Little How

I did not realise just how far away from Grasmere centre that we were.

We were a party of three disabled adults and the uneven, steep walk ways were challenging. The road is very bumpy and uneven when acessing to the cottage and the turn in to the cottage was very snug for the hyundai i10 I was so glad that the car was as small as it is as a larger car would have had great difficulty. Don't turn left out of the cottage in a car as you will cause damage to your car and get stuck. The oven was filthy with the grill tray and wire tray caked in thick grease. The bottom of the oven had dried in food stuck to the bottom which none of us could clean due to disabilities though I did clean the tray and wire tray thank goodness I brought spare cleaning equipment. The duvets had small black marks on them and a couple of cushions were stained. I had to buy batteries for the television remote control. The garden at the back had the faeces of the previous holiday makers dog so we never went there. There is a very deep step at the front door which made us all have to hold on to the wall as we stepped down to enter the cottage door. The cottage is good if you want seclusion but not good if you have disabilities. There were enough toilet rolls and towels. Mind the step sign on the stairs as the ceiling is very low. You can clearly hear the people in the adjoining cottage as there are only locked doors between the cottages. The rooms all have self closing heavy fire doors which do not allow for keeping open. Take your own wood, kindling and matches if you want to use the fire. The television was good as it had Netflix and Disney+. The showers were powerful enough. It would have been better if there was a torch, candles in case of black out, first aid box, spare batteries, bulbs, and extra cleaning sponge, tea towel, travel sewing kit, visitors book, board games, playing cards, dominoes, bigger selection of books, boot cleaning brush, umbrellas, logs, kindling, matches, maps for walks and a welcome arrival pack containing tea, coffee, milk,and biscuits.

We enjoyed our stay at Little How.

The location is wonderful and we found the property to be quaint, spacious and more than comfortable for our 4 days there. So many walking routes on the doorstep. Some previous reviews mentioned the lack of utensils which we found to be inaccurate - great to see some feedback being listened to. Little How is neat and tidy, has a wonderful kitchen and downstairs space and a cosy living room with enclosed log fire (although you'll need to bring your own wood). A couple of surprising (and small) things could make a real difference here. No salt and pepper, or cooking oil.. there is tea and a jar for sugar (it was empty) but this makes a big difference in a self catering property. We found cobwebs in the corners of every room and the bedroom needed a good dust. Having the fire but no wood seems a shame (we brought our own) although this may not be important to others. Upstairs, whilst fine, the bedrooms feel very dated compared to the downstairs - like two different properties. They definitely dont have a cosy or romantic feel if thats what people are hoping for - more cold and dark! And finally, the rear garden is not enclosed - we were prepared, and worked with it, and our dog isn't an escape artist, but we do feel that too many holiday lets advertise this without it actually being the case. We would come here again, but not as a first choice - too many small things that are relatively simple to make right seem to have been left or ignored, giving a feeling of 'we are booked up, so why bother?'

Little how was nice and comfortable and with plently of space to spread out.

The kitchen was very well equipped only lacking a cruet set. The beds were very comfortable and large and plently of space in both bedrooms. Only one drawback was access to the cottage and parking. Overall a lovely location for a nice relaxing week.

Little How is lovely.

A comfortable and very well-equipped cottage in a beautiful, quiet location. I would have awarded 5 stars, but we were very disappointed on arrival to find a dishwasher full of dirty dishes, and there were several dead wasps around the cottage. Also, we had to carry our rubbish to the next door property, Thorney How, as there was no outside bin at the property, despite the instructions in the cottage advising us that there was.

Lovely cottage with all what you need to have a wonderful time in the area

Lack of decent cutlery insufficient cups and mugs basic kitchen utensils, weigh scales, fish slice, potato peeler.

Unfortunately it was noted that these issues had been raised by previous holiday residents, this gives the impression that criticism is either ignored or not taken seriously. Noise from adjacent building due to unsupervised children. Difficulty parking due to ongoing building work, the builders went out of their way to be accommodating.

Lovely warm, well equipped cottage in a beautiful position.

Nicely tucked away & just a 15 minute walk into the village. It had everything we needed apart from no welcome items such as tea/coffee, milk, wood for first fire etc. We know not to expect these but it's a little unusual as many owners go the extra mile. We enjoyed our stay but my relatives with good hearing were disturbed at night from guests in the adjoining property. For this reason we would not rebook. We were aware of an adjoining internal door so only ourselves to blame.

This is a really beautiful cottage and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

I think other reviews are quite harsh with regards to the building site directly next to the house and the entrance into the property. We couldn't really hear any building work the whole time we were inside the property. The walls are lovely and thick which helps, plus the builders are very considerate. The entrance to the house is a little tricky but quite manageable in a normal vehicle. Both my parents BMW 5 series and our VW Passat managed it no problem. However our Golf GTI would not have made it! There is one large boulder in the middle of the track. But the turning is easy enough to manoeuvre. However we did loose electricity and were promised some compensation which the owner only paid back half of what he promised as the electricity came back on 20mins early. You get a little feeling of cost saving at this rental. No welcome basket, no logs and school cutlery. Otherwise it's a really fantastic property. Lovely and warm and we loved all the different spaces in the cottage. It has real charm and we would visit again. With a few tweaks from the owner this property rental could be 5*

Lovely comfy cottage, well equipped and a great location.

Only one small point on the cleaning. There was some quite large cobwebs in the ceiling corners in a number of the rooms.

This was out second stay in Little How and it didn't disappoint.

The cottage is delightful in a stunning location. We were not disturbed by the building work next door and found the builders considerate and friendly. Similarly we were not disturbed by the group of ladies in the main house. Small gripes are the same as last year, poor quality cutlery and kitchen utensils given the excellent range and quality of everything else, no potato peeler and the bath towels are very small. However none of these minor irritations spoiled our holiday in any way and we have already booked for next year.

Needs new toilet seat upstairs.

Deep pot hole has you turn in by big rock in road which I filled in with stones.

Stayed here twice now and always lovely.

The beds are so comfy.The owner called round with some new pans and baking trays.There is building work going on next door but this didn’t bother us as we were out most of the time.The turning into the cottage is tight but I got a vw camper round it just take it steady and watch the low roof as you turn . Thanks again Syke cottages Tracey and Mike

We had read the reviews from previous guests about the size of towels, cutlery and building work taking place.

So our review is based on our thoughts aware of this. We took our own towels and were glad as the ‘bath’ towels are very small. The cutlery is, as others have said, of very poor quality, and considering the quality and equipment of other items in the kitchen, was disappointing. The saucepans are also not ideal as the non-stick surface is damaged. As a minor detail it would also be nice to have ice cube trays in the freezer. The noise from the builders does start bang on 8:00am but as we’re early risers it didn’t affect us. However, we did take our dog (which they met) but on their arrival, every day, they opened the gate (not sure why they needed to) so the courtyard was no longer enclosed. Fortunately, when they did this the first time she was on a lead but guests should be mindful of this as it would be awful for anybody who let their dog out thinking the area is secure when it no longer is because the builders didn’t consider this. Also, the noise from the property next door, it wasn’t an issue for us but the sound does easily travel! In the main bathroom upstairs there are no shelves or anywhere to store your toiletries. Even the size of the sink makes it difficult to leave a toothbrush on the side. The ‘bumpy’ drive is also accurately described by other reviews but again driving an SUV, while we still had to be careful it didn’t do any damage, a low car may not have faired as well! The turning angle into the drive is also very tight with the wall so again care is needed. We read about the lack of ‘welcome pack’ and while that is lovely, it is not something we would ever expect from a holiday home. A welcome note would have been nice though! That said it’s a fabulous location and we did have a lovely holiday! We visit the Lake District regularly but wouldn’t necessarily book this again.

Location and modernisation of the property was fantastic, within easy walking distance of Grasmere town centre.

Lovely large front garden, good for dogs and children. Car parking was an issue as we could not get our car round a tight corner and due to big rocks in the ground (apparently we were advised that we could, but this was not possible without damaging our car). No welcome pack, which was disappointing as we felt the property lacked attention to detail (previous accommodations we have stayed in have always done this). Bigger towels (as previous guests have also said) would have been better as we were only provided with little hand towels to get dried with. Accommodation is also shared with whoever is staying next door, which means it can become noisy as the fire doors do not block out sound. But overall, despite these things, the accommodation was modern and clean so thank you.

Beautiful cottage, in a lovely peaceful location.

Nicely furnished & decorated. Track to property is very uneven, caught the bottom of my car a couple of times. Garden is a lovely peaceful haven to relax in with a glass of wine at the end of the day. Dog towels was a nice touch & much appreciated. A hand towel in the downstairs bathroom & kitchen would have been helpful.

We had a great week with both Little How and Thorney How.

But Little How is ideally set up for a small family or a pair of couples. Very comfortable, a great garden, and a simply fabulous location.

Great facilities made our stay very comfortable.

The house had everything needed. Very comfortable beds and bathrooms were of a high standard. Excellent kitchen dining area with full facilities.

Lovely location, remote feeling but quick walk in to Grasmere.

Warm, cosy house with excellent facilities. Fab shower! Walking through the Lancrigg Estate next door was beautiful and easy access to Easedale Tarn. The downside was very poor internet. I am self employed so need internet access. The WiFi is shared with Thorney How and this is not ideal as it just didn’t work properly for us at Little How. Would return in a heartbeat if this issue is sorted.

Beautiful, cosy and well equipped cottage in a stunning location.

Would love to return.

An exceptional cottage in a stunning location!

The cottage has been sensitively refurbished to retain character yet with modern comforts. The kitchen/diner area (where we spent the most time) is so cosy with all the modern fixtures you could wish. The view out on to the garden delivered a deer, a red squirrel as well as all manner of birds. The lounge is large but also cosy and we made full use of the log burner in the evenings (note there was no starter pack for the log burner, however we had our own supplies). Both beds were huge with excellent mattresses and lovely bed linen. The bathrooms were stylishly furnished and had superb simple to use powerful showers. If I was being really picky the cutlery could do with being upgraded! To summarise, having arrived on Friday afternoon following a 7 hour drive, cooked a meal and slept soundly, we immediately booked for next year. Our only regret was not to have booked the previous week and be snowed in for a couple of days! Thank you for a most splendid week in your lovely cottage.

Little How is absolutely STUNNING!

Very cosy whilst being spacious and comfortable. It’s beautifully decorated and thoughtfully furnished around its wonderful original features. The views from the garden are glorious, and our Labrador loved exploring. It’s also a stones throw from the village of Grasmere where there are lots of little shops and dog friendly pubs that we loved, it was so nice not to have to drive for a couple of days and truly relax. The owners are so lovely, and were on hand if we had any problems. It truly felt like a home from home! We already planning our trip back! Thank you so much for a wonderful winter holiday!

This is a beautiful cottage in a beautiful location.

So nice we booked again.You won’t be disappointed.The beds are so big and comfortable. It’s a lovely walk into the village about 15 minutes but it was nice to be out of the village for a change. Don’t forget your torch for the way back.Thank you again Syke cottages for another fabulous holiday Tracey

We booked Little How to stay for a few days for our mini-moon break.

Upon arrival everything seemed great apart from no logs with a log burner (every property we've stayed in previously supplied a few logs for the first fire), so we had the additional expense of purchasing logs for burning throughout the stay. The cleanliness was good, with most areas being clean. Noticeably there were a few cobwebs/dusty cupboards in most of the rooms. Beds were super comfy and very quiet at night which was perfect. Unfortunately the heating did break whilst we were there, meaning we had no hot water or heating for one of our 3 days of the holiday, so the cottage was cold from morning-night. The owner contacted us to rectify and kept us informed throughout the day.

Location & property great, zip-lock beds not made up as singles as requested, adjoiningThorney How property occupied by young group partying until the early hours, which significantly impacted the peace & tranquility of the beautiful location.

I think this will be a constant issue due to the nature of adjoining a 8 bedroom property with shared internal doors so noise travels both inside & out.

We enjoyed our stay.

Generally the cottage is comfortable and it is in a really lovely position. We had deer and red squirrels in the garden. However I have the following comments: 1. No coat hangers are provided, only a peg board to hang clothes from. This is a problem if like me you take a few nice clothes to wear to restaurants in the evening 2. The sitting room has a musty smell which opening the window does not cure 3. The towels provided are very small 4. There is a door from the hall to the large adjoining property and this is mentioned in the property description. There is no real soundproofing. Luckily, we had considerate neighbours so no issues getting to sleep but we could clearly hear conversation through the door and it travelled up the stairs to the bedrooms. If the neighbours had been up very late, this would have been a problem.

Hello, We arrived at the property on the Sunday, all the windows were open and the smell of curry was very strong.

We contacted you, spoke to Holly, she sent out a maintenance person, who gave us some spray and seemed fairly disinterested, but suggested speaking to customer service, which we did, we asked about moving or compensation, moving was not an option, Holly asked what compensation we would suggest, I said 25% £331, she said she would speak to the owner, as of today 6 days , no response, I phoned and spoke to Alex, he said he will chase up, we are home now, the property still smelt when we left, please respond as so far we have had to make all the contact ourselves.

Lovely, clean, comfortable, warm and peaceful cottage in beautiful location just a 15-minute walk to the centre of Grasmere.

Very well equipped, but the toaster and place mats could do with being replaced (the toaster only toasts properly on one side of the bread and the place mats are just a little tired looking). There are no instructions on how to use the DVD player and we could not get it to work. The access road is rather lumpy and bumpy.

Lovely accommodation clean warm and cosy.

Disappointed there was No hair dryer No holiday information for local area No maps or walking books etc No spare cling film , foil etc ( we’ve always found these extras in past property’s) Hand wash in kitchen and shower room almost empty After saying all that we still enjoyed the cottage and the south facing garden to relax in .

Little How is a gorgeous cottage with great facilities and in a perfect location.

The driveway is very tight so if you have a big car like us, be prepared. It would add a little extra if there was some basic supplies in the kitchen such as tea bags, coffee, salt and pepper, but apart from that the cottage is perfect. We will certainly be booking again.

The rental process was very efficient and the property very clean.

The cottage was in a beautiful spot and Grasmere is a lovely village. The beds were very comfortable, the upstairs shower was brilliant and the smart TV had lots of channels. The kitchen was well equipped and spotless clean. The fire doors were quite annoying to live with especially with a dog who kept getting shut in or out of rooms. It also made the cottage feel less cosy but clearly fire safety was a big priority. Housekeeping on our departure day were very friendly and understanding when we were not ready on the dot of 10am. Some local information about walk in the area would have been very nice to have looked through. Also some milk in the fridge and tea, coffee, sugar and some kind of snack would have been lovely after a 6 hour drive from Bristol.

The cottage was gorgeous and everything we needed and felt very homely.

There was an issue with the drains whilst we were there but the owner was lovely and got this sorted as soon as he could so couldn't have really asked for more!

Pros: We loved the location of the house as we can hike into the woodlands without having to drive somewhere.

Also live the peaceful and quiet neighbourhood and we slept so well in the comfortable beds. Kitchen has enough of everything to whip up a quick meal. Beautiful cottage and having herding sheeps in the garden visiting us was a big plus! We will definitely be back :) Cons: We found dirty socks in one of the drawers and it stank badly. Also the hallway upstairs smell a little of dog urine, but i am usually sensitive to smells. Others might not find it smelly. Overall a big plus tot his cottage that we love so much. Thank you!

The cottage was lovely and we really enjoyed our stay.

We could have moved in and stayed there. It’s so cosy and everything has been done to such a high standard. The cottage is in a perfect location and great for walking straight from the front door. Thank you for providing all the soaps, dishwasher tablets etc, it’s a nice touch. Plus the dog blankets in the living room for the sofas. We will definitely be coming back. Just a few things we noticed which if changed would make the stay even better: The hot water pressure downstairs was slow, even after resetting the water pump in the boiler every time we ran a bath. (Think this was being looked at just after we left) The downstairs bathroom and utility is very cold, even with the heating on. As the utility is open to the kitchen, the cold draft is felt in there too. The door separating the two cottages doesn’t provide much for acoustic separation. We could often hear the people staying in the cottage next door. A shelf in the upstairs bathroom would have been good to put toiletries, toothbrush etc. There’s a small patch of mould below the upstairs bathroom window and the roof light is left ajar, with debris coming in with high winds. Wardrobes or hangers would be good in the bedrooms.

Little How is a beautiful cottage in a lovely location.

A 10 minute walk on country lanes takes you into Grassmere where there are a good variety of cafes, restaurants and shops. The cottage is very cosy with a very efficient log burner however no logs were provided. As you are not expected to access the property before 4pm, it would have been good to have had a few logs to start with especially on a cold November afternoon. The cottage is a generous size with a well equipped kitchen and a much appreciated utility room for walking gear etc. Dogs are also catered for with bowls and blankets. A bit of a surprise to find there wasn't a hairdryer! Also no bin in one of the bathrooms. We loved our break and we definitely would recommend Little How cottage.

We had such a lovely holiday here.

The cottage was beautiful and we loved the garden. Thank you!

Very desirable cottage to spend a short break away suggestion of large Bath sheets instead of bath towels and fluffy towelling robes.

Some nice toiletries in bathrooms don't cost a fortune and information pack as to local attractions and restaurants would enhance this property to high level of luxury .

Had to reset the water pump everyday otherwise the water pressure downstairs was very poor.

The owners seem to be aware of the problem as the welcome pack had instructions how to reset the pump. Fantastic cottage but the water pressure issue slightly tarnished the holiday.

A fantastic peaceful cottage in a beautiful part of the Lake District.

The cottage is well equipped and very cosy. We all slept very well in the comfortable beds.

Absolutely beautiful cottage, fantastic setting and attention to detail from the owners in every room.

Appreciated the lovely kitchen, big comfortable beds and super living room. Very warm and cosy and it is a large property. Some of us saw red squirrels in the garden! Extremely high cleanliness. I would like to live there...