Sykes holiday cottages

I have no personal experience of holiday cottages, but the UK consumer association (Which?) has four companies as recommended providers (as of a review last year.) Landmark Trust. Rural Retreats. National Trust. Classic Cottages.

www.which.co.uk/reviews/holiday-lets/article/holiday-cottage-company-reviews-aluxM5N5Bhg4

We used Sykes with no issues in the early 2000's. They've been around for many years. My wife was in touch with them a couple of years ago but opted to use another company instead, more to do with accommodation choice. Unfortunately, there was a major plumbing issue with our rental a few weeks before we moved in. A relative in the UK baled us out through a contact of his.

My wife's in bed, I think she used one of these two, which have also been around a while:

https://www.staycotswold.com/

https://www.manorcottages.co.uk/

Whichever company it was, they returned our money swiftly. Whoever you choose, you will likely have to pay upfront and there will be a no cancellation policy, so insurance is a good idea.

Almost forgot. In Moreton we met another Canadian couple who live about an hour away from us, and we've kept in touch since. They used Sykes and were very happy with the booking process, though their cottage needed a little TLC; I'll try to find out which cottage they rented, if you are interested in Moreton?

Wow, already such great information!

Katy - thank you for the link to the article. A lot of information there, including specifically for the Lake District.

Gundersen - We will be going to the southern Lake District, so unfortunately Moreton will not work. But thank you for sharing your experiences. I will look up your second link in case they have anything in the Lake District.

We used Sykes for two rentals in Ireland, in Donegal and Killorglin. The property owners were both locals who greeted us on arrival and were very helpful. The properties were very nice and as described. The only downside was they only rent for seven days, so they didn't work for short stays.

Been around a long time, my parents used them as an agent gor their very busy holiday let

Thank you, Katheryne and Richard! Good to hear from people who have actually dealt with them. The online reviews are all over the place, so it is tough to know whether to trust them or not.

I have taken cottage holidays fairly often and always book through Airbnb, Vrbo or booking.com. Read reviews carefully. These are typically older, idiosyncratic properties and there can be various issues with heating, hot water, damp etc. You will often need the heating on even in summer in some of these old cottages. It’s really worth paying for something that is highly rated and preferably tourist board assessed at 5 stars. If it seems cheap there’s probably a reason for it.

Helen, thank you for this information, I needed to hear it. I will be careful choosing.

I've used Sykes previously on one occasion only and that was for a property on the Isle of Wight. The cottage was fine, a few areas needed for improvement but I've found that with almost all holiday rentals I've had be it Sykes, Cottages.com, AirBnB, VRBO etc. Opinions are so subjective, what might be fine for one person would be a disappointment for another. Sykes is a professional company with a large portfolio of properties throughout the quality spectrum. Ultimately it comes down to the individual properties that you're looking at to decide if they're for you or not.

We now prefer to rent a lodge or a modern static caravan because you know what you’re going to get. The quality is far more reliable and usually higher than any cottage. Landal have sites in the Lakes and I’m sure there are others. You will be on a holiday park rather than a village so it depends whether that matters.

We have booked a 10 day stay in the Cotswolds (Chipping Campden) in May through them. Booking was smooth, they just emailed us today asking us to download their app so we can "craft our perfect itinerary" and get info from the cottage owner on restaurants, shopping, sightseeing etc in that area.

JC, Kathy - thank you for providing more points of reference. I think with this sort of thing, choosing carefully is very important. So I will keep it in mind.

Helen - a very interesting alternative. I will look and see what they have in the area we are considering.

We have finally decided on where we want to base ourselves (Coniston), so I did make some progress in our planning this week, and can now start looking at available options. I need to wait to book though, as we don't have our travel dates finalized yet.

We booked through Sykes in 2023 and had a great experience. Charming farm cottage in the Yorkshire Dales for a week. The hosts were kind and helpful. I've noticed that Sykes properties also show up on booking.com and other sites. Perhaps hosts choose to book their places with multiple platforms? I can recommend Sykes.

Hilary - yes, I do see a lot of cross-platform listings. The price, service and the cancellation policies vary across platforms though, so one has to be careful. I am nowhere ready to book yet, but I have started looking to see what is available and what to expect. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I have booked through Sykes in Scotland and England including in the Lake District. The reviews are ‘all over the place’ because the properties vary hugely. Sykes are just an agent in the same way that any other platform are. In fact they are probably a it better than the platforms like booking.com in that they do at least visit the properties they represent. I always read property descriptions very carefully and have had good experiences with Sykes.

A good housekeeping bond is a deposit taken in case you cause any damage to the property.

Personally I would not book anything on a holiday park (lodge, static caravan etc). I prefer to be in a small village or isolated location, surrounded by nature, rather than other holidaymakers’ kids and dogs.

Skyegirl - LOL about the holiday park :-) Thank you for the explanation for the "good housekeeping bond". Since Sykes has so many properties all over, it makes sense that the quality varies. I guess I need to do my "due diligence".