The Miller Howe. It is very hard to summarise really. The hotel itself is well located overlooking Lake windermere (although fairly high up) - you are not 'on the lake' but the views are stunning nevertheless. To the rear of the hotel is quite a busy main road which leads down into Bowness town. As our room was located towards the back, the noise of the traffic did bother me when we did happen to be in the room in the day however at night it did seem to quieten.

The room itself was well appointed, certainly not modern, perhaps a little tired but the bedding and bed itself were very comfortable. The room had been repainted and there was a new flatscreen TV, but the bathroom remained quite old fashioned.

As for the ambience. The hotel claims to have a 'family friendly' feel, although im not sure this was the case. The difficulty is understanding why - what is essentially (or could be) a perfectly well run, well located, family friendly hotel, that is being run more as an a'la carte restaurant with rooms on the side'. Dont get me wrong we thought the food itself was lovely. However, we didnt go to the lake district and we didnt choose the hotel on the basis of wanting to eat amazing food, we booked it to relax, chill out and enjoy the surroundings. The problem; not only do they 'presume' and encourage you to have dinner included in your stay, they do request that you 'come down for dinner 30 minutes prior to the time you have booked' so you can enjoy the canapes and have a drink - fine, except that this instruction seemed a little regimented. In addition, we werent expecting for the atmosphere to be quite so 'quiet, stuffy and impersonal'. We had only taken jeans/casual clothes and felt extremley out of place at dinner where outsiders had obviously come to dine and were dressed extremley smartly. The restaurant itself is very outdated and they had a piano player in the background who was a lovely guy but again - piano playing!? - it all just seemed a little outdated. The menu was set every evening with a choice of up to 8 options - starters and mains that you could swap / change. Even so this didnt differ on a week to week basis and even after 2 nights I had enjoyed the options wanted and was grateful for not having to endure the same again on the 3rd night.

Overall the food was lovely. I really enjoyed the breakfast as it wasnt so pretentious and it made a nice change to have waiter service and to choose from a menu rather than the usual scrum at the buffet counter.

The hotel had began refurbishment works during our stay. They are apparantly extending the kitchen and changing the reception areas as well as updating the dining area. I dont know about the bedrooms and other parts of the hotel but I wander if this will change the workings of the hotel alongside it!? will be interesting to read others reviews in the future thats for sure!

If you want to eat terrible food, served by pretentious staff, in ghastly, outdated surroundings - this is the place for you!

We are happy to pay high prices for good food - this awful evening was high price, but utterly failed to deliver.

£45 pounds per head for an appalling starter of overcooked tasteless fish, followed by main of more tasteless fish - my heart had sunk so low that I couldn't face dessert.
There is no choice to opt out of their Menu Gourmand and have a la carte - even though there IS an a la carte menu - they charge you for five courses regardless.
Gastronomic - mmmm, not how I would describe it!

Everything from the prison style ceramic serving slop trays to the foul tromp l'oeil decor was bad taste.

If you are in the Lakes (which are gorgeous) stay elsewhere - and please eat elsewhere - you'd be better off at the local pub!

The clientele weren't much better - I'd rather eat a fry up in a truckers cafe, than eat with truckers in pretentious hotel.

Miller Howe is a country house hotel with a very relaxed, informal atmosphere. The staff are friendly and warm and make what could potentially be a staid and stuffy stay very comfortable.

The rooms are fine and the l'occitane bath goodies excellent. There is no tea and coffee in the rooms but the joy of spending time at the Miller Howe is to spend it in the lounges or in good weather on the terrace enjoying the spectacular view. The staff are happy to provide tea/coffee or whatever you require without ceremony.

The food was excellent and very reasonably priced for the quality and service.

Don't go if you like the big "vanilla" chain hotels. Go if you like something uniquely English.

I cannot understand how any one could have a bad word to say about Miller Howe.

We stayed here for a mid week get away and we had a fantastic time we have just booked another stay. All of the staff are friendly polite and helpful nothing is too much trouble.

On arrival we were asked if we needed assistance with our luggage, we were taken to our room not just given directions like most hotels we have stayed in.

We stayed in a very spacious room with a large bed and a balcony that you can sit out on whilst having a drink and watching the sunset, over what must be the most fantastic view in the Lake District.

How better to start your morning than having tea and coffee served to your room before breakfast. We had a full “Lakeland breakfast” that like other comments was not swimming in grease.

The food is wonderful so beautifully presented even after six courses it leaves you wanting more. There was a choice of 5 or 6 dishes to choose from that included scallops one of my favourite dishes of all time and they were cooked to perfection defiantly in my top 3. The wine list has a very wide selection and very reasonably priced. From other comments I have read I think the dinning times have changed as we had a choice of when we could dine.

Whilst we stayed there did seem to be a group of friends staying and there was one member of their party in particular that seemed to have a problem with every thing, we felt for the staff as no matter what they did she complained openly and loudly to every one else. On the morning of our departure over breakfast we heard the rest of the party saying that every time they get together she is the same that she is never happy, to be honest they seemed a little relived that she had decided to check out early.

We have recommend Miller Howe to several of our friends and would defiantly recommend it to any one