“Reading previous reviews and the notes at the cottage, I'm sure little of this will come as a surprise: Smell of sewage - this was revolting.”
The cottage has an air admittance valve fitted on an external soil pipe (which is completely unnecessary - why not extend the stack and top it with a vent?) When the valve sticks, water is syphoned out of one of the sink/bath/shower traps and allows the sewers to vent into the cottage. A competent plumber could sort this quickly - why haven't previous complaints about it lead to any rememdial action? Cleanliness was generally very good but clearly some previous guests couldn't be bothered to ...
The cottage has an air admittance valve fitted on an external soil pipe (which is completely unnecessary - why not extend the stack and top it with a vent?) When the valve sticks, water is syphoned out of one of the sink/bath/shower traps and allows the sewers to vent into the cottage. A competent plumber could sort this quickly - why haven't previous complaints about it lead to any rememdial action? Cleanliness was generally very good but clearly some previous guests couldn't be bothered to clean their dishes - we found crockery with food residues and even crumbs still on them - clearly not a dishwasher issue. Despite previous complaints about the dishwasher we found it worked fine. Heating controls were a little basic. You could save a fortune, and earn some green credentials, but sorting out the heating controls and/or replacing the old storage heaters with a more efficient heating system. And silicone seals were in poor condition - the seal around the bath is completely useless - it needs to be redone with a bath full of water so that the seal doesnt immediately break when there is any weight in the tub. In short, the advice of a good heating engineer and half a day's work from a decent plumber could sort a lot of the problems. At this price point I would expect more notice to be taken of complaints from previous guests - we assumed the historical issues mentioned in past reviews would have been dealt with. Superb location though - a great base for walking in Langdale and good eateries nearby - as well as an excellent village shop.
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. We are sorry that you had a problem with the sewage smell. We can now confirm that during a break in bookings the owner has been able to have works done on the property, including changing the ventilation pipe. This has now resolved the problem.
We are glad that you did have a good holiday and enjoyed all that the area has to offer.
Lakelovers Owner Relations Team Property Owner