“Firstly, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Wansfell.”
I travelled with my father, so we used both bedrooms. The apartment is located in a building which used to be a hotel. There are 4 other apartments in the property and a further 2 in another property at the rear. The apartment is at the rear of the main building. The whole building is surrounded by fields which have been left undeveloped, there are lots of animals and birds living around the property including deer, bats and owls. It feels very secluded but is only a 10 minute flat walk to the centre of Ambleside or to the lake in the other direction. There is ample parking. Only 2 other properties were occupied when we stayed so it was very quiet. The kitchen was well equipped, this also had a dining area - a TV would have been appreciated in this area to keep us company whilst preparing food, we also like the TV on when eating and had to resort to using the I-pad for this - not ideal. The lounge is in a separate room, it is large with 2 long sofas and a TV - there are games for kids young and old. Both bedrooms are en-suite. There were complimentary toiletries. The bed linen and towels were white, very clean and well laundered. In fact the whole property was spotless in this respect. However there were a few niggles (please don’t take offence as they didn’t put us off, but need to be pointed out) which would have made this property outstanding:
- a number of the double glazing units were “blown” meaning you couldn’t see out - 2 in the main kitchen window and one in bedroom 2 - the smaller of the 2 bedrooms - these should have been reported and sorted
- all the windows indoors and out needed a jolly good clean, they were filthy and there was mould around the edges inside
- the upvc inside and outside was filthy, it hadn’t been washed for a long time and was very old, resulting in very draughty windows and doors. Our 1st sight of the property was a “blown” double glazing unit and marked and scuffed door where you entered the property - not a good look
- the 2nd bedroom in particular was very cold (it was down to 5c outdoors at night), although issues with the radiators were quickly resolved by the owner, we simply could not get the room warm. My father feels the cold and felt it in particular. The heating was still on a summer setting so didn’t come on automatically, we had to over-ride it all the time
- the oven wasn’t particularly clean and the “fan” part of the oven simply didn’t warm up, although the oven worked on the setting without the fan thankfully
- the carpet in the dining area of the kitchen needed a jolly good clean, it was also where you entered the property, so it may have been better for the whole area to be tiled.
Please don’t take this as criticism, they were just niggles that other guests may not notice. I suspect the owner, whom I spoke to on the phone about an issue and was very helpful, may not be aware of the niggles. It just took away the edge of what could have received a 5* review from us both.
