Saltcotes Hall Farm annexe, Black Dyke Road, Arnside, Cumbria, LA5 0HG

Had a fantastic time, brilliant location and cosy cottage. Walked in fantastic scenery everyday and then relaxed in the evening by the log burning stove. Magical time. Thankyou

We have returned from our stay at Saltcotes Farm, we were so pleased with the location - the village of Arnside was beautiful. The local scenery is stunning. The cottage was cosy, having a log burning fire each night made it special especially with a glass of wine in hand. We had such a lovely time we will be returning to Saltcotes.

This spacious cottage has the potential to be a lovely holiday spot, if only it were not so neglected and dirty.

We were told the annexe was not normally available at Christmas, but they made an exception and said we could book it for a week for £300.

We thought we were getting the bargain of a lifetime, but we were in for shock.

The whole place looked as though it had not been cleaned for months. Even the settee was filthy and when my wife tried to turn over the (washable) covers, she found old food, old nuts and other rubbish beneath the cushions.

In the bedroom, we found used tissues , some with blood stains, and even hair cuttings in the main bedroom waste basket.

Cobwebs were everywhere and we had to spend two hours cleaning food, grease and other rubbish from the kitchen before we could use it. The fridge was full of mould and even the washing up bowl was black.

Central heating, served from a boiler in the main house, was switched off at breakfast time and not switched on again until evening. There was a poorly maintained wood burning stove in a dirty fireplace but it took so long for it to heat the room, it was bedtime before a comfortable temperature was achieved.

When we complained to the owner, who lives at the farm, she blamed her cleaner but offered no apology.

She said she was upset we had complained after she had been \"so generous\" in allowing us to hire the annexe at Christmas.