Good Hotel Guide Review
Bong, bong! It is dinner time at this ancient farmhouse-turned-hotel in grounds bordering Lake Ullswater, where the gong still summons guests to table. ‘So retro it’s almost trendy’, it has been owned by the Baldry family for some 120 years. Log fires crackle in a parlour adorned with horse brasses, Toby jugs, long-case clock and chintz. Bedrooms have an electric blanket, no door key. Switch on the wireless and you half expect it to be tuned to the Light Programme for Mrs Dale’s Diary. There is limited Wi-Fi, a TV room with, by now, even, maybe, a colour set. It is old-fashioned, yes, but that does not mean frowsy: ‘Everything is done just so.’ It’s a perfect place for dog-owners, walkers, climbers. Scrub up with the Imperial Leather and head down to the duck-egg-blue dining room, where respected chef Colin Akrigg cooks locally sourced dishes with ‘pitch-perfect flavours’ – maybe duck pâté, liver and bacon, trifle. Off the hallway, with warming pans and umbrella stand, daylight filters through stained glass into a plush residents’ bar. Lunches, scones, cakes and coffees are served in the tea room, ales in the walkers’ bar. Your 8 am wake-up call comes with tea and biscuits. (ST)
Hotel details
Address
Ullswater
Penrith
Cumbria
CA10 2ND
England
Telephone
017684 86514
Bedrooms
15. 2 in annexe, plus 4 self-catering cottages.
Open
22 Mar–3 Nov.
Facilities
3 lounges, TV room, 2 bars, dining room, tea room, Wi-Fi in cottages and tea room only, 2-acre grounds, 200 yds from lake (private foreshore, fishing), walking, sailing, climbing, riding, golf nearby, restaurant wheelchair accessible, toilet not adapted.
Background music
none.
Children
all ages welcomed.
Dogs
allowed in some bedrooms (£4 per night charge), not in public rooms.
Credit cards
MC, Visa.
Prices
per person B&B £67–£75, D,B&B £104–£108, dinner £37.
Other reviews
Good Hotel Guide articles about
Howtown Hotel
- Britain Magazine: Best hotels for walking
- USA Today: 20 of Britain’s best hotels for walking
- Evening Standard: Six of the best hotels in the Lake District
- The Independent: Ten of Britain’s best hotels for walking
- MSN: Ten UK hotels for outdoor pursuits
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