We spent the weekend here as part of a large family birthday celebration. The staff are, without exception, polite, cheerful and helpful. The rooms are adequate but as others have said disappointing for a 4 star. All was clean and tidy but our lakeside room on first floor had a very small shower room and the wind howled through the window. The newer rooms at the rear of the hotel (no view) have much better bathrooms. The lounge was great and allowed are large party to gather and enjoy drinks and lunch. Dinner was good but expensive. Breakfast was delcious and fresh bunches of flowers for mums on mother's day a bonus.
We all enjoyed the swimming pool and outdoor hot tub and my massage was great. Lovely walks from the hotel door and close to Ambleside and Windermere.

We paid extra for a "feature" room with a lake view. Little did I know that the "feature" would be the wind whistling through the ill fitted double glazed window. Admittedly it was a particularly windy couple of nights, but that isn't unusual in the Lake District in winter!

I asked to be moved to another room, but the hotel was fully booked, and the receptionist didn't really seem that bothered. After a very disturbed nights sleep, I complained again to the duty manager, he said he would try and sort something out, but nothing materialised, and there was no offer of compensation either.

Apart from the wind, there was also the main road from Windemere to Ambleside that runs right outside the hotel, so that added to the noise. I wish I'd come to trip advisor first as the hotel website obviously doesn't mention the road.

The website advertises a feature room as having either a four poster, or a canopy bed, neither of which we had. It also says "Luxury" bathroom. Well "luxury" in this case meant a whirlpool bath that didn't work properly, and a shower over it that took ages to warm up. There was a very fine line between scalding & freezing and it took several minutes of miniscule knob twiddling to get it right!

Outside of the room, the hotel was shabby in places with threadbare carpet, and gaps between carpet and skirting boards. The reception area, bar, lounge & restaurant were all very impressive. The staff on the whole were very polite and helpful. The meal we had in the restaurant was very nice, but quite expensive for what it was. We also ate in the attached bistro, but this was little better than a cheap cafe. It mainly offered Italian fare, but the Carbonara & Spaghetti bolognaise that we had were well below par. I can do better myself!!

Enjoyed the breakfast, although it was extremely busy on the Sunday morning and we had to wait for a few minutes.

For a 4 star hotel, I'd say it's pretty poor, and certainly not worth the money I paid. Would I recommend it to a friend? NO.

Stayed for my 50th birthday. First floor room with lake view - supposed to be superior room in 4 star hotel. Room was not very big and bathroom was size of a shower and wc. (with leaflets suggesting we ordered champagne to drink in the bath). TV has limited range of channels. Fairly clean but very pretty cover on bed was worn and looked grubby along the edges. Lovely lake view but spoilt by traffic thundering almost directly under the window all day. Did go quiet at night. Pool inadequate and open to outside guests so on returning one day we had to use overflow car park about about 100 yds from hotel. Buffet breakfast not up to usual 4 star standard and you had to make your own toast. Staff very pleasant and helpful though. Did not eat in hotel in evening too expensive. (Went into Ambleside which was great). Overall disappointed for what it cost us. Needs a bit of sprucing up

We stayed at this hotel to celebrate my sister's 50th birthday. It is a big rambling lakeside hotel in between Windermere and Ambleside. Our room was fine - but it lacked all the amenities one would expect in a four star hotel like a fridge or minibar or really nice toiletries. The TV was pathetic - no BBC 3 or 4, or News24 or any other freeview channels or movie channels.
The hotel appeared to be thrown together with no planning. To go to breakfast or reception we had to walk through endless staircases & corridors and through what appeared to be the laundry room even though we were paying a premium for an upgraded room.
There were no plans for the hotel. To go to the 'leisure club' i.e. swimming pool and spa and gym we had to either leave the building and cross through a parking lot in the freezing cold or to charge through 2 and a half floors of staircases and corridors. The leisure club itself was barely adequate apart from the gym. The pool was small; the sauna and changing rooms were miniscule and the latter was wet and dirty.
Breakfast was a real disappointment. There was the usual range of cheap fried ingredients one would find in a cheap b&B. The only cereals were Kellogs. The bread was supermarket sliced bread. The only saving grace was that they immediately supplied my coeliac suffering niece with gluten free bread at dinner (but not breakfast). Dinner itself was good however but very expensive.
Considering this hotel was £128 a night for B&B only- it was shocking