We stayed for just one night at the salutaion to celebrate our 2nd wedding aniversary as we met in ambleside (in 1997) and lived there for the first 4 years of our relationship. We booked it on a whim and were grateful for a vacancy at such short notice peak season.
We received a warm welcome (and it was nice to find somewhere so central to park in ambleside) and were even allowed to check in early as our room was already ready.
I was a bit disappointed, at first, with the size of the room as it was quite expensive for a standard double but it did have a beautiful balcony overlooking the little town centre which was fantastic as the weather was GLORIOUS. It was the balcony that made the room really as if we had been having typical lake district weather there would not have been enough space to spend much time in. However, as it was, we had a wonderful hour or so watching the sun dip behind the hills with a chilled bottle of wine. The size of the room is the only reason why i didn't give the salutation full marks.
The leisure facilities were extremely pleasant and the breakfast was plentiful and a of very good quality and cooked to perfection. Great selection too if you don't fancy the works.

Great location situated in the heart of Ambleside.Our room was very clean.however it was very small & stuffy.
Good choice for breakfast & evening meal,menu quite good value although desserts were very overpriced for what you got.Would stay there again,but asking for bigger room.

We usually stay in the Lake District at least twice a year but this is our first time in Ambleside. We had a quick look round the hotel last year - after the refurbishments to check if it was for us!

The Salutation is slap bang in the middle of Ambleside ideally suited for all the shops, pubs and restaurants (which is what we wanted). If you prefer to be by the Lake itself there are several hotels closer. We were lucky to stay in the Wansfell Lodge which is a quiet modern slate brick annexe at the back of the hotel. It was very quiet which is important to my husband and yet there was a babbling brook outside our door! We had a ground floor room with decking overlooking the brook - wonderful! The room was a very good size, extremely well appointed with flat screen TV, tea making, hairdryer etc. The bed was very comfortable and we thoroughly enjoyed our two night stay.

The breakfast was excellent - cooked to order - rather than a soulless buffet (which always seem to run out of what I want to eat so I stand like a lemon whilst someone fries some more eggs!).

We attempted to use the gym but unfortunately it also has the steam and sauna rooms in the same area so was far too hot for training - it needs to be a lot cooler for safe training. The pool looked good but again we didn't use it as by the time we'd got our act together - it had closed! But both just niggles.

The public areas are nicely decorated, and all staff were very helpful - especially on the night our computer lock wouldn't work on our door!

We rarely eat in hotels in the evenings and we went to Lucy on a Plate and The Priesthole (both previous recommendations) and we enjoyed them both - great food and atmosphere and friendly service.

If we decide to stay in Ambleside again (highly likely!) then I will definitely rebook the Salutation.

We stayed at the Salutation for the weekend (sat &sun). It is in a great location if you want to be in the town and we had a lovely view over the town and the hills beyond. the room was an average size and was clean, the bathroom looked like it had been recently done and had a jet spa bath and power shower, instant hot water all the time and the toiletries were refiled everyday. The bed was comfy and all sheets lovely and clean. The only down side to the room were some water marks on the wallpaper in a few spots but it didnt detract from the room for us. there was also some work going on in the main staircase as they are fitting a lift but again it wasnt a problem. There are a couple of nice lounges with big chairs and couches. The breakfast was great I dont eat full cooked and there was a good choice of fruit and yogurt, my fella of 6ft7ins was filled by the mega cooked you can request if you want two of everything on the normal breakfast, they also had a nice choice of tea. It cost us about £120 a night and to say some of the small B&B are charging £50 pppn it was good to have the extra space to move around and they have a pool and gym but we did use them. All the staff were realy nice and helpfull as well.