“We are very familiar with booking cottages to rent in The Lakes and the process of booking the holiday through Sykes Cottages was seamless and all the information required was provided in advance of the holiday.”
However, Stoney Croft Cottage is very small and although there was only myself, my wife and our 12 year old son staying, we felt rather cramped and only having one toilet was not always ideal either.
Despite the fact there are two bedrooms this is really only a cottage for two people. The kitchen is monumentally small and if one person is in there, there is no hope of a second joining them. The kitchen is however modern and fully equipped, so no complaints in that regard, although we did muse at the design, as the cutlery draw can't be opened fully due to the cooker knob being in the way...
Our biggest disappointment was with the parking and the lack of any meaningful private garden space.
It is claimed that you can park one car to the front of the cottage, but you can't. If you do, you will get a note through the door from a neighbour telling you that lorries use the lane and that if you leave a car outside it will block the road. The lane fronting the building is very narrow.
People will tell you to park on Hill Top car park, which is just around the corner, but this is actually owned by the National Trust and is manned during the day, so unless you have a pre-booked ticket to use the car park you can forget any hope of using same.
In fact there is a notice in the cottage telling guests to use this car park and this really shouldn't be there. I spoke to a person manning the above car park and explained our predicament and they were alarmed to say the least that their car park was being suggested as an alternative and said that this should not be happening.
As a consequence we had times of great difficulty in parking during the day and when you've just spent £80,000 on a car, this becomes a real issue I can tell you!
The second issue is the lack of any private garden space. There is a tiny decked area to the rear, but this is not private and backs onto an open garden that belongs to next door, the owner of whom introduced himself to us upon our arrival (with his massive dog) to explain the fact that we only had the decked area and that the rest was his. One got the feeling he did this on a regular basis and as soon as a new guest arrived...
The above were enough to ensure that we won't be booking this cottage again and I would only suggest that the type of guest(s) that stay are in a very small group (max 2) and arrive in a very small car, although preferably on foot or by bike...
Dear Stephen,
Thank you for reviewing your time at Stoney Croft Cottage. We are disappointed to hear you found the property too small for your liking; the property is a traditional lakeland terrace house at heart, compact but cozy, proving a great base to explore the National Park.
The Kitchen is brand new for 2022 so I am pleased it exceeded your expectations despite the oversight in design with the cutlery draw.
The parking can be found directly located outside the property, which is perfectly adequate without blocking the lane due to the neighbouring properties wall also extending into the lane. The National Trust has had a historical agreement with villagers to be able to utilise the car park outside of their operating hours.
We are saddened to hear of your confrontation with a neighbour and this had a impact on your parking and enjoyment of the terrace. I cannot say we've ever had this issue raised before and hope it remains an isolated occurrence.
Kind Regards,
The Lakelover's Team
Property Owner
