About Laik

Laik aims to do the Lake District just right.

We’re from here and we live locally, so we know every crag, fell, ghyll and ginnel across our beautiful corner of the world.

Local

Support, local advice, and a proper welcome to make you quickly feel at home in The Lakes.

Flexible

Bookings, friendly cancellation terms and last-minute requests welcome.

Thoughtful

Design with bags of charm, and all the bits and bobs you need for your stay.

Fair

We work with our community to make sure your stay benefits the local area.

The way we work makes us an absolute joy for property owners too – you can read about that here.

We exist to share a slice of life in The Lakes in the best possible way – holiday homes filled with comfort and character, and a dash of northern hospitality to make sure you’ve got everything you need for a perfect break.

Niall and Marta Mellonie

Founders

How it Started

Laik began with a single bell tent on a remote patch of land rented from a local farmer. We wanted to create the kind of unique experience we had growing up, camping wild in secluded spots that few people even knew existed.

But we also wanted to add a bit of our own creativity and an extra dollop of style and comfort, plus the convenience of having everything set up and ready when our guests arrived.

Changing tack

Despite a lot of very happy campers, permit issues and Cumbrian winters were limiting how far our fledgling business could grow. So, we started to branch out into more sturdy structures, starting with a friend’s 2-bed flat on the shores of Lake Windermere. We poured all our efforts into transforming it into something truly special, completely renovating, redecorating and kitting the place out with everything a guest could need.

We also upped our service game, giving proper northern welcomes and loads of local advice to help our guests ease into Lakes life.

Nowadays

People loved staying at our Bowness flat so much that we knew we were onto something. Today, we manage a portfolio of outstanding properties in some of our favourite spots in The Lakes, each designed, decorated and hosted with the same enthusiasm we had when setting up that first bell tent. We reckon nobody does the Lake District better. Happily, our guests tend to agree.

A Message From Our Founders

We’re Niall and Marta, founders of Laik.

The Lake District has been our home for many many years (or an entire lifetime, in Niall’s case) and we can’t stand the thought of visitors not having the best possible experience when they come here. That’s why we put so much care and attention into Laiks holiday homes, and that’s why we go the extra yards for our guests.

We’re seasoned guests ourselves, having travelled the world and stayed in countless hotels, B&Bs and holiday homes. We’ve been blown away by incredible interiors and deeply irritated by missing utensils and uncomfortable beds, and we use all our experience to create holiday homes that are pretty near perfect.

We hope to see you in The Lakes soon!