My partner and I stayed in the Indonesian suite in Nov 07 on a last minute getaway for my birthday. Checked in Tuesday, earlier than the stated time but our room was ready so no problems there. The Indonesian was lovely, very spacious with a fabulous 4 poster bed - one of the most comfortable beds we have ever slept in. We were on the first floor and the view over the gardens and the dancing fountain was lovely. Nice touches included the wine glasses and duck down bedding. The double spa bath was loads of fun too but make sure you give it plenty of time to fill up! Didn't use the sauna but that was another nice touch. Good size refrigerator for a bottle of wine etc.

In the week we stayed they had just started offering bar snacks and drinks in the evening which is above the normal standard for a lodge/B&B place.

I would say it was within walking distance of Bowness but on a steep hill which is tough on the way back if you're not a seasoned walker.

All in all would describe Aphrodites as a little bit of luxury in the Lakes. Will definitely stay again but would keep to a first floor room as the ground floor terraces did not look very private.

my fiance and me have just returned from here and we stayed in the flinstone room. very nice, but i was worried when i read all of the bad reviews. it is in a lovely position, near the lake and some shops and restaurants and bars. room was a good size. jacuzzi bath in room. big comfy bed with fresh clean sheets and lovely pillows. room service was excellent. it is by no means five star, but is clean with a lovely fire for which you can buy eco logs at check in. seems popular as breakfast was fairly busy. nice and small hotel. would go back again. we also had an outdoor hot tub to ourselves, roof less, and has wooden chairs and table in the enlclosed area. none of staff seem british, do a good fast job with everything. not very smiley but hey thats being too picky

This place looks great online but it's a tired, run down excuse for a property.
Room was shabby to say the least. There is no way on earth this place should be charging any more than £50 a night for any room.
We stayed in a five star hotel in Edinburgh recently which cost £35 a night less and made Aphrodites look like that Travel Lodge Alan Partridge stayed in. Although to be fair, the shed in my back garden would do that as well.
Stay well clear and spend your hard earned pennies somewhere else.

We visited Aphrodite’s Lodge in September 2007 and stayed in the Victorian Suite.

On arrival we were greeted by the receptionist/cook/cleaner and asked
to make our choices for dinner even before we had been shown to our room or had time to unload our luggage. Having travelled for a few hours it would have been nice to have been given a little time to consider this a little. The menu we were presented with was an illegible fax copy and when we asked about dishes the lady attending to us had no idea what each meal actually was or if there were any vegetarian option, the response to our uncertainties was ‘frosty’. Only when another clearer copy was faxed over were we able to make our choice.

On being shown around and to our room the first thing of note was that we were told that ‘The excellent outdoor heated pool’ was in fact closed, then to our room. The ‘Own Patio Area’ as it is described was no more than a very narrow path adjacent to the building with a table and two chairs placed on it, barely enough room to actually sit at them. The hot tub appeared to have been shoved in the only place it would fit, around the corner of the building in full view of anybody arriving in the car park or just walking round the side of the building, which happened quite often during our stay.

The room seemed quite nice on a superficial level but when we came to run the ‘Victorian bath with Spa facility’ we found that there was
no cold water supply to it, we had to ferry water via means of a jug to enable us to use the bath, having decided to take a shower it was nearly impossible to achieve as the shower was no bigger than that usually installed in a caravan, added to the fact that the door was broken and could not be closed the experience of showering was less than idyllic.

We travelled down to 21 the lakes for our 4 course candlelight dinner, I won’t say too much but for the price of £25 per head plus wine, this was neither inspired or enjoyable.

On returning to our room at the end of the night we were woken by a member of staff who was checking for a fire alarm, the rest of the night we were annoyed by a constant beeping from the alarm panel outside our room. This was very annoying and almost became like a torture, keeping us awake most of the night.

The next morning we went to breakfast only to find that we had to queue to get a table for breakfast, things were just getting better and about to get even better again.

We reported the fact that the alarm had kept us awake all night and that there was no cold water to the bath and that the shower door was broken before we left for our day out and about, however on returning to our room later in the afternoon we discovered that nothing had been done with any of the items.

We stayed in our room for the evening, tired from a sleepless night, when insult to injury the fire alarm was activated again at about 01.00am in the morning followed by the constant beeping from the panel again all night, another sleepless night compliments of Aphrodite’s lodge. Queueing again for breakfast the following morning
was the final straw.

On Saturday morning we contacted 21 The Lakes to register our dissatisfactions and were told that there was no management cover during the week end but that someone would come to the room to see us. Not prepared to spend our day waiting in the room for someone we went to 21 The Lakes in person and spoke to the receptionist there. To her credit she was very apologetic and was very helpful in promising to rectify the things that she could do something about, and to her credit she did just that and on our return to our room the cold water was rectified, the shower door fixed and the alarm beeping absent, just a pity it had took the best part of three days to find someone who even cared and who could get something done.

After another queue for breakfast we booked out on Sunday and I have to say we were glad to actually get away from the place.

The week-end was to celebrate my birthday in a special way which was a total and utter disaster, from the quality of the room with it’s non existent patio area, hot tub almost in the car park and bed that sounded like it would collapse every time you turned over, to the queues for breakfast and the closed outdoor pool, to the two sleepless nights of fire alarms, no cold water, pathetic shower and over priced restaurant food, all in all a totally unforgettable experience for all the wrong reasons.

Thinking about the cost of the week end at nearly £600 I think it is greatly over priced for the quality of facility you have and I would not consider paying so much to return again.

Had there been any management cover available on the Saturday morning
we fully intended to request a refund and leave without spending our third night, unfortunately this was not possible. The only saving grace was the young lady who we spoke to at 21 The Lakes who actually got something done.

Having returned home with quite strong feelings about the experience I compiled a complaint and sent it to the Manager of the establishment, however true to form I have received neither acknowledgement or response which I think speaks for itself.

If you are looking for a novelty weekend, you are\easily pleased and you get it very cheap then you will probably enjoy the place and overlook it's tired look and obvious shortcomings, however if you are expecting quality surroundings or service then you will be very dissapointed.