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The Independent UK

Travel

Helen Pickles

The 10 best hotels in the Lake District, for lakeside views, spa breaks and Michelin-starred meals

Michelin the Lake District Lake District Luxury Keswick Windermere

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Majestic fells, glittering lakes, craggy valleys and comely white-washed villages - you’d need a heart of stone not to be beguiled by the Lake District. With England’s highest mountain, longest lake and deepest waters, not surprisingly it’s the country’s second-most popular national park.

And it’s not just for adrenaline junkies. The area’s beauty can be enjoyed from lake cruises. There are grand houses with grand gardens, plus the homes of writers, poets and artists to explore (poet William Wordsworth, arguably, put the region on the map). What’s more, there is an astonishing food and drink scene, with 13 Michelin-starred restaurants, and numerous craft breweries and distilleries.

To match the variety of things to see and do, there’s a variety of places to stay: swanky hotels for the spa-lovers, restaurants-with-rooms for the foodies, country inns that welcome walkers, keenly priced B&Bs with brilliant breakfasts, town-centre pubs with buzzing atmospheres, and glorious one-offs with funky designs and a proud Lakeland character.

Best hotels in the Lake District

At a glance

Best boutique hotel: The Yan
Best spa hotel: Brimstone
Best luxury hotel: Gilpin Hotel
Best family hotel: The Swan
Best budget hotel: Ambleside Townhouse
Best dog-friendly hotel: The Inn on The Square

Gilpin Hotel

Crook, near Windermere

Luxury can be found in one of the Gilpin’s spa suites (Gilpin Hotel)

This is indulgence with a capital I. A modern country-house hotel, 10 minutes from Windermere’s lakeshore, it has expanded from the original Edwardian house at its core to offer a variety of rooms and suites across its 21 acres. These vary from the lavishly cossetting (bright colours, thick fabrics, plump cushions, plants and books; most with hot tubs) to apartment-sized, stand-alone chalets with floor-to-ceiling windows, and personal spas including sunken hot tubs. A separate six-bedroom ‘Lake House’, a mile away and wrapped in woodland and with an indoor pool as well as a lake, offers a more homely – though still grand – style.

Both the main hotel and Lake House have small spas: the former with a roof-top garden; the latter overlooking the lake. Service levels are very much ‘your wish is my command’ and there’s a choice of Michelin-starred dining at SOURCE or pan-Asian tapas – in fun-coloured surrounds – at the well-named, Spice.

Address: Crook Road, Windermere LA23 3NE

The Yan

Grasmere

The bistro is the heart of The Yan (The Yan)

This dog-friendly bistro-with-rooms, in converted farm buildings a 15-minute walk from pretty Grasmere, is both smart and fun. Its relaxed atmosphere is in no small part due to the fact it’s a family affair; kicked off by mum and dad, and now largely run by daughters Jess and Georgina and their husbands, all of whom have excellent knowledge of the area.

At its heart is the bistro (with Jess’s husband Will at the helm) with its tangy take on Lakeland food – slow-cooked Herdwick lamb with pea mash and ratatouille, for example – and in rustic surrounds of slate floors, exposed rafters and recycled timber tables. On warmer days, eat outdoors on the terraces with their views to the fells. Each of the five bedrooms offers a fell view, too. Sleek, minimalist rooms in pale greys and whites, with oak doors, wool fabrics and timber headboards, they’re carefully designed to make the most of the spaces. Compact bathrooms are bright and modern with decent showers; all you need after a day on the hills.

Address: Broadrayne Farm, Grasmere, Ambleside LA22 9RU

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Kirkstile Inn

Loweswater

This inn is cosy and comfortable (Kirkstile Inn)

This whitewashed 17th-century inn, tucked away from the mainstream crowds near quiet Loweswater, requires a little persistence to find – though plenty do. It has all you’d expect of a traditional Lakeland inn: low beams, flagstone floors, toasty fire and a series of little snugs. There’s smart and robust food on the menu – it’s important to leave room for the home-made fruit crumble – and their own-brew beers at the bar.

A long grassy terrace beside the beck at the rear looks up at the magnificent Melbreak fell, one of several walks that are possible from the front door. Many of the neat, country-fresh bedrooms (some in a separate building) share the same view. With black-painted beams, pine or oak furniture, colourful fabrics and creaking floorboards, they have a simple yet smart style. Sensibly, only the outside rooms have televisions.

Address: Loweswater, Cockermouth CA13 0RU

Brimstone

Chapel Stile, Langdale

Luxury and outdoor adventure meet at Brimstone (Lee John Mann Photography)

This hotel proves that you don’t have to give up your luxuries to enjoy an outdoors-adventures break (although the latter activities are not compulsory). The modern, chalet-style building of slate, timber and glass, and on the edge of a forested estate in the Langdale valley, has just 16 suites. Each comes with a ‘host’ who acts as a modern-day butler, and can kit guests out in walking gear, provide walking and cycling routes, offer a drop-off and pick-up service, and even the loan of an electric BMW car. All provided free, subject to availability. If that’s all too much, guests can totter across to a swanky spa, plus a leisure centre with 20-metre pool.

Suites are ridiculously large, and furnished in an understatedly luxurious way with pale-oak floorboards, wool-covered sofas, real fires and soft countryside colours. Everything is on a grand scale from beds to sofas to bathrooms – some have freestanding baths in the rooms, all but one have balconies. There’s a jolly bistro on the estate (shared with another hotel plus chalet-style lodges), plus 24-hour complimentary drinks and snacks.

Address: Great Langdale, Ambleside LA22 9JD

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The Inn on The Square

Keswick

Scandi design permeates this smart townhouse (Lee John Mann Photography)

Plum in the centre of the jolly market town of Keswick, this smart townhouse hotel has all-round appeal whether for weekend-breakers here to stroll the shops and cruise on Derwentwater, walkers keen to climb Skiddaw, or families and dog-lovers wanting to do a bit of everything. There’s a cocktail bar at the front, a family-friendly pub at the rear (serving food until early evening) and a bright and breezy steakhouse restaurant with an open kitchen.

The 34 bedrooms have a light and fresh Scandi design – pale grey palette, retro-patterned fabrics, neat fitted furniture - that makes the most of sometimes small spaces. The wall-sized photographs of the local Herdwick sheep as a bedhead feature is a fun touch. Views are either over rooftops to the fells or to the market place.

Address: Market Square, Keswick CA12 5JF

The Swan

Newby Bridge

Looking for something for everything? Try The Swan (The Swan Hotel & Spa)

Away from the crowds, in a riverside setting close to the southern end of Lake Windermere, this family-friendly hotel ticks plenty of boxes: it offers something for the kids, something for the grown-ups, something for couples – and all wrapped up in a breezy, modern style.

It’s a big hotel – originally a 17th-century coaching inn but considerably extended to 84 rooms – and goes big on colour, too. Expect to find clashing pinks and hot oranges, dazzling floral wallpapers and slate walls in the public areas while bedrooms have cottage-garden colours and bright-patterned wallpapers. Larger rooms might have white-painted floorboards and freestanding baths, and most rooms have views either over gardens or river.

There’s a swanky inside-outside spa with outdoor Finnish spa, plus a pool and gym and, for the children, an adventure playground, nature trail and games room. With a choice of pub food and smarter dining, everyone should be happy.

Address: Newby Bridge, Ulverston LA12 8NB

The Royal Oak Hotel

Rosthwaite, Borrowdale

The character at the Royal Oak remains despite various updates over the years (Royal Oak Hotel)

In the centre of Rothswaite village, in the heart of Borrowdale – arguably, the area’s most scenic valley – this landmark 18th-century inn has been carefully updated without losing its much-loved, traditional character. There’s a fire in one of the low-beamed snugs, a tree trunk holds up a beam in the dining room, slate floor in the cosy bar, and a warm welcome to dogs and walkers. The latter have a smart drying room for boots and clothing.

Bedrooms, which are spread between the main building and converted barn and cottages across the rear courtyard, have a contemporary cottage style with chunky wooden furniture, panelled headboards and soft countryside colours. Some can be compact but all have surprisingly large and modern bathrooms. The short-choice, daily changing menu mixes classics and more sophisticated dishes. Cooked-to-order breakfasts provide fuel for a day on the hills, and there are home-baked scones every afternoon.

Address: Keswick CA12 5XB

The Drunken Duck Inn

Barngates, near Ambleside

The Drunken Duck is a modern elevation of a country pub (The Drunken Duck Inn)

This legendary inn, at a lonely cross-roads high above Windermere, was one of the first gastropubs in the area, and very much goes its own way. You’ll find locals drinking in the bar (the pub has its own microbrewery) while dining guests enjoy eclectic dishes such as wood pigeon with spicy pumpkin seed sauce, venison loin with sour cabbage, and salt-baked celeriac with miso gratin.

The style is a contemporary take on a country inn – faded rugs on oak floors, white-washed rafters and polished-plaster walls, pictures and prints crammed joyfully – that never falls into rustic-chic. Bedrooms – some across the courtyard – are smart but homely with a mix of vintage and mid-century furniture, deep-hued feature walls and cottagey curtains. Most are modest in size but often have clawfoot baths as well as showers. A rear courtyard plus front veranda are lovely spots after a long walk.

Address: Barngates, Ambleside LA22 0NG

Ambleside Townhouse

Ambleside

Lay your head just 15 minutes from Lake Windermere (Ambleside Townhouse)

Outside Ambleside’s busy town centre, and a 15-minute stroll from Lake Windermere, this smart townhouse B&B offers well-priced rooms in a handy location. And there’s free parking, too; a rarity in Ambleside. The handsome Victorian villa, with its bay windows and high ceilings, has been given a light and modern makeover while keeping things fresh and simple. Guests step straight into a ground-floor dining room, which doubles as reception and lounge (help-yourself hot drinks are available all day), and is neat with pale-grey walls, stripped-wood floors and bright teal and burnt orange dining chairs.

The 15 rooms are similarly neat and simple, and with bright modern bathrooms, most with bath as well as shower. Lower ground-floor rooms have restricted views but are larger and with bold wall-size local landscape photographs. With private entrances, these rooms are useful for families and groups of friends.

Address: Lake Road, Ambleside LA22 0DB

Forest Side

Grasmere

Michelin-starred dining sign, Forest Side is a very cool, modernised country house hotel (Forest Side)

Despite the grand size of this Victorian-Gothic building, with tall chimneys and castellated parapets, it’s easy to drive past the hotel’s entrance. Set back from the main road, on the outskirts of Grasmere, it doesn’t shout its presence. But the vast kitchen garden above the car park very much does wave the flag that food is the thing here.

With its Michelin-starred restaurant, Forest Side is a foodie destination set in a sleekly modernised country house hotel. Grand Victorian features of high ceilings and ornate fireplaces have been married with pale-grey colours, oak flooring and Lincrusta wallpapers. Bedrooms have softly shimmering wallpapers, crushed velvet fabrics and sleek bathrooms.

The tasting menu dishes are similarly understated in presentation but this belies clever food combinations that deliver unexpected taste sensations: smokily poached monkfish, for example, or jammy-tasting beetroot with iced goats’ cheese. Always make time for one of their whacky-sounding cocktails beforehand: plum-infused gin, perhaps, or a Douglas Fir negroni.

Address: Keswick Road, Grasmere, Ambleside LA22 9RN