Holly Bush in Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria

The cottage was outstanding and very clean.. The booking process was easy and straight forward. Whilst I'm aware you can chip away at the total cost of holiday rather than pay the final bill all in one go, the app doesn't appear to allow you to do this

Excellent time again in the lakes, a lovely little place to stay and close to everthing.. highly recommend.

Very clean and comfortable cottage in an excellent location..

The cottage was perfectly located for us - close enough to Windermere town to walk, lovely local walks in gorgeous rolling countryside, and close enough to the major Lake District sites to do plenty.. So many things about the cottage were really great. Wonderful new soft carpets for the downstairs bedrooms, really good comfortable beds, unbelievably well-stocked kitchen, brilliant huge, generous, collection of games, books and DVDs (good taste too!) and lots of maps, reference books for the Lake District and so on. We were expecting that this sort of thing might have been removed due to Covid, so we were delighted there was plenty there, especially for the odd rainy afternoon. We felt it was particularly generous of the owner to share all these personal things with us. The kids enjoyed playing Swingball too. It was fabulous having free access to the laundry room - love the Eco Egg! - and was great to be able to use the washing machine and tumble drier several times, especially after a muddy/wet walk. Our only disappointments were some pretty minor things. 1) The bathroom was a bit damp with peeling paint etc (but really hard to keep a bathroom well aired when it's below ground level) 2) The bin situation - we arrived to find the wheelie bin for our cottage brimming full. The housekeeper really helpfully said we could use one belonging to another cottage, but that was then removed, leaving us with nowhere to put our rubbish. Eight days into our 10 day stay, our wheelie bin was finally emptied. 3) More disappointing, due to the environmental impact, was the request to take all recycling home with us. When you are staying for over a week and already have a full car, that's a big ask. It would have been far more helpful to be told where the nearest recycling facility is (I think we saw one in Ambleside) and be directed to take it there. Better, would be in the owners would pay for roadside recycling, as it seemed other parts of the Heaning Estate had. We were fairly surprised in the C21 to find somewhere that had no recycling provision at all. 4) Finally, and only a very minor thing, there was a comment in the welcome book in the cottage about a parking disc that we could use for the local town(s). There wasn't one in the cottage as advertised, but the owner told us we could get one from various shops in Windermere. We talked to the tourist Information in Windermere who advised there was no such scheme, and others suggested the same. We are still none the wiser, but didn't appear to have any need for the parking disc! Highly recommend being National Trust members for free parking in multiple locations though.

Was clean and tidy but was not told of building work in progress all around the .... Was clean and tidy but was not told of building work in progress all around the property if had known would not have booked

The Holy bush was very comfortable and we enjoyed every minute of our stay.. We will be back for sure. Thank you for a great property

The cottage has absolutely everything you might need with a lot of lovely touches like emergency toiletries, nappies etc which is great. It also has plenty of games, books which again was great. Was lovely and quiet but close to Bowness. Beds were comfy and the cottage lovely and warm which was great as it snowed during our visit. My only criticism is the check out time which at 10am is very early and we had a 9 week old baby with us so a later checkout would have been great. I would have no hesitation in recommending the cottage to anyone.

The cottage it’s self was in a lovely location although the approach to the cottage is horrendous.. We did however found it easier from further up the road. We did however have a great holiday especially as it was our first holiday with our 9 month old little boy. Parking is a little tight but is manageable. Would definitely return again at some point for another holiday.

When booking I only had the brochure/ internet pictures to view, went ahead and booked.. Received a phone call from the owner one week prior to our visit, to be informed " The builders are in" only to find a huge building site to drive through to get to Hollybush, plus a complete new Barn conversion in front of our cottage, totally different from any photographs published. The building work going on had not just started and is a mammoth project, I'm sure if I had received up to date information of this venue I would not have made a booking. As my ratings show all other standards were met and of good standard.

We had an awesome time in this cottage. It is very well located and we had no issues whatsoever. Throughout our stay in Windermere we visited both the Windermere and Coniston Lakes, and they were very easy to get to from the cottage. The cottage itself is very well kept and maintained with a parking space. Also great level of communication with the owners. I would recommend anyone visiting Windermere to book this this cottage.

Lovely location, peaceful and relaxing

Very cosy cottage suitable for all the family! Everything you could possibly need, great location and like home from home! Very clean comfortable beds like a hotel room! Kids loved the games provided- kept them entertained on an evening!

The Cottage was very nice but the double bed in the master bedroom is much too small for two adults (we are not big people) and we havent slept well the 5 nights because of this.. That was very disappointing because all in all the cottage was great and in such a calm and peaceful surrounding but the bed is definitely too small.

This was an amazing cottage more than what we were expecting we have stayed in a few cottages and this was by far the most comfortable stay we have had.. we arrived late at night but there was perfect lighting to see what we were doing to get our bags out the car and unpack. everything was fully equipped and the beds were very comfortable the rooms were very clean and tidy I would highly recommend this cottage and we will definitely be returning thank you for making our holiday break so comfortable

Brilliant little cottage, had everything we as a young family needed.. Perfectly located a short drive away from Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside and Kendal it was a great base for starting to explore the lakes. We will be back!

The little location was good, situated very close Windermere.. The actual village itself is very quiet it’s about 1.5 miles to the nearest shop/pub with nearest supermarket being a Booths in Windermere, there are smaller shops such as a co-op also in Windermere. My only complaint would be lack of outside lights. The laundry facilities are located in an outbuilding and going to get the washing when it’s really dark outside did make me a little nervous even with a torch. Other than that I really liked it, cottage was warm, cosy, comfortable and well equipped.

We had a lovely stay at Holly Bush over the new year period.. The cottage was really warm and cosy, and very well equipped with everything we needed. All of the rooms were of generous size and proportions. The kids enjoyed making a snowman in the outside space! The location is brilliant and we would definitely use it again for easy access to all that the Lake District has to offer.

The location was fantastic for us.. We know the area quite well, so knew where we were going. It was very quiet and peaceful with some lovely country walks on the doorstep. The cottage was fabulous. It was very warm and comfortable and had great facilities and was well equipped. There was a basket of essentials in one of the bedrooms, that you could use and replace if you had forgotten anything! They seemed to have thought about everything. If I was going to criticise anything, it would be that the mattress on the double bed sagged a bit in the middle. My Mum slept on one of the single beds and had no problems whatsoever. I would highly recommend this cottage to anyone.

The only complaint is the bath/shower.. The height of the bath plus the shape made access difficult for a smallish person with knee problems. Also the parking space would be difficult if there were many other vehicles.

The barn is in a excellent spot for a peaceful break and extremely well presented, time has been taken to provide a lot of handy items, especially kitchen equipment.. The beds were comfortable and it was clean and tidy. Each barn had an allocated parking space with one spare for visitors. There is no signage but it is in a very small hamlet and we found the entrance quickly. We were extremely pleased & would happily stay here again.

We had a great time..

A lovely, cosy and well equipped cottage in a good location. Ideal for walking or touring with many walks starting right from the door.

Lovely place to stay. Very spacious and well equipped for our family of 4. Beds were comfortable and heating worked well. Would definitely come back again if it's available.

Hollybush is one of perhaps 6 cottages comprising Heaning Barn. We stayed in Hollybush Cottage and found it cosy, comfortable and extremely well equipped. Sleeps four in a double room and twin. Modern furnishings throughout and pleasant Shaker kitchen provide a clean and desirable holiday cottage. Outside garden furniture on the enclosed lawn would no doubt be lovely in the summer. Parking limited but adequate and the cottage is located only a mile or so outside of Windermere off the A591 to Kendal (15 minutes away).