Partridge Holme

Very Good
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple

Good
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple
  : The location was fantastic. The cottage it self was lovely and clean. Great wifi.
  : We felt that the cottage was a little cluttered. The plates and cutlery needed washing before use.

Fair
Traveller Type: Family with Young Children
  : The best thing about this property: location - just a few minutes from the lake. It's a traditional stone cottage, well converted and decorated, with eveything you need for a self-catering stay (including iron and ironing board, hair dryer, etc). Despite being close to the centre of Bowness, it's also very quiet. The street it's in is very narrow, and there's nowehere nearby to park/unload for more than a few minutes, but a parking permit is supplied which allows free parking in many local car parks - one of then just round the corner (a few minutes drive, but, if you walk back from the rear entrance, it's just round the corner). The property is a small 2 up-2 down mid-terrace, which has been converted by adding a bathroom upstairs (reducing the second bedroom) and knocking the two downstairs rooms together and replacing the old staircase with an open, wooden one (a nice feature, but still just as steep!). Bowness itself is mostly a tourist place, with all the usual drawbacks (high prices, noise, crowds, etc). It's an excellent location for things like boat trips on the lake (take the northern route - the scenery is far more spectacular!), or the 'quick' route to Beatrix Potter' Hill Top Farmhouse (worth a visit), via the car ferry (but, without a car, there's a two mile walk the other side - up hill!), but it's not a very interesting town in itself. Windermere, 2 miles up the hill (quite a walk!) is much nicer - a proper town, with better shops and places to eat. Ditto Ambleside, at the top of the lake (if you take the boat there, note that there's quite a walk from the pier to the town centre - although there is a small 'bus' at 1.50 a time each.
  : The main problem with this property is its size - it really is too small for 4 adults (as advertised). For a couple of days, it's OK, but any longer would be a strain. The main bedroom is quite large, and the ground floor is OK - although quite crowded with furniture, table and chairs, etc (and stairs cutting across the middle), but the second bedroom really is too small for two adults - the beds are literally only a foot (30cm) apart! (And the wardrobe can only be reached via an incredibly inconvenient built-in ladder!) The bathroom also, although OK, is really too small and cramped. A couple, or a family with young children, might find it OK for a week, but two days (3 nights) was enough for us. There were also several other niggles - like the fridge door opening the wrong way (not as trivial as it sounds - it made it very difficult to use), and the badly fitting, thin bedroom curtains (we were woken up at 5 every morning by the light!). Getting the key is also a bit of a faff, as it's down a very narrow back alley - no phone signal, memorise the number first! The duvets were also uncomfortable - very thick and heavy - great for the winter, maybe, but, even in the Lakes, it doesn't get that cold in August! And the ridiculous number of emails we had (11!) - mostly duplicates, or containing very little useful information. Small points, maybe, but quite irritating taken together - especially for the price we paid. But the real problem for us, and the reason why our review score is so low, was the smell. Although this is supposed to be a non-smoking house, there was a distinct smell of cigar smoke in the living area (especially around the settee and easy chairs), enough to put me off siiting there. But, much worse, was the smell in the main bedroom - a strange (and very unpleasant) combination of cigar smoke and sweat. We had to leave the window open all day, just to make it bearable.

Pleasant
Traveller Type:
  : This cottage couldnt be in a better position. Everything is within walking distance and an amazing pub is literally 30 seconds walk around the corner & the Tesco express is about 3 minute walk for example.All the other shops, restaurants, bars are all within 5 - 15 mins walk and the lake side is also only 5 minutes too.As for the property itself it has more than Ive ever had in any holiday cottage before, quite exceptional. Washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, full oven and hob, fridge & freezer with extension equipment/utensils.There is an excellent round dining table and the seating is very comfortable and plentiful.There is parking in a very close by car park only a 3 minute walk and you have a business parking permit to use for this which you can also use for other car parks too in the area if they are council run. We used it in Kendal for example.We stayed in November but I would imagine that in busy times of the year getting a parking space may be challenging.There is no view from the cottage as it is in a tiny street but you can see the lake peeking out from the end of the road just to the right of the cottage. This didnt detract from our stay or bother us at all.The area was very quiet too even though so close to all amenities.Would definitely stay again if there were mattress toppers on the single beds as this cottage is truly in a perfect position.
  : The 2 single beds in 2nd bedroom were impossible for me to sleep on so I had to squeeze onto the sofa for the 5 nights. The sofa is not a bed by the way.The mattresses were so hard that they were actually painful to sleep on.Interestingly the mattress on the double bed in the main bedroom had a very good and thick topper on it, so Im assuming that this was in place possibly due to the same reason. However, sadly no toppers on the single beds.If that was rectified then this cottage would be perfect however, unfortunately Im left sleep deprived which is not pleasant when annual leave from work is so precious.