location.

Could not recommended this place more and would definitely stay here again and will.

The house was stunning, beautifully decorated to a high standard and very comfortable - I would definitely like to return one day.

The only reason I say it didn't meet expectations is because we had booked for the hot tub, which was not installed as stated in the description and no one told us.