The Stables Lake District Retreat by PolkaStays

Once booking.com sorted the issues out we had the stay was a pleasant one Positive: The Cottage was lovely The surrounding area was stunning. the cottage itself was exceptionally clean and comfortable Negative: One of the big selling points was the washing machine with being fell walkers and it being spring you do tend to gather some dirt to your hiking clothes, however the washing machine was broke from the last visitors staying there and not repaired be fore reletting. we also had an issue with marked bedding on arrival and a broken toilet seat that were quickly dealt with

Disappointing, heating was broken Positive: Good location Negative: Heating was broken on arrival in the middle of winter, the place was messy on arrival, kitchen missing basic necessities, overall not worth the money

Loved this place! Rural, quiet and cosy! Positive: We loved the location (off the beaten track and away from everything). Super quiet at night. Loved the birds and the farm dogs, horses, cows & sheep. There was also a farm shop 1mile away so we had everything we needed. The place was super clean and had all of the ameneties we needed to live as we do at home (wifi / TV / dishwasher / washing machine / microwave etc). The water from the boiler was also super hot and the shower was amazing after hiking/swimming. Negative: Would have liked a brush or a vacuum cleaner as we stayed 4 nights and the wood flooring got a little dusty / dirty towards the end. Didn't like the noisy guests from the other rental properties (but appreciate that is not the fault of the owners).

Two of my employees stayed and both of them want to return Positive: Location was excellent

The property was not as described—no internet, no TV, and a broken toilet—forcing us to leave. Positive: It was clean. Negative: The property was not as described. There was no working internet, no functional TV, and a broken toilet. We had to leave and book a hotel for the rest of our week in the Lake District at considerable extra cost. While faults can happen, the situation was made far worse by PolkaStays’ poor handling. From the start, I received daily spam emails, then a last-minute claim that payment hadn’t been made (it had). The property information sheet was incorrect, and after eventually connecting to the correct wifi, the service was intermittent before failing completely. It took 21 hours for them to confirm there would be no internet and to suggest we use mobile data—which barely works in the area. Communication was slow and unhelpful, and I ultimately had to go through the booking.com to get a refund. I cannot recommend this property or management company.