“We are just back from a week at Eribel Cottage, the location and views of countryside are beautiful, there is a lovely coffee shop in Threlkeld which is very reasonably priced in comparison to Ambleside and Keswick.”
The cottage is well equipped however we felt this is not a luxury accommodation as listed. NONE of the windows open on the ground floor they are all locked and when we arrived the property smelt of stale curry throughout , we tried to open windows but they were all locked and no keys !!! (this had been mentioned previously in the guest book Twice !!).
The property could as also mentioned in the guest book do with closing for a week and a deep clean of everything completed. House is grubby throughout now and certainly not to the standard expected, corners, skirting boards, lights, mirrors, surfaces, bathroom fitments eg. Towel rails etc.
Overall it was a lovely week location and view wise but we would like to hear from you with regard to cleanliness as not up to standard !!!
Also the paving slabs are slippery at back and front of house and a member of our party slipped and hurt her thigh coming out the bifold doors, they desperately need jetwashing at the soonest !!!
We await your feedback and also owners feedback.
Thank you for your feedback. We will take your comments in order.
The windows downstairs can be opened but the plastic lock cover, over the pivot, has to be depressed and held while turning the lock either clockwise or anti-clockwise. Once turned pressure on the plastic cover can be released. This is a partial lock for security reasons on the ground floor. We are concerned that if the windows are opened too easily they may be left opened which has already happened. One day the cleaner noticed the downstairs shower room window was left open which would allow a burglar easy access to the property. The upstairs windows can be fully opened. We will give a detailed explanation of how to open the windows and ventilate the rooms in the Eribel Handbook. We only hope the holiday guests will find the time to read the handbook.
We are sorry a catering aroma of curry was still in the cottage on your arrival. This presents a problem as we have no control over the menu choices of holiday guests. We have to accept the aromas they leave behind. There is only a five hour window of time (1000 to 1500 hours) between holiday guests leaving and arriving which is not enough time to ventilate the cottage. The cleaner usually spends no more than four hours at the cottage to avoid being present when holiday guests leave or arrive so this shortens the time.
On the subject of ventilation, as mentioned above, the windows can be opened and each window has a horizontal ventilation port above the glass pane with a fully adjustable flap to open or close the port. Furthermore there are 3 external doors in the cottage (front, side to utility room and back to kitchen). The bi-folding doors have 3 full sized door panels and the French doors have 2. This means there are a total of 8 full sized door panels of ventilation downstairs in the property plus all the windows except the one above the kitchen sink. I am not sure what more we can do with regards to ventilation. Please remember the cleaner can only open these for a maximum of 4 hours between lettings. The rest of the time there will be a holiday guest in the property.
The general cleaning is managed by Lakes Cottage Holidays who employ the Cleaners. They are aware of the cleaning concerns and will ensure the cleaning is up to standard.
Finally the patio is regularly power washed already but sometimes the progress of the algae growth is faster at than at other times. There has been difficulty with monitoring the patio surface but we are working on a solution. We are sorry there has been a fall and hope the lady has recovered from her injury.
Property Owner
