We stayed at the Fisherbeck Hotel for 2 nights in late July 07 and it was definitely the right choice for us. The location is excellent, a genuine 5 minute walk to the lake one way and 5 minute walk into Ambleside the other. Car parking was easy, a definite advantage in this region.
The room was very clean with plenty of space (we were in a superior family room for 89 pounds a night b&b), bathroom well equipped with a good shower and nice toiletries. Breakfast was excellent, lounge areas were nice and the service was great. the owners were friendly in offering advice regarding the beers to try or restaurants to visit, or even lending me his own newspaper, without being overwhelming. We have an 8-month old son and the hotel was very helpful in terms of refrigerating his food, providing a high chair at breakfast etc. One of our main criteria when choosing a guest house was to find somewhere that wasn't so posh that we would feel our baby was inconveniencing anybody and the Fisherbeck fitted the bill.
I read somebody's comment about the service at breakfast being overly formal, but I don't share this impression at all. Someone else said the place was a bit tired, but again I disagree. The TV looked a bit ancient but worked ok, they maybe need to repaint the exterior this winter, but overall I felt everything was clean and comfortable.
A quick word about other places I had considered and noticed when we were there: Wateredge Inn does have a great view and is worth considering, a bit further to walk into town and a large pub as part of the building but it seemed ok. The Gables is the only other one that caught my attention in Ambleside but it is right on the main road and may be a bit noisy on one side. Personally I was glad we chose Ambleside. Bowness seemed a bit too busy for us and other towns such as Grasmere or Coniston may have felt a bit cut off since our baby impedes driving out to restaurants in the evenings.






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