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Aside from magnificent fells, glittering lakes, craggy valleys and striking whitewashed villages, the Lake District’s awe-inspiring landscape is home to some of the UK’s best hotels.
You don’t have to be a seasoned fell walker to enjoy the Lake District’s natural offerings, as the area’s beauty can be enjoyed from lake cruises. There are also grand houses with grand gardens, plus the homes of writers, poets and artists to explore (poet William Wordsworth arguably put the region on the map). What’s more, there is a jaw-dropping food and drink scene, with 13 Michelin-starred restaurants, and numerous craft breweries and distilleries.
With England’s highest mountain, longest lake and deepest waters, not surprisingly, it’s one of the country’s most popular national parks.
To match the variety of things to see and do, there’s a variety of places to stay rounded up in our expert hotel reviews: swanky hotels for the spa lovers, restaurants with rooms for the foodies, country inns that welcome walkers, keenly priced B&Bs with brilliant breakfasts, town-centre pubs with buzzing atmospheres, and glorious one-offs with funky designs and a proud Lakeland character.
Best hotels in the Lake District
At a glance
1. Gilpin Hotel & Lake House
Crook, near Windermere
This is indulgence with a capital I. A modern country-house hotel, 10 minutes from Windermere’s lakeshore, it has expanded from the original Edwardian house at its core to offer a variety of rooms and suites across its 21 acres. These vary from the lavishly cossetting (bright colours, thick fabrics, plump cushions, plants and books; most with hot tubs) to apartment-sized, stand-alone chalets with floor-to-ceiling windows, and personal spas including sunken hot tubs. A separate six-bedroom ‘Lake House’, a mile away and wrapped in woodland and with an indoor pool as well as a lake, offers a more homely – though still grand – style.
Both the main hotel and Lake House have small spas: the former with a rooftop garden; the latter overlooking the lake. Service levels are very much ‘your wish is my command’ and there’s a choice of Michelin-starred dining at SOURCE or pan-Asian tapas – in fun-coloured surrounds – at the well-named, Spice.
Address: Crook Road, Windermere LA23 3NE
Highlights: Best for foodies
Close to: Windermere, Bowness-on-Windermere
2. The Yan hotel
Grasmere
This dog-friendly bistro-with-rooms, in converted farm buildings a 15-minute walk from pretty Grasmere, is both smart and fun. Its relaxed atmosphere is in no small part due to the fact it’s a family affair; kicked off by mum and dad, and now largely run by daughters Jess and Georgina and their husbands, all of whom have excellent knowledge of the area.
At its heart is the bistro (with Jess’s husband Will at the helm) with its tangy take on Lakeland food – slow-cooked Herdwick lamb with pea mash and ratatouille, for example – and in rustic surrounds of slate floors, exposed rafters and recycled timber tables. On warmer days, eat outdoors on the terraces with their views to the fells. Each of the seven bedrooms offers a fell view, too. Sleek, minimalist rooms in pale greys and whites, with oak doors, wool fabrics and timber headboards, they’re carefully designed to make the most of the spaces. Compact bathrooms are bright and modern with decent showers; all you need after a day on the hills.
Address: Broadrayne Farm, Grasmere, Ambleside LA22 9RU
Highlights: Boutique stay, dog-friendly
Close to: Helvellyn
Read more: The best walks in the Lake District
3. Kirkstile Inn hotel
Loweswater
This whitewashed 17th-century inn, tucked away from the mainstream crowds near quiet Loweswater, requires a little persistence to find – though plenty do. It has all you’d expect of a traditional Lakeland inn: low beams, flagstone floors, toasty fire and a series of little snugs. There’s smart and robust food on the menu – it’s important to leave room for the home-made fruit crumble – and their own-brew beers at the bar.
A long grassy terrace beside the beck at the rear looks up at the magnificent Melbreak fell, one of several walks that are possible from the front door. Many of the neat, country-fresh bedrooms (some in a separate building) share the same view. With black-painted beams, pine or oak furniture, colourful fabrics and creaking floorboards, they have a simple yet smart style. Sensibly, only the outside rooms have televisions.
Address: Loweswater, Cockermouth CA13 0RU
Highlights: Best for a cosy stay
Close to: Melbreak fell, Brackenthwaite Hows
Read more: Best family hotels in the Lake District
4. Brimstone hotel
Chapel Stile, Langdale
This hotel proves that you don’t have to give up your luxuries to enjoy an outdoor-adventure break (although the latter activities are not compulsory). The modern, chalet-style building of slate, timber and glass, and on the edge of a forested estate in the Langdale valley, has just 16 suites. Each comes with a ‘host’ who acts as a modern-day butler, and can kit guests out in walking gear, provide walking and cycling routes, offer a drop-off and pick-up service, and even the loan of an electric BMW car. All provided free, subject to availability. If that’s all too much, guests can totter across to a swanky spa, plus a leisure centre with a 20-metre pool.
Suites are ridiculously large, and furnished in an understatedly luxurious way with pale-oak floorboards, wool-covered sofas, real fires and soft countryside colours. Everything is on a grand scale, from beds to sofas to bathrooms – some have freestanding baths in the rooms, all but one have balconies. There’s a jolly bistro on the estate (shared with another hotel plus chalet-style lodges), plus 24-hour complimentary drinks and snacks.
Address: Great Langdale, Ambleside LA22 9JD
Highlights: Best for luxury, best for couples
Close to: Grasmere
Read more: Best spa hotels in the Lake District
5. Inn on The Square hotel
Keswick
Plum in the centre of the jolly market town of Keswick, this smart townhouse hotel has all-round appeal whether for weekend-breakers here to stroll the shops and cruise on Derwentwater, walkers keen to climb Skiddaw, or families and dog-lovers wanting to do a bit of everything. There’s a cocktail bar at the front, a family-friendly pub at the rear (serving food until early evening) and a bright and breezy steakhouse restaurant with an open kitchen.
The 34 bedrooms have a light and fresh Scandi design – pale grey palette, retro-patterned fabrics, neat fitted furniture - that makes the most of sometimes small spaces. The wall-sized photographs of the local Herdwick sheep as a bedhead feature is a fun touch. Views are either over rooftops to the fells or to the marketplace.
Address: Market Square, Keswick CA12 5JF
Highlights: Near a town centre, family-friendly
Close to: Keswick, Derwentwater Lake
Read more: The most scenic walks in the UK
6. The Swan Hotel & Spa
Newby Bridge
Away from the crowds, in a riverside setting close to the southern end of Lake Windermere, this family-friendly hotel ticks plenty of boxes: it offers something for the kids, something for the grown-ups, something for couples – and all wrapped up in a breezy, modern style.
It’s a big hotel – originally a 17th-century coaching inn but considerably extended to 84 rooms – and goes big on colour, too. Expect to find clashing pinks and hot oranges, dazzling floral wallpapers and slate walls in the public areas while bedrooms have cottage-garden colours and bright-patterned wallpapers. Larger rooms might have white-painted floorboards and freestanding baths, and most rooms have views either over gardens or river.
There’s a swanky inside-outside spa with outdoor Finnish spa, plus a pool and gym and, for the children, an adventure playground, nature trail and games room. With a choice of pub food and smarter dining, everyone should be happy.
Address: Newby Bridge, Ulverston LA12 8NB
Highlights: Bold decoration, family-friendly, couple-friendly
Close to: Fell Foot, Lake Windermere
Read more: Best budget hotels in the Lake District
7. The Royal Oak Hotel
Rosthwaite, Borrowdale
In the centre of Rosthwaite village, in the heart of Borrowdale – arguably, the area’s most scenic valley – this landmark 18th-century inn has been carefully updated without losing its much-loved, traditional character. There’s a fire in one of the low-beamed snugs, a tree trunk holds up a beam in the dining room, slate floor in the cosy bar, and a warm welcome to dogs and walkers. The latter have a smart drying room for boots and clothing.
Bedrooms, which are spread between the main building and converted barn and cottages across the rear courtyard, have a contemporary cottage style with chunky wooden furniture, panelled headboards and soft countryside colours. Some can be compact but all have surprisingly large and modern bathrooms. The short-choice, daily changing menu mixes classics and more sophisticated dishes. Cooked-to-order breakfasts provide fuel for a day on the hills, and there are home-baked scones every afternoon.
Address: Keswick CA12 5XB
Highlights: Near a village centre
Close to: Rosthwaite, Eagle Crag, Dale Head
Read more: The best Christmas breaks in the Lake District
8. The Drunken Duck Inn hotel
Barngates, near Ambleside
This legendary inn, at a lonely crossroads high above Windermere, was one of the first gastropubs in the area, and very much goes its own way. You’ll find locals drinking in the bar (the pub has its own microbrewery) while dining guests enjoy eclectic dishes such as wood pigeon with spicy pumpkin seed sauce, venison loin with sour cabbage, and salt-baked celeriac with miso gratin.
The style is a contemporary take on a country inn – faded rugs on oak floors, white-washed rafters and polished-plaster walls, pictures and prints crammed joyfully – that never falls into rustic-chic. Bedrooms – some across the courtyard – are smart but homely with a mix of vintage and mid-century furniture, deep-hued feature walls and cottagey curtains. Most are modest in size but often have clawfoot baths as well as showers. A rear courtyard plus front veranda are lovely spots after a long walk.
Address: Barngates, Ambleside LA22 0NG
Highlights: Best for beer-lovers, best for foodies
Close to: Black Fell Peak, Lake Windermere
Read more: Best dog-friendly hotels in the Lake District
9. Ambleside Townhouse hotel
Ambleside
Outside Ambleside’s busy town centre, and a 15-minute stroll from Lake Windermere, this smart townhouse B&B offers well-priced rooms in a handy location. And there’s free parking, too; a rarity in Ambleside. The handsome Victorian villa, with its bay windows and high ceilings, has been given a light and modern makeover while keeping things fresh and simple. Guests step straight into a ground-floor dining room, which doubles as reception and lounge (help-yourself hot drinks are available all day), and is neat with pale-grey walls, stripped-wood floors and bright teal and burnt orange dining chairs.
The 15 rooms are similarly neat and simple, and with bright modern bathrooms, most with a bath as well as a shower. Lower ground-floor rooms have restricted views but are larger and with bold wall-size local landscape photographs. With private entrances, these rooms are useful for families and groups of friends.
Address: Lake Road, Ambleside LA22 0DB
Highlights: Free parking, best for families, best for groups
Close to: Lake Windermere, Wansfell Pike
Read more: The best UK vineyards to visit during harvest season
10. Forest Side hotel
Grasmere
Despite the grand size of this Victorian-Gothic building, with tall chimneys and castellated parapets, it’s easy to drive past the hotel’s entrance. Set back from the main road, on the outskirts of Grasmere, it doesn’t shout its presence. But the vast kitchen garden above the car park very much does wave the flag that food is the thing here.
With its Michelin-starred restaurant, Forest Side is a foodie destination set in a sleekly modernised country house hotel. Grand Victorian features of high ceilings and ornate fireplaces have been married with pale-grey colours, oak flooring and Lincrusta wallpapers. Bedrooms have softly shimmering wallpapers, crushed velvet fabrics and sleek bathrooms.
The tasting menu dishes are similarly understated in presentation but this belies clever food combinations that deliver unexpected taste sensations: smokily poached monkfish, for example, or jammy-tasting beetroot with iced goats’ cheese. Always make time for one of their whacky-sounding cocktails beforehand: plum-infused gin, perhaps, or a Douglas Fir negroni.
Address: Keswick Road, Grasmere, Ambleside LA22 9RN
Highlights: Best for foodies
Close to: Grasmere, Grey Crag
Read more: The best UK holiday destinations for families
11. Another Place, The Lake hotel
Ullswater
This hotel manages that rare trick of ticking the boxes for couples, families, adventurers, romantics, energetic children and dog owners alike. Sitting on the shores of Ullswater, with grounds running down to the lake, it is very focused on all things water-y: wild swimming, stand-up paddleboarding, sailing and kayaking. If you prefer your water a little warmer, there’s a 20-metre indoor pool with double-height windows overlooking the lake and fells. After which you can relax in the spa or in the terrace hot tub.
Rooms have a contemporary country-house vibe, some in the Georgian hall, others in the slate-and-glass extension. Alternatively, families might choose one of the cottages while romantics could opt for a shepherd’s hut with a stargazing glass panel, wood-burning stove and fire-pit. Meal options range from casual pub-style and wood-fired pizzas to a smarter bistro.
Address: Watermillock, Ullswater, CA11 0LP
Highlights: Best for couples, families, dog owners, watersports
Close to: Ullswater
Price: Double rooms from £270
Read more: The best towns and villages to visit in the Lake District
12. Langdale Chase hotel
Windermere
In an enviable position on the shores of Windermere, this hotel retains a Victorian grandeur subtly mixed with a sleek modernity. Built for a wealthy widow, the sprawling stone mansion bristles with turrets, terraces and tall chimneys while inside plasterwork ceilings, a grand staircase and stained-glass windows mix with modern art and designer sofas. Fires burn in numerous sitting rooms which, together with a glass-walled dining room, make the most of the lake views. Most bedrooms, too, have lake views, and a classic country-house feel jazzed up with bright-patterned rugs and bold feature wallpapers. Bathrooms are luxuriously large.
Food ranges from posh fine dining to posh comfort food with an eye-popping afternoon tea – exquisite cakes – if you get hunger pangs. And there are bento boxes for the private cinema. In the summer, take a trip on the hotel’s vintage motor yacht, with a picnic and champagne. Or make use of the free kayaks and paddleboards.
Address: Ambleside Road, Ecclerigg, Windermere, LA23 1LW
Highlights: Best for foodies, film lovers, watersports
Close to: Windermere
Read more: The spellbinding Scottish destinations that deliver the magic of Harry Potter
13. Low Wood Bay hotel
Windermere
One of the longest-established hotels in the Lake District – originally an 18th-century coaching inn – and owned by the same family for over 70 years, Low Wood Bay knows its guests well; families, couples, spa bunnies, mini-breakers all feel at home. Set back from the lakeside road around Windermere, it has enviable views across the lake to fells, including the iconic Langdale Pikes. You can enjoy these from one of the hotel’s two outdoor infinity pools, part of an extensive spa including outdoor sauna and hot tub, indoor thermal journey – with complimentary facials - and ESPA treatments. There’s also a leisure club with large pool plus a watersports centre and activities such as outdoor yoga.
The range of rooms covers most budgets from modern courtyard rooms and swish lake view rooms to art deco-style original hotel rooms and swanky affairs in a separate glass-and-slate chalet-style building. Dining is a choice of Modern British in the elegantly colourful W restaurant, and grills in the buzzy, open-kitchen Blue Smoke.
Address: Ambleside Road, Windermere LA23 1LP
Highlights: Best for families, couples, spa, outdoor pools
Close to: Windermere
Read more: The best family-friendly UK holiday destinations for kids and adults of all ages
For a better chance at receiving glorious weather with less of a chance of downpours, the summer months are the best time to visit.
However, this means that it is also the busiest period, as everyone else is trying to chase a slice of the sun.
For fewer people in the villages and on the trails, try and avoid the school holidays and visit mid-spring or early autumn.
In the winter, the weather will be a lot harsher, but there are plenty of cosy pubs to dive into after admiring the frosty landscape.
What time of year are hotels cheaper?
Autumn into winter is not the Lake District’s busiest tourist season, so prices may be lower during these months.
How to save on Lake District hotels
Booking.com has more than 1,000 stays to book across the Lake District in popular spots such as Windermere, Keswick and Ambleside.
If you’ve decided on a last-minute trip to the Lake District, it’s worth checking if National Trust cottages are available to book. Use the discount code below on a booking that starts in the next 14 days and you’ll get 25 per cent off and free access to National Trust sites during your stay.
What are the most popular Lake District areas?
There are plenty of places to discover in this sweeping National Park, but arguably the most famous and popular area is Windermere, where you will find glorious mountain vistas, England's largest lake and the charming towns of Ambleside and Bowness-on-Windermere.
For fans of Beatrix Potter, her 17th-century cottage can be found in Hawkshead, while Grasmere and Keswick have a supply of pubs, cafes and shops to explore before setting off on rambles around the nearby walking routes and trails.
For the best views of Lake Windermere, several routes will take you around the top scenic spots, including Bowness on Windermere Circular and Windermere Lake and Queen Adelaide’s Hill Circular.
How to travel around?
If travelling by train, the West Coast mainline runs to the east of the Lake District, stopping at Oxenholme (near Kendal), Penrith and Carlisle and connecting with London and Glasgow.
A direct train runs from Manchester to Windermere, while local trains from Oxenholme call at Kendal, Staveley and Windermere.
National Express coaches and Stagecoach buses also run through the area, while many minibus tour companies operate throughout the Lake District.
To make the most of the Lake District’s landscape, many people walk, hike or cycle on days out around the area.
To get to the national park by car take J36 and A590 for the southern end of the Lake District, or take J40 and A66 or A592 for the northern end of the Lake District.
Best walks in the Lake District?
There are 912 square miles of the Lake District to discover. Some of the best walks around the fells, lakes and market towns include Helvellyn from Thirlmere, the Whitehaven coastal walk and Scafell Pike via The Corridor Route.
Read more in our guide to the best Lake District walks
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