Flusco Wood Holiday Lodges — Hotel in Great Britain

Such a lovely site to stay on. Amazingly Beautiful views over the Lake District.

We stayed in the Askham escape blue (bannerdale) with our 2 children and doggy.

Site is smaller than I thought but wonderfully kept throughout with wardens going round once or twice daily. The dog walk isn’t well signposted and you have to go find nor was it mentioned by staff upon arrival. It does however offer magnificent views and is very well kept with plenty of space for your 4 legged friends to have a good run around.

We stayed over Christmas and a prelit Christmas tree was provided which the kids loved and was a really lovely and thoughtful touch.

Great laundry room with spare towels, toilet roll, dishwasher tabs and bin bags should you need any extras.

However as nice as the site was our lodge could do with some handy work to fix quite a lot different issues. Issues in every room which was a huge letdown compared to some other sites we have stayed at.

First thing we noticed was the broken front door trim coming off and porch light didn’t work, the door handle trim on the door in the hallway didn’t affect its use but the trim kept falling off.

Hole in the door on the twin bed bathroom.

The twin room blind is also broken and is set at an angle when open(up).

The bathroom in the double room had mould in the shower.

The carpet in the hallway and living areas is very worn and It’s laid on vinyl flooring, it’s also lifting in the hallway and has come away from the silver door trim edges between each of the rooms.

The fireplace silver trim was falling apart.

The dishwasher didn’t work at all while we stayed. It was always blocked and we couldn’t resolve the issue ourselves. Didn’t want to bother staff over Christmas but did let them know upon leaving. It didn’t affect us as we could just clean as we go. Also spare dishwasher salt was in the utility cupboard rather than under the sink.

All the kitchen cupboard doors are not aligned so don’t shut properly and then you have the push the whole door back in to place. Also the kitchen cupboards are filthy and dusty on top.

Upon arrival the fridge/freezer was OFF and it was not mentioned upon arrival that we would need to turn it on. It was only a few hours after we arrived we realised the fridge was not cold. The light however was illuminated inside so lead us to think it was on but the main switches for the oven/kettle/toaster and fridge freezer were hidden behind the kettle so we didn’t realise at first. There was also an ice tray in the freezer but because it was off there was no ice.

Also the hot tubs are not private and can see through the balcony glass. Also a bit odd that the hot tub is on the ground round the corner from the lodge door. Meaning in wet weather you have to make it across the decking, down the steep steps and then climb back up again in to the hot tub.

The finishing touches really do mean a lot to someone spending huge amounts of money in a lodge like this, especially over Christmas. While they are just niggles it wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t in every single room!

Did email the site directly with the issues to let them know so hopefully they will get things sorted for any...

We stayed from 1st-8th Aug 2025. In Eden 76 Riverside Lodge. Pet friendly. Area and site absolutely beautiful. General look of lodge is lovely, great patio area etc. Plenty of space in the lodge despite it appearing to be the smallest or the site. Site is beautiful, very well maintained and the nature reserve walk, benches etc are lovely. Stunning views and so close to Penrith for your shopping, 10 mins up the road. Shower rooms were lovely and great water pressure etc, but need somewhere to put your things in there as having to bend down with a poorly back for your shower gel etc wasn't great. Fabulous WiFi the whole time, never let us down even through a 48 hour storm. Hot tub was ok, staff checked it daily but only half of the jets were working (so 2 our of 4 spaces of jets). Drive/parking space would have easily fit 2 large cars which is great.

Lots of attention needed in the lodge unfortunately:

-pillows so thin, really struggled with sleep, asked for more, they came and were also thin, the lady apologied and said they were all thin. -carpets filthy, marks, stains and general dirt in the carpets. Carpets need a deep clean asap as it is disgusting, I would hate to think I took little children there whi maybe play on the floor. I was shocked to realise the colour of the carpet was supposed to be grey, it was beige it was so dirty. -kitchen, greasy marks all over the doors/draws etc not pleasant to see in a 'newish' kitchen, just a bit more attention to detail needed. Doesn't take long to clean the kitchen. -dead flys and wasps around on floor/window ledges etc where they could of just been hovered up or picked up and binned. -coffee table and dining table were really dirty too as I cleaned them myself -kitchen counter tops were pretty dirty also as I also cleaned with antibacterial wipes. -sofa was faux leather tan coloured, also quite dirty with 2 square grey cushions which needed to be binned as they were dirty and flat as a pancake -flusco landfill is not far from the lodge site and I think this played a massive part in the amount of flys we had daily which wasnt plesant and as it was warm we wanted doors and windows open but must of had around 150 flys that we killed in 1 week. Not great and a constant battle when eating or just sitting and they are landing on you etc. Horrible.

Enjoyed our time at the site itself and generally in the lodge. But some of the issues have put me off returning.

When we were packing up the car to check out. The Lodge next to us, number 77 I think had already left and the cleaners were in their. They had children with them and the adults were shouting across the park to other staff in other lodges - it was only 8:30am i found this so rude considering there were some people staying and not leaving the same day. The cleaners children were using the sofa as a trampoline which I found very unprofessional and really disrespectful too. This needs to be addressed because this type of behaviour from staff will bring the site...

Firstly on arrival the grounds are really very nice and the landscaping very pretty. We liked the dog fields too they are really relaxing with stunning views. This gains the only 2 stars of my review!

Unfortunately this is where the good ends!

Upon entry to the cabin we were instantly filled with regret and an empty feeling! It was simply dirty and tired! This was not my expectation given the photos shown on the Hoseasons website.

Where to start. The twin room is not what is shown in the photos. 1 pretty normal sized single bed with another super thin one showing all the wooden slats of the bed! 2 of the worst mattresses I’ve ever felt in my life! The springs could be felt through the material and we had to pack this out with blankets we had fortunately brought from home . The other bedroom mattress was no better! The carpets throughout were stained all over, the cooker hood was dripping fat down the walls, the lampshade all stained with dirt and dust all over it, blinds missing or broken, wallpaper ripped off walls, skirtings all smashed up and damaged, sofa chewed/ripped, front door had a gaping hole at the top where it was falling off its hinges and this constantly let flies in, back bedroom bathroom strong smell of mould, shower heads dropped forwards in both bathrooms (I fixed these myself 🙄) extractor in lounge full and blocked with dirt, skirtings thick with dust everywhere! I could go on!

Site staff eventually offered us 25% off a new booking with them on the condition we booked in a larger more expensive lodge! This would actually cost us more money!! no offer of a part refund (as I asked) and no offer to move us. Just left us with the disappointment and explained they are a ‘small family business’ (on multiple occasions) - poor customer service guys!

It seems like the lower end cabins (still in excess of £1000pw) are neglected and then site state come back and stay in our larger cabins … no, how about you get the basics right across the board!

Would not return and hope this is helpful to anyone...