The Lakes by Yoo

The service was not great for an expensive luxury resort

From the moment we arrived we were not treated as expected. We were sent to Guest Services and sat there waiting to be spoken to for 30 minutes. 4 people were in the office and at one point someone walked past us and shut the door. My daughter commented that we had been locked out. Not even a 'Are you okay?'. The rental housing needed polish, with everything feeling like they'd done the bare minimum. On arrival we did get a sourdough loaf and a lemon drizzle cake, which was a nice touch, but that was the only highlight. LBY seems to be set up mostly for the people who own the houses, not for people there for the weekend/week. It was quite clear they didn't feel we were wealthy enough to be there. Lots of things in our house didn't work , the air conditioner was either really cold or really warm so we ended up buying a fan to use to keep us cool. The electric points on the roof terrace didn’t work so we were unable to use these. The hot tub in the swimming pool wasn't hot nor was the steam room or Sauna. No towels were provided in the spa and there was no-one about to ask so my daughter had to walk back to the house wet. My wife spent time cleaning the property before we left as we just knew we had a sense what checkout would be like. Within an hour of us checking out we had an e-mail confirming that we were being investigated for damage. A small mark on a carpet and a snag on the curtain. The investigation is going to be to provide clarification to us if they need a professional cleaner to come and clean it and if a new curtain needs to be purchased. We still haven't had any more news over a week later. There is no evidence that this wasn't done prior to our visit so it didn't sit very well with us when we received this e-mail. When you're paying the prices demanded by Lakes by Yoo, you expect a level of service and it just isn't there. My elderly father visited us at the lakes and he was told to park in the overflow car park and when I asked if there was any transport for him he was told no. Again this was disappointing as when you hire a large home you would expect there to be parking nearby and not a long walk. They had a super car event running at the same time as our stay and it was clear these guests were their priority For less than the cost of staying at Lakes by Yoo, you can stay at a Daylesford Cottages, Thyme Hotel, Soho Farmhouse, Foxhill Manor etc - all in or near the Cotswolds and all for less money than Lakes by Yoo with a much better experience. I'd recommend looking elsewhere before you book in here. We won't be back.

Good location, close to London. The cabin was very nice, the only real letdown was the food at the restaurant. Mostly pre heated food (my chicken came out 2 minutes after ordered, burger next day was super overdone) with the staff always running around lost and confused albeit the restaurant was never more than half full which makes sense given the quality, even though all of 'The Lakes' was fully booked. Plenty of local restaurants (thyme or the pig) that serve amazing food so there are choices if you're willing to drive out 10-15 minutes.