“Grizedale is a spacious apartment with a handy entrance lobby for storing suitcases, shoes etc.”
which leads to a large living/dining room. On one side of the living room is the ‘master’ bedroom with a very comfortable super-king bed and a small but well fitted ensuite shower room. The velux window in the roof had been fixed when we were there. When it is closed and the blind down it makes the room very dark – we ended up leaving the blind open a little bit so that there was a bit of light for those midnight trips to the loo. On the other side of the living room is a large kitchen which is very well provided with everything you need and good cupboard space for your breakfast cereals and other essentials. It’s probably big enough to take a kitchen table which would make the living room even more spacious. Next to that is the main bathroom which is also large with one of the biggest walk-in showers I’ve seen. The second bedroom is next door is bigger than the master but not ensuite.
The furnishings are ‘retro 60s’ with hints of ‘industrial’ which probably echoes the original commercial purpose of the building and is fashionable at the moment, though we found the settees a bit low (we are in our late 60s). The decor is in shades of grey with colourful cushions as highlights, and the overall effect is minimalistic. Again, fashionable but we felt a bit anonymous – there was very little which said: “you’re in the Lake District”. We could have been anywhere; there weren’t even any leaflets about places to visit or take away menus left around which would have been helpful.
Jayne, the owner, is excellent. There was a problem with bedding and towels (due to the usual cleaner being on holiday and the temp cleaner making a mistake). This was sorted out very quickly and Jayne kept in touch to make sure everything was OK, including that we didn’t have problems with the velux. Because we stayed for 2 weeks, we also met the regular cleaner, Meg, who did a mid-stay change of linen/towels and bathroom/kitchen clean for us and was very helpful.
The apartment is more or less in the centre of Kendal so very close to pubs, shops, restaurants etc. and is only a few minutes from the river for those early morning/last thing at night comfort walks with the dog. However, as it overlooks one of the many alleys or ‘yards’ in Kendal, there is no view.
The description of the apartment says that there is unallocated parking close by which we found slightly misleading. Parking is in the pay-and-display car park behind the building and as another guest has said, it is very easy to miss – we suggest a very close study of the map before setting out. There are two left turns into the car park from Lowther Street but they are very sharp and the sign for the car park is hidden behind overgrown shrubs. Also, satnav gets lost, so we also drove around Kendal’s weird and wonderful one-way system a couple of times. The charges for parking are not cheap but we downloaded the ‘paybyphone’ app and got a 7-day pass which allows you to park in a number of other car parks in the South Lakes including Bowness, Ambleside and Grange over Sands as well as in Kendal.
Two things that the owner has no control over but are worth mentioning.
1. A previous guest mentioned the convenience of the ev-chargers in the car park – these were all out of order when we were there and clearly had been for some time. The nearest charge points are at Booths which is a few minutes drive away and these are fast chargers. You have to pay for parking as well but you can redeem the cost if you spend £10 in Booths which isn’t difficult. Apart from one Sunday we didn’t have a problem accessing a charger.
2. Although our dog is small and elderly, he normally doesn’t have a problem with stairs and happily climbed up to the apartment. However, he was terrified of going down and we had to carry him every time we went out. We think this is because the stairs are enclosed and painted a dark grey which makes them quite gloomy even though they are well lit. From our dog’s point of view, they must have they looked like a big black void. But I have to emphasise this was our dog – a much younger dog in a neighbouring flat didn’t have a problem at all.
Hi Judith
Thank you for taking the time and for your very detailed feedback. We are a new property and it is always very useful for us to hear about useful suggestions and experience. I will take on board your comment about leaflets - we try to cover everything in the guest pack left in each apartment but I appreciate a few take away leaflets might be helpful.
Thank you for staying with us and we hope to see you again some time.
Best wishes
Jayne
Property Owner
