17 best hotels in the Lake District to check in to in 2025
From homely guesthouses welcoming you to your cosy room with a carafe of sherry to regal stately homes with sleek spas and infinity pools, these are the best hotels in the Lake District
The Lake District is a natural playground that beckons with outdoor activities that include fell hiking, forest biking, paddleboarding, wild swimming and rock climbing. From homely Airbnbs in the Lake District to the best hotels in the Lake District, you'll find an excellent base from which to experience this spectacular corner of England.
The region also abounds with literary associations, small-scale museums and local art galleries, plus the artisan food producers, award-winning farm shops, classic tea rooms and contemporary crafts breweries that make it a foodie's paradise.
Indeed, some of the best hotels in the Lake District are centred around outstanding restaurants that put sensational local produce including salt marsh lamb, Cumberland sausage and brown shrimp to remarkable use in high-end cuisine to rival any served in Britain’s major cities. Afternoon tea is also a high point of any stay – served in most hotels, it’s a guilt-free indulgence after spending all that time out in the fresh air.
With lovely views to boot, the best hotels in Lake District also have gardens, summer terraces and sometimes the likes of outdoor hot tubs to help you soak up your rustic surrounds. They may also run or organise absorbing activities such as foraging, forest bathing and farm visits.
Whenever the season you're visiting (autumn is a delight for taking in the fiery hues of nature and winter is arguably the most magical time of year when snow blankets the fell tops), the Lake District is one of the most beautiful places to visit in the UK and our pick of the best hotels will help you see it at its most wonderful.
Rothay Manor Country House Hotel, Ambleside
At the heart of the county that inspired Beatrix Potter, Alfred Wainwright and William Wordsworth is Rothay Manor, on the outskirts of buzzy Ambleside, with walking paths directly through the surrounding lakes and hills. The rugged fells offer climbing and
hiking adventures aplenty, with the chance to go wild swimming in one of the 16 bodies of water.
It’s the perfect place for long romps with your dog, who’s as welcome at the hotel as you. The manor itself is a Grade II-listed building with 23 Regency-style rooms and a restaurant famed for its delicious Sunday roasts. We particularly love the Pavilion Suites in the garden annex. There are eight of them in total, all decorated in forest hues with deep velvet sofas, welcoming log burners and massive bathrooms. Four of them have a willow-fenced garden and one even has a hot tub outside.
There’s fine dining from head chef Aaron Lawrence, with a focus on seasonal local produce and the likes of Lakeland beef cheek and Ulverston lobster featuring on the menu.
Armathwaite Hall Hotel & Spa, Keswick
One of England’s original stately homes sits in splendid isolation in 400 acres of deer park and woodland above Lake Bassenthwaite. Armathwaite Hall Hotel & Spa is a great place for getting under the skin of the Lake District landscapes, with tempting activities including fishing, canoeing and kayaking, forest bathing, clay-pigeon shooting, alpaca walking, birds-of-prey displays and nature photography.
There’s also a tennis court and a stand-out spa with an infinity-edge pool, outdoor hot tub with woodland views and a thermal suite. The homely rooms include family and dog-friendly options, and there are two restaurants and a mellow cocktail bar with parquet floor and velvet-clad seating.
Langdale Hotel & Spa, Great Langdale
With its renowned, adult-only Brimstone Spa offering seven thermal experiences, indoor/outdoor relaxation pool and Bubble, a private spa for two, this sweeping estate is perfect for a couples' break. But self-catering lodges and apartments dotted around the grounds also make it an enticing family option - with options sleeping up to eight ideal for multigenerational getaways or breaks with other family or friends. We'd happily travel here solo, too.
Rooms and suites at Langdale Hotel & Spa are plush cocoons from the elements, one with a contemporary four-poster bed and one with a nickel-plated roll-top bathtub at the foot of the super-king-size bed. The restaurant Stove has a terrace overlooking the historic waterwheel, plus an inside-outside fireplace.
The Daffodil Hotel & Spa, Grasmere
By the shores of Grasmere, this handsome house has fresh and airy contemporary rooms and suites with lake or valley views – one with its own balcony and some designed specially for families, with an emperor bed and two twins. At the Daffodil, there’s also a blissful spa including a thermal pool, rasul bath, tepidarium, sauna and steam room.
Between them, the dining room, lounge, lakeside terrace and lobby bar offer small plates, afternoon teas and generous sharing platters, and there’s also an extensive room-service menu with something to suit all tastes and moods. In the main restaurant, innovative local dishes include the likes of local lamb with creamed potatoes and market fish risotto.
Linthwaite House, Bowness-on-Windermere
Food is the big draw at contemporary country house hotel Linthwaite House perched on a hilltop within its lovely gardens and private woodland. The main dining room, Henrock, is presided over by iconic northern chef and restaurateur Simon Rogan, with a menu inspired by his travels around the world but making full us of sustainable local ingredients - including produce from his own farm a few miles away in the Cartmel Valley.
Seasonal dishes might include the likes of Cumbrian Peking duck breast and Jerk Snowball Cauliflower, and even the cocktails are a world apart - don’t miss the Don Negro with coffee mezcal, coffee-infused Campari and vermouth. Outside, you’ll find a boules pitch, a giant outdoor chessboard and walking trails.
Holbeck Ghyll Country House Hotel, Windermere
With heavenly views of Cumbria’s best-known lake and surrounding fells, Holbeck Ghyll Country House Hotel is a traditional but unstuffy 19th-century hunting lodge where you can hole up for a few days. With only 32 comfortable rooms and a fabulous fine-dining restaurant that led to it being featured in an episode of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s foodie odyssey The Trip, this is one Lake District hotel worth knowing about.
There are also sublime afternoon teas to be enjoyed in the lake-view lounges or on the terrace, and casual menus in the bar and lounges.
Lindeth Fell Country House, Bowness-on-Windermere
This elegant guesthouse sits in a Thomas Mawson-designed garden complete with its own tarn, lovely terraces and mature plants that give it colour all year long. Lindeth Fell Country House's 14 rooms are comfy nests, some with Windermere views.
Decanters of cream sherry awaiting your arrival are a welcome touch, as are coffee machines and retro-style radios. Breakfasts are taken very seriously here, too, from the hearty grill platters to the likes of smoked Finnan haddock with poached eggs.
The Samling Hotel, Windermere
This gabled Georgian house and its cluster of stone buildings, many with original features, conceals just 12 bedrooms, suites and cottages in soothing natural tones of dove grey, blue and green.
All guests at The Samling can book a slot in the hot tub hidden away in the woodlands, and private tastings can be arranged in the atmospheric wine cellar. The food on offer embraces fine dining, Sunday roasts and afternoon teas, with many ingredients sourced from the on-site greenhouse, gardens and woodland.
Storrs Hall Hotel, Bowness-on-Windermere
In vast, secluded grounds in a prime spot on Windermere, this Grade II Georgian and Victorian hotel includes accommodation in its main house, in its stone boathouse (a single suite with its own steam room, hot tub and firepit) and in its contemporary lakeside suites.
The latter are the best spot for immersion in nature, with sliding glass walls onto the outdoors and private terraces with Japanese-style cedar-wood hot tubs. The food alone brings many to Storrs Hall, whether it’s afternoon teas in the drawing room or conservatory, timeless pub classics in the Tower Bar, or sustainably farmed local produce in the lake-view restaurant.
Langdale Chase, Windermere
Gorgeous Lake Windermere is the star of the show at the five-star Langdale Chase – a splendidly elegant boutique hotel close to the waters’ edge and with its very own jetty for on-the-water pursuits.
It’s the sort of hotel that’s modern where it needs to be (plush guestrooms, marble bathrooms and the like), but you get that touch of whimsy and nostalgia that we love the Lakes for – particularly the Swallows & Amazons afternoon tea, which transports you back to a golden age of the Lake District in the 1920s and 30s.
Moss Grove Organic, Grasmere
This luxury, wholesome guesthouse in a Victorian mansion retains much of its original character and offers warmly welcoming rooms all with natural screen-printed wallpapers, organic clay-based paints and sheep-fleece insulation. Two have balconies with village views, and one has its own walled terrace complete with a covered wood-clad hot tub.
In-room treats at Moss Grove Organic can include organic wines, local beers and gin from Lakes Distillery; breakfasts are a sumptuous feast including local Cumberland sausage and eggs, crostini, ham, cheese, tapas dishes, nuts, seeds and berries – more than enough to set you up for a day’s fell roaming.
Raise View, Grasmere
Concealing contemporary-meets-classic interiors behind its handsome traditional exterior in Lakeland stone, this five-room guesthouse has superb views over the fells while being just a five-mile stroll from Grasmere with its indie boutiques, convivial pubs and fantastic restaurants.
Raise View's congenial hosts will set you up with a picnic to take out on your walks, although the hearty local breakfasts (including vegetarian and vegan options) are enough to set you up for day. The top spot is the Silver How Suite with its espresso machine and deep soaking tub with divine moorland views.
Lodore Falls Hotel & Spa, Keswick
In the heart of the Borrowdale Valley, this long-established hotel delights both dog-lovers with its canine-friendly space and foodies with its decadent afternoon teas, lake-view restaurant with regional cuisine, and pan-Asian restaurant.
The spa is the real star, though, with its four-person rasul chamber, thermal suite (complete with laconium, aroma steam room, herbal sauna, salt steam room, ice fountain, drench showers and heated relaxation loungers), outdoor hydro pool with neck jets and underwater bubble loungers with glorious Derwentwater and Cat Bells view, glass-fronted Finnish sauna and even its own champagne bar.
The Belsfield Hotel, Bowness-on-Windermere
This iconic hotel has a classic English feel, with elegant public spaces featuring Art Deco mirrors and decorative plates.
Individually decorated rooms are cosy havens from the elements; many have Windermere views, and the Four Poster Suite includes a roll-top bath as well as a feature bed facing a wide bow window with a spectacular lake vista. You can choose from fine dining in the restaurant to more laidback fare in the airy brassiere; both have garden terraces for clement days.
Cedar Manor, Windermere
The family-run Cedar Manor is a boutique hotel in a Victorian country house on the main route through the national park and blends original character with bold contemporary furnishings, some with four-poster beds, and one – the separate, open-plan Coach House Suite – offering extra space, privacy and flexibility including a dining area.
There are sumptuous afternoon teas and generous breakfasts served, including the Cumbrian grill that will fuel you through your day’s adventures – you’re just a short stroll from the lake and less than 10 minutes on foot from the centre of the town of Windermere.
Lancrigg, Grasmere
This gracious, dog-friendly country house within 30 acres of lovely woodland grounds that are slowly being transformed into an English country garden opened in the 1800s and has seen a parade of writers, painters and explorers though its doors since then. Deep in ‘Wordsworth Country’ in a tiny hamlet a mile just outside Grasmere village, it has 17 simple, welcoming bedrooms, many with views of the gardens and fells.
Local cuisine from nearby suppliers can be enjoyed in the snug Poet’s Cafe Bar or out on the terrace with its fells views.
The Punch Bowl, Crosthwaite
This former 17th-century blacksmithery in the south-eastern fringes of the Lake District, a 30-minute drive from Windermere, has attracted a loyal following for its classic British and French dining, served in a series of relaxed and more formal eating areas with slate floor flags and low beams.
Folk flock from miles around for its twice-baked Lancashire cheese soufflé and its Creedy Carver duck breast. The nine boutique rooms all have an alluring contemporary-country aesthetic, exposed beams, rolltop baths and retro radios. Breakfast is included, as is a cream tea on arrival.
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