22 Thirlmere

The pictures online don’t do this place justice.

It’s more beautiful inside than expected, with everything you need and plenty of space for a big family and pets. The only down side was the kitchenware being dirty, we needed to clean things before we used them. I think this is more down to the previous clients staying. Everything else was clean and comfortable and the jacuzzi was a blessing to have after a very busy two days. Access to the site is easy and everything you need to know is given before hand by the lodge owners including what facilities were available onsite. Everything was easily communicated via text or e mail. The location is fantastic, being at white cross bay means your are centre of the lake, a short walk to the docks were there’s water sports and hiring facilities, we kayaked in white cross bay and walked 20mins into Ambleside or it’s just a short 7min drive. Be mindful, it does get busy, and traffic can back up quickly and the carparks full. There’s loads of parking but it’s a popular location so they do fill up very quickly. It pays to be up and out early and have your days planned in advance. Everywhere is beautiful, the people, the food and the activities it was all great. For food, we ate at the ambleside cafe and had cheese toasties for lunch, staff are so friendly. For activities, we hired kayaks at Low wood bay and kayaked up into Ambleside, took us 45 min to an hour to get there, had an ice cream and returned. We hired a private motor boat from waters head in Ambleside for a hour and also visited the cathedral cave, which is an amazing site to explore, in, around and ontop of. We happened to attended the free National trust event just at the local Roman ruins in Ambleside. You can visit the ruins at anytime they are situated in a local park but always check online for any free local events that could be on. Overall an amazing stay, I’d definitely stay at the lodge again.

This is a hard one because this is a really nice lodge with a good hot tub, nice layout, two bathrooms and well equipped kitchen.

Small lounge/dining area but ok. Wood Railings need TLC a bit scruffy but not an issue. However my 2 stars are for the fact we could not use the front door because the inside door handle came off when we arrived and could not be used. The owner was contacted immediately and promised a locksmith who we never saw and although I emailed several times to update on the situation no repair took place without any explanation. So we had to leave the patio door unlocked (no key available) so we could get back in which meant our valuables and the owners were unsecured for the full time we were there. I’m sure if the owners contents had gone missing we would have been liable and the bond not returned! We are also sure the handle in question had been already damaged beforehand so should have been fixed!

Great cottage to stay with family!

Nice location, really spacious, very clear and easy instruction of checking in and out and overall a great experience. A minor small improvement I can think of is having a small area to put shower products inside the shower. Thank you.

Proper cleaning very poor, skirting boards side of sink in en-suite etc It requires a good deep clean.

Also 2 sofas not very comfortable the only chair was a hard back dining room chair

The cabin was very facilities and hot tub were very good.

Some of the trim was a little worse for wear, toilet roll holder in the en suite was hanging off on arrival and the toilet made a droning racket after being flushed but we had everything we needed for our stay and everything worked as needed. There were also belongings from previous guests in the wardrobes and a toothbrush down the side of the bathroom unit. The cabin was on an okay plot in the park and the park is in a great central location in the Lake District so I could recommend it on that strength alone.

The lodge was amazing, very clean, fully equipped.

It was the perfect base for a stay at Windermere. The actual site was amazing dog friendly. We went for a meal in the restaurant which was lovely and the staff made us and the dog feel very welcome. The photos taken of the lodge itself really don’t do it justice we had an amazing stay and will definitely book again.

A lovely warm and comfortable lodge in a beautiful park with a great hot tub which was checked daily.

The lodge is well equipped and we would happily stay again

Great location but lodges are tightly packed together so difficult to get a big car in and out of the designated bay.

Beds were uncomfortable. Cleaners were still there when we arrived at 4pm (check in time) we didn’t get in until 4.45 so had to wait outside. Lodge smelled nice and clean but close up it was obviously rushed as under radiators, under sinks etc were dirty. They left the hoover full. There aren’t many lights on the site at night so you’ll need a torch there are tv’s in all bedrooms and living room but they seem old. Hot tub is a great addition but there’s no privacy screen around it. There is WiFi on site but it’s not great. Didn’t affect us but it might bother others.

We stay at White Cross Bay every year although we generally book different lodges i.

e what is available at the time. We found this lodge very, very tired looking. The paintwork in the bedrooms was appalling and you could see the patches where someone had tried to tidy it up. Wallpaper was torn. The surface of the bedside cabinet in one room was literally peeling off. The soft furnishings were very old i.e the curtains very outdated and the scatter cushions were very so flat. The kitchen is not stocked up with essential basics as we have usually found in other lodges for example there isn't even a spatula. The hot tub has also seen much better days and the jets have lost a lot of power. Unfortunately this part of the site is very tightly packed with other lodges which meant we also spent the week listening to the couple in the lodge next door getting drunk in their hot tub for hours every evening which didn't make it very relaxing for us. We love white cross bay and will go back again as usual but not to this lodge I am afraid. You also have to pay £100 housekeeping deposit and we have never had to do that for any of the other lodges and it was a little ironic as it was the poorest quality one we have stayed in.

The lodge was a good size and good kitchen and hot tub but the rest of the lodge is very dated.

The tv is absolutely tiny in the living room and main bedroom and it is not a smart tv either. The WiFi is terrible and kept cutting out. The main bedroom bed is a small double and the mattress was comfortable but the pillows were not. The Hoover is not great and is also quite big and hard to move around and doesn’t really pick much up, could do with updating. The location itself was great right near Windermere and just a short walk down to the lakeside. The hot tub was lovely and it has nice big enclosed decking around the lodge. Overall had a nice break here and would come back but would try to find maybe a more up to date lodge. For £600 + for 5 nights I’d expect a little more for my money from the lodge.

Don’t bring your pets here.

It says ‘pet friendly’ but they will charge you if you so much as leave a muddy foot print. I thought it would be standard to clean in between customers but apparently they only deep clean at the beginning and end of the season which is pretty gross.

Very disappointed on arrival, finding the fridge was dirty and had to be cleaned before food could be put away.

Then floors were scruffy, beans, crumbs, crisps dirty floors, the cupboards were no better, sticky and dirty, again had to clean them before food could be put away, phoned owner, she said she would send a cleaner, at 19.38?.we had already started to clean, as we could not unpack and we needed to put food away. The windows were scruffy, you could not see out of them, owner said they had been cleaned 3 weeks previously ?. She asked for photos, which we sent. And we still waiting for a response from the owner! we had a long journey, and were hoping to relax . Not what you expect when arriving at what you expect to be a 4.2star rating. Totally unacceptable standards. We finally got in hot tub at 9 o’clock, only to find the water temperature was just warm, the temperature button did not work so could not be turned up or down. So had to come out as it was too cold to sit in. Phoned hot tub guy, told agin send a photo of the fault. Someone would be out the next morning. The guy who came out could not fix the fault. The next guy didn’t come out until Monday morning, this is day 4 of our supposedly hot tub holiday . To be told they are aware that there is an ongoing fault, and it will not be fixed until the winter?. This lodge should be deep cleaned and hot tub fixed, before they disappoint and totally spoil another family’s holiday. Also Sykes holiday cottages who advertise this log cabin, have duty to their customers. They also are aware of the ongoing problems, and choose to still advertise this cabin, knowing how many problems there are. They obviously do not take customer complaints seriously, but they both happy to take your hard earned money.

A really lovely lodge with a spacious living area.

The lodge was clean and presentable and had all the facilitates you needed. The location of the lodge was lovely but it did feel like other lodges were very close.

Excellent location !

Caravan clean, everything you need provided . Hot tub fabulous , beds comfortable , would recommend & go back again. Great onsite facilities.

Stayed 7 nights over Xmas, what a lovely, clean lodge for my family to relax inn over the festive period.

Hotvyub was maintained daily and the accommodation was very cozy. Can't wait to return x

We absolutley loved our stay.

Have just returned and already cant wait to return next year. Great location for ambleside and windermere. Clean facilities and comfy bed. Hot tub was fab. Thankyou

I cud not fault it I wud love to go agen wish I owned such a lovey loge warm dry clean the site is g8 dark at night friendly peps I cud live there my self Lovey hot tub we had everything we needed the tow bathrooms were a must for us thank you skycotige for a good prof service

We had a fantastic holiday.

Lodge was clean and tidy and well equipped. Hottub was maintained everyday. Would definitely revisit.

Very disappointing.

Don’t stay here if you want cleanliness as there is no attention to detail here. Mouldy frying pan, dirty oven, dirty cupboards, casserole dishes with burnt on food, toaster full of crumbs, dirty bin, filthy door wells, crumbs and god knows what under sofa cushions. Photos were sent to the owner, she was not apologetic. She did however say that we should have given her the chance to send her cleaner round as it would have taken no more than thirty minutes to address these issues which says it all. This place needs nothing short of a deep clean! Which believe me as lodge owner myself would have taken half a day not half an hour. She refunded us a paltry £50! The photos were also sent to Sykes just wish I could attach them to this review

The lodge was absolutely lovely and we found the beds really comfortable, there was lots of cooking utensils and necessities already in the lodge which was really useful.

The location of the lodge was close to the amenities which was great for my elderly grandparent, we went in May and it was lovely and peaceful around the lodge. The hot tub was amazing! It was maintained regularly by the hot tub guys. The only downfall we had on our stay was for days we had a horrendous smell coming from the bedroom ensuite and we struggled to pinpoint where it was coming from until my husband pulled the plug out from the shower, it did appear the smell was coming from there and it just needed a really good clean. We also found one of the hobs on the cooker kept blowing out and we thought it could have been just abit of air in the system, we ensured all the hotplates were on correctly and still this one hob kept blowing on us. My dad then took the hot plate off the hob completely where it was just a little dirty underneath, once this was cleaned it worked again. Overall the stay was absolutely lovely and I would definitely stay here again we had a lovely little break away from normality :)

Everything was perfect thanks very much for the stay.

There is only one thing missing: a washing machine. We had to go at the other end of the park to wash clothes and it is a 4 pounds 50 machine (!). It is unfortunate as the place is big enough to have a washing machine. For the rest of it, everything was perfect many thanks

The lodge was spacious and with everything you might need available.

Very comfortable and with the cold snap we experienced (snow and frost) it was lovely and warm. We enjoyed the hot tub on a daily basis and all in all it was a most welcome and enjoyable holiday. To be recommended for sure.

Excellent property, we ladies had a wonderful stay and can't wait to stay there again.

Had a very enjoyable 3 days celebrating a 40th family birthday.

We found the lodge very well equipped ,although a little tired and could do with updating and a good thorough clean.

We had a lovely stay at 22 Thirlmere.

It’s a well kept, cosy property in a great location to explore Windermere. We also took our dog and it was great for being dog friendly as the decking was enclosed so she couldn’t get out and they even left out a dog bowl and poo bags in case we needed it. Lovely place and would definitely recommend!

The property was s very tired, and needs some TLC.

Also it was not particularly clean - the doors, windows, cupboards etc were not very clean. However the property is in a lovely quiet location.

Booked for a 4 night stay at this property.

Size of the property was excellent for the 5 of us and 1 dog. Property was well stocked with everything you need for a break away from home. The large decked area and hot tub was an excellent addition. Our only 1 problem was the cleanliness of the property and I would definitely be having words with my cleaner if they left my property like that. Given that we have just come through a pandemic where cleanliness was high on the agenda this property was definitely not up to scratch and while I don't mind cleaning, when I go on holiday I would like to actually be on holiday. We arrived on the Monday and I spent a good hour scrubbing the fronts of the kitchen cupboards which were filthy - dirt/grime/grease/dust, also washed the kitchen floor as it was dirty and covered with what I would think was black dog hair. Every room had cobwebs although these were quickly removed with the feather duster in the cupboard. Skirting boards in rooms thick with dust, again easy to brush away so why is the cleaner not doing this? Composite decking area outside was great but it would have been lovely to see the spindles/balustrade area in this same material as the wooden spindles are definitely needing some work, some of them were really loose and I had to contact owners to draw their attention to this. Owners got back to me really quickly to say the could organise repair but they didn't want to impose on our holiday. Given our children's ages I declined the quick repair but advised this would need rectified if a family attended with a toddler or small dog, owner recognised the safety concerns of this. All in all a good stay at White Cross Bay and we would definitely return. If this property was cleaned to a better standard I would not hesitate to book it again. Suggest owners perhaps speak to their cleaner to make sure they getting best value for money.

Lovely setting near lake Windermere with great access to the lake where we could paddle board without it being crowded.

The lodge was perfect and had everything there that we needed. Sofa and beds were very comfortable and the hot tub was an added bonus after a long walk. The only niggle we had was that it wasn’t as clean as I would’ve liked I spent a good hour going round wiping down window sills and surfaces as they had loads of cobwebs and dust and dog hairs on them. The toilet in the en-suite hadn’t been cleaned as it was covered in dust on the cistern. Even so I will definitely be back to White cross bay.

Very disappointed to arrive at the lodge with a large full skip right beside our accommodation, along with an old sofa, fridge freezer & discarded garden furniture.

Alerted the lodge owner & member of the park team on our first day & requested it to be removed ASAP. The owner was unaware of the rubbish next to their lodge and raised this with the park manager, who initially said it would be removed last Thursday, which although would've been our last full day at the lodge, still would've improved our view! This turned out to be false and the area which resembled the corner of a waste disposal site was indeed still there as we left the property for the last time on Friday. The Park Manager didn't seem too interested in the safety or hygene aspects of the whole situation, which was amazing given I saw young children in & around the items and other people using the skip to dump their own waste. Throughout the course of our stay, I gave the owner/site every opportunity to A) get the skip removed & area tidy or B) consider making a goodwill gesture to compensate for our poor experience. Neither it seems were prepared to do so. Its ironic that we're expected to make a deposit payment for any unexpected accidents when in reality, it should be the customer withholding payment until they actually arrive on site & check the status for themselves! In light of the poor (none!) management of this situation, I'll be thinking long & hard about staying on another park like this or your company, should this be able to happen and no accountability for it. Just to re-iterate, the owner has apologized but this doesn't feel anywhere near enough, especially what we paid for this family holiday.

We had a lovely break at 22 Thirlmere.

Starting with the positives; comfy beds, Tv in every room, hot tub, fairly well equipped kitchen suitable for self catering and great location for exploring. The could be better; lodge a little tired but still lovely. There were dusty corners and dining table, tops of toilets and dust webs but overall felt clean and tidy. A lot of lodges near by but didn’t feel overlooked particularly so not a major problem. However, biggest issue was wifi. We had read it was poor prior to going but assumed that was due to location but it’s more due to the fact the property didn’t have any wifi directly to it. The only access was the main site unsecured network which we failed to connect to most days. Internet is pretty much essential in todays world and the owners really should be investing and putting wifi in the lodge. For this reason we would not choose to stay again and it would be more accurate to say the property has no wifi currently as signal was weak and unreliable if we could get onto it at all. Very frustrating when could be remedied by some investment.

Beautiful lodge interior was beautifully decorated, great facilities, I would definitely stay here again and would certainly recommend this to family and friends, I will definitely be a return customer, decking was great for my doggy he sunbathed a lot, hot tub was beautiful with the sun beaming right over us,all I can say is BEAUTIFUL.

Perfect weekend away!

! Excellent facilities, everything we needed was right there. Will definitely be recommending and most likely using again

Lovely stay at at the Holiday home, the only thing that I would add is, maybe reflected in the price, a little welcome basket, with some basic amenities,

Before travel we were not aware that there was no Wi-Fi due to the affects of the storm .

My grandson who is autistic needs his iPad to self soothe . Without it we couldn’t really enjoy the holiday . Also the bar facilities closed early . The lodge and location was beautiful

Excellent location, especially with Brockhole nearby.

Lodge was great, very comfortable for a large family and in a good quiet spot. On site restaurant was under stocked and under resourced which meant a 30 minute wait for drinks and well over an hour for food, however the ordering app would allow food orders to be placed when the food had run out… the over stretched staff would give varying explanations about deliveries and volume of orders but the situation didn’t improve over the stay. Shame as this took the shine off what was an otherwise brilliant time for us (2 adults, 4 children, 2 dogs)

Extre equipment would help, like a deck parsol.

Maybe flyers of the local area or eaterys would also be of use.

22 Thirlmere had everything required for a comfortable two week stay.

In the main it was very clean and well looked after. The owner contacted us mid stay to see if we wanted any fresh linen and towels, which was a thoughtful touch. The lodge was spacious, warm and the hot tub was a joy. Plus a clean well equipped kitchen , tv's in every bedroom and a large comfortable decking area.The site was wonderfully convenient for both Ambleside and Windermere. It was also ideally situated as a base for exploring the natural wonders of the Lake District. I personally wouldn't stay at White Cross Bay again however. Primarily due to the lodges being very near to one another which at times felt incredibly claustrophobic. A shame as the surrounding landscape, the abundance of trees and the proximity to the lake was beautiful. I must also take issue with a member of staff who very rudely shouted at and berated a number of people in various lodges, (my daughter and friends included )for using the hot tubs at 10.30 PM. Granted, there was a small party of people a few lodges down who were being a little noisy. However my daughter and friends were speaking quietly and being very considerate and felt both upset and humiliated to have been spoken to so rudely. I understand this man had a job to do, but there are ways of speaking to people, particularly paying customers who pay a substantial amount to stay at White Cross Bay. We double checked and couldn't find anything in the information and available literature to suggest people vacate the hot tubs by a certain time. A great pity as it marred an otherwise lovely evening. I have to say though, the guys who came every day to clean the hot tubs were incredibly friendly. So yes, lovely lodges, just too many of them !

We really liked the holiday and the cottage but there are a few things that you would normally expect - 1.

The wifi is unusable - there is no possible way that you can do any work from the cottage. It was so intermittent that you would be lucky to get 5 minutes online every hour. 2. There are some small things that you should have in the cottage - toilet paper, soap, salt and pepper - but this wasn't such a big deal as the shops are close That being said, the rooms are really comfortable, the jacuzzi was great and the location is really nice for a family with a pet.

Lovely lodge and plenty big enough for us.

All essentials and more provided. Think the hoover could do with an upgrade but the brushes were fine. We would definitely stay here again and the staff that came to service the hot tub daily were lovely and friendly.

Location couldn't be better.

Literally 5 min drive to Ambleside and 3 to Windermere. In the kitchen there is everything you could think of to prepare a nice meal after a day out visiting around. Wifi did not properly work, signal was very weak and only one device can be connected at a time, although we did not manage to connect any. It was good for us because we were looking for total tech detox but if you are planning on doing some work... you may not be able to do so. On the downside, the hot tub has not privacy whatsoever, neighbours windows pointing directly at it and I would say that the cleaners could do a more thorough review of the lodge, particularly the kitchen and bedding.

We loved it, home from home feel.

Modern, comfortable and spacious. The jacuzzi made it for us! Enjoyed evenings relaxing once the baby was asleep.

Had a lovely stay.

The lodge was lovely although some of the drawers had hairs in them and the grill pan was covered in melted cheese which we had to clean before use. The hot tub was not ready for our first day and we were told that we had been informed of this but we hadn’t. We used the bus service quite a lot but when you get off the bus to return to the park the road is quite busy. It would be better to have a pedestrian crossing especially as there are a lot of families with young children. Also there are no street lights so it’s really dark on a night time.

Had a lovely stay, the lodge has everything required for your visit.

The furniture is modern and suites are comfy as are the beds. We had a great time at the leisure centre, although only the pool was open due to Covid. The hot tub was the icing on the cake, I would recommend this lodge :-)

The en suite shower is too small maybe ok for young teenagers but after that it’s a tight squeeze, also after a day at lodge owners changed cushion covers for outdoor seats didn’t understand why as the original ones where fine.

My only gripe would be the late check in (6pm) on day 1 vs the early checkout (10am) on the final day

Loved it ,was pleased that hot tub was cleaned each day.

It was a welcome addition after a day in the hills. It was brilliant for a family break .

We booked this cottage at such late notice as our holiday was cancelled.

The cottage was in perfect condition. All the facilities you could need and more. The best cottage we have stayed in by far. The area is perfect, 10 minute drive into central Windermere. Can’t wait to book again.

Rented this cabin for my partners 30th.

We loved how spacious the living area was and how comfortable the beds were. Showers really powerful. Hot tub was so nice even in the poor weather. Clean and tidy on arrival. Loved our stay and will definitely come again.

The lodge was absolutely fantastic, couldn’t fault it one bit, everything was also provided that was needed such as needy things like bin bags, cleaning solutions and even tea towels which we also took with us, we have been in previous lodges and none of this was provided.

Kids loved it too and it felt like home, the hot tub was absolutely amazing, we tried to book it again for New Year as soon as we got back and it had already been booked (not surprised) well worth the stay.

The lodge itself was OK - certainly cleaner when we left than when we arrived (cobwebs behind the curtains - in the corners of the rooms), gadgets not working (ie; iPhone doc in kitchen), doors to the deck on the right hand side didn't open easily.

Windows were really dirty. The outside is definitely in need of refurbishment - was tatty. Had to sweep the deck before we felt comfortable sitting outside. The surrounding fencing needs to be repainted, all the cobwebs, general rubbish was sticking to the roughness of the flaky paintwork. We tried brushing these down twice, but was fruitless. The hot tub was clean and nice to get into in the evening. However, despite not touching the temperature control as requested, one night the temperature was 40 degrees and we couldn't use it. It was OK. There was only 3 of us staying so felt roomy inside. Nice location near the woods (we had a dog with us)., but definitely not worth the money paid. I wanted to leave the feedback in case the owners pay for someone to do the change over - in which case they are being ripped off. The owner was lovely and took our call when we were trying to get the sound bar to work and did check in with us later in the week.

Think before you buy a pass for swimming pool because I tried every day after paying £15 to book a slot in the pool and failed!

!!! All booked up. Kids very disappointed!!!!

Had booked this lodge early in the year, however was a bit concerned due to negative reviews posted from the summer.

We never encountered any problems, accommodation was spotlessly clean was in a perfect location and hot tub was great after a hard days sightseeing . Owners easy to contact at all times and the whole our time at Thirlmere lodge .

The en suite bathroom was not up to standard .

There was thick dirt and dust between hand basin unit and bathroom wall . Not been cleaned for months

The Owner was very prompt and helpful.

Chalets very close together, end of season tired.

Needs a general overhaul in cleaning.

The gate was not able to open properly.

The wooden floor panels felt like they were loose and you could fall through them at any time. The windows were dirty, in fact, very dirty and the outside was full of cobwebs.

The accommodation was for 6, but the cutlery and crockery was really for 4, also the hot tub was only for 4 persons.

Great Lodge with fantastic views .

Owners were Very Helpful and the Park was Immaculate. Five Stars

Lodge was great in a lovely park and had all the facilities required.

Once again sykes cottages have been able to provide fantastic accommodation for us to enjoy the wonderful lakes