In the Lake District, where you sleep decides which lake you wake up beside, how far you drive before breakfast and whether the evening ends at a pub fire or a hot tub. The five hotels in this guide cover four distinct bases, each with a different personality, price and set of trade-offs.
Bowness-on-Windermere: the no-car base
Bowness is the busiest village in the Lakes, and in the middle of it the Macdonald Old England Hotel and Spa stands above the lakeshore. The cruise pier, the World of Beatrix Potter, restaurants and the car ferry are all on foot, and there is a spa and leisure club with a pool for wet days. It is the easiest choice for first-time visitors and families, with 106 bedrooms and balcony suites over the lake. The trade-offs are crowds on summer weekends and the hotel-scale feel. In winter Bowness is calm and the lake is at its most dramatic. Choose a lake-view room and ask about parking when you book.
Ambleside and Waterhead: the walkers' base
Ambleside is the most practical town in the central Lakes, with outdoor shops, cafés, pubs, a bus hub and paths straight onto Loughrigg Fell, Rydal and Grasmere. Two stays suit different budgets. Rothay Manor is a Grade II-listed Regency house on the edge of town, run by its owners, with the Rowan Restaurant, dog-friendly rooms and walking guides in every room, a mid-range to upper-mid-range stay. YHA Ambleside, at Waterhead on the shore of Windermere beside the cruise pier, is the budget choice with private en-suite rooms, dorms, a lakeside restaurant and bar, a drying room and free parking. Both put you within reach of Dove Cottage by bus or car.
Above Windermere: the country-house splurge
The Gilpin Hotel and Lake House sits in its own woodland a few miles above Windermere, and it is where you go to be pampered rather than to be close to the sights. Suites with private hot tubs, a Michelin-starred restaurant, log fires and a separate Lake House with an indoor pool make it the most romantic stay in the southern Lakes. You will need a car or taxi for everything else, and children must be at least seven. It is the best choice for anniversaries and honeymoons, especially in winter when the hot tubs and fires are the point.
Borrowdale and Keswick: the northern spa base
The north is a different Lake District, with higher fells, bigger skies and fewer crowds. Lodore Falls Hotel and Spa sits on the shore of Derwentwater beside its own waterfall, a few miles south of Keswick, with a spa pool, a lake-view brasserie and a pan-Asian restaurant. Its winter Suite Dreams offer gives suite guests unlimited spa access from November to March, which makes a cold-weather stay very good value. It is the base for Keswick, Castlerigg Stone Circle and Honister Slate Mine, and the hotel is dog-friendly. A car or the valley bus helps.
How to choose
If this is your first visit, want to walk to the boats and travel with children, choose Bowness. If you walk, travel with a dog or want a town with a bus hub, choose Ambleside, and pick Rothay Manor for comfort or the hostel for budget. If you want romance and a splurge, choose Gilpin. If you want a spa on a lake in the quieter north, choose Lodore Falls. A common plan for a longer trip is two nights in the south and two in the north, so you see both ends without a long daily drive.
Booking tips
Winter rates are the lowest of the year outside Christmas and New Year and February half term, and many hotels run spa and midweek offers, so compare dates. Book Gilpin and Lodore Falls early for weekends, ask for quiet rooms and lake views in writing, and check parking arrangements at Bowness and Ambleside before you arrive.
