West Border Farm Carlisle, Cumbria

We are a group of 14 ladies aged 59 to 81 and currently staying at West Boarder Farm. The house is very clean and has everything we have needed over the 3 days. It was lovely getting our welcome pack of 2 bottles of Prosecco flowers and a box of chocs. The house is fully equipped throughout lots of extra towels and bedding. After seeing all the negative reviews we was a bit concerned but found we had no need to worry. Its in a very quiet secluded area and the three new builds near by have now been completed but as yet are not occupied. We have not used the games room as it is more for children. Some of these facilities do need replacing though. The only reason we have given it 4 was due to the lack of mirrors and shelving in some the smaller rooms. We would have preferred to have shelving rather than a clothing rack.

House could be lovely but falls well short. My room had ripped and purple stained bedding, cheap pillows and cheap curtains (no lining) which ensured I was woken up at sunrise but if I hadn’t been woken by the sun I would have been woken shortly after by the construction site next door (same owner as this property but apparently they have no control over the time that construction starts……). My shower didn’t drain properly - I’m sure nothing that some Mr Muscle wouldn’t fix but in a ‘4*’ property I’d assume this would be taken care of so as not to affect guests. In a 4* property for 17 guests in the a fairly remote location I’d expect a well equipped kitchen but this is definitely not. Pots and cutlery appear to be from a post WW2 car boot sale, there was one serving dish, plates that you’d expect to find in a school canteen and the sharpest knife was the bread knife. The old and poorly functioning dishwasher wasn’t big enough to hold all of the dishes from one meal for all guests, took several hours for a cycle and produced dishes that were far from clean. The owner provided an inspired suggestion of running the dishwasher a second time. A fridge that loudly beeps 3 times every 30 seconds all day due to a fault that the owner didn’t seem to care about got very old, very quickly. The owner told us simply to close the kitchen door - so we’re paying for a room we can’t be in, what about when cooking a meal and what about the bedroom above the kitchen where the beeping could still be heard? You also don’t expect to have broken couches in a 4* property, apparently these were within warranty and being replaced which is great for future guests but we were just expected to deal with this in the mean time. I wouldn’t accept broken furniture in a 4* hotel room so why should it be ok in a rental property? Maybe some of these issues could be overlooked in a property with a lower star rating but in that case we wouldn’t have wasted our money on it.

Certainly not 5* and very poorly maintained both inside and outside and the rear of the property overlooks a building site. Quite simply to be avoided.

West Border Farm. We recently spent a week there and were completely underwhelmed and disappointed. The build has obviously been stunning at one point but is now tired and in need of some TLC. As you approach the property the first thing you become aware of is the abandoned vehicle at the gate that has apparently been left there to rot away. On the initial walk round of the building we were advised that there was a slight issue with the Fridge/Freezer that the buzzer alarm was broken and was sounding constantly and was being dealt with through a warranty issue. We eventually complained to the housekeeper regarding this and were then advised that the machine was now out of warranty and the owner of the property advised us to keep the kitchen door closed. This machine beeped 3 time every 30 seconds!! There was only one cork screw bottle opener which was ridicules considering the size and expected occupancy numbers. The pots and pans provided were well past there best and the quality of the glasses, crockery and cutlery were very poor. It must be said there was not enough glassware for potentially 18 occupants. The dishwasher did not wash dishes at all requiring all items to rewashed after being through the dishwasher. The fact there was only one domestic dishwasher for the potential 18 occupancy was also an issue raised with the housekeeper. This was passed onto the owner who advised us there was nothing wrong with the dishwasher and just to put it on again. There was damage to the games room a hole in the wall and a broken table football table that had been given a quick unsightly repair. We never used the table in case it disintegrated when being used. Within the large sitting room area there was ample seating although a couple of the large couches had broken seats and if you did sit in these spaces you were almost sitting on the floor. The bedding on some of the beds had holes from probable old age and required to be renewed. The outside area although large required a bit of work. The grass in areas was overgrown in particular around the children’s play climbing frame. There were 6 outdoor seats one of which we were advised not to use as it was broken (This was apparently repaired during or visit but l am not convinced). The hot tub had a broken handle that made it slightly awkward to open when it should have been a pretty straight forward operation. We raised all the issues above immediately with Sykes who in turn reported them to the owner who took no action other than to send the housekeeper round to take a list. The list was made and the other thanked us for our suggestions through the housekeeper. As our week progressed there was also issue with one of the showers draining properly.

We have just spent the weekend in this absolutely stunning house. The pictures do not do it justice. Everything was perfect. Susan the caretaker what a lovely lady. I will definitely be going back. What a delightful place. Thankyou for helping us all make special memories.