A Week in the Lake District
 

I plan to spend a week in the English Lake District (Cumbria) in April 2010. Can anyone advise on good letting agents for self catering cottages in that area?
I hope to be based in the immediate area around Ambleside. I am hoping to spend in the region of 350 pounds for the cottage for the week. One strange requirement that seems to cause a lot of problems is for twin beds.
It would be nice to be able to deal direct with cottage owners, but few of them have credit card facilities and it is hard to pay from overseas in any other way.
Many thanks :)

English Country Cottages
http://www.english-country-cottages.co.uk/

Usually says if a cottage has double or twin bedded rooms

Yelpir,

I have recommended www.hoseasons.co.uk before. They seem to have a good selection in the north--we rented excellent cottages from them in north Yorkshire moors and mid-Wales.

I believe they started years ago by renting boats in the Norfolk broads. The cottages were immaculate, locally owned, beautifully decorated. Perhaps we just lucked out or maybe hoseasons sets a high standard--that was our opinion.

There are many other firms such as English Country Cottages. Just google cottages lake district and soooo many options will come up.

That time of year (avoiding Easter and any school holidays) you should easily find a two-bedroom cottage in your price range and certainly a one-bedroom.

In my experience renting cottages in the UK, usually the master has a double or queen bed and the second bedroom has twins.

Occasionally I've seen more newly refurbed cottages with master bedrooms which have a king which can be split into two twins. Usually this will be in the cottage description.

We were in the Lake District a year ago September but stayed in a hotel on Lake Windemere as we were only there four days. Loved it, but like the song we used to sing at summer camp, "Pray for sunshine but always be prepared for rain..."

When I need more than one bed -- on the various agency/vrbo/etc sites, I search for properties that sleep 3. That will still turn up mostly smaller/less expensive 1 and 2-bdrm cottages but all will have at least 2 beds.

That way you don't have to scour through a long list of cottages that sleep 2 to find the few w/ twin beds.

I have a file somewhere re Lake Dist. self catering. I'll look for it in a bit . . . .

But in the meantime, if you broaden your search criteria to 'sleeps 3', you'll probably have more luck.

A good website to search for accommodation is http://www.golakes.co.uk/accommodation/, official Lake District Tourism site. You can book with your card through the website. £350 a week is at the lower end of the scale, so expect a simple though clean accommodation.

Thanks all, and a happy New Year :)
I have found a lovely house in Ambleside. I had to push my budget up to 400 pounds for the week but I think it will be worth it. I am now looking forward to a wonderful week exploring the lakes. Who do I talk to to order up some sunny days? :)