Windermere is exceptionally charming, and the Angel Inn is the cream on the top. We stayed here for…read moreone night prior to embarking on a several day hiking adventure in the English lake district. After a train ride from London, we checked in and were immediately escorted to our rooms. It is a gorgeous, well appointed, old white cottage with seemingly unending English charm. The room included a queen bed with comfortable linens, en suite bath with a standup shower, in-room toiletries, coffee/tea service, and incredible views of the town of Windermere. Overall, it was very well appointed with modern features throughout. For dinner, we enjoyed the restaurant's evening special of sirloin and chips. We ordered it medium rare and it came cooked to medium. Prior to that we broke from English tradition, and ordered a very nice fruit & cheese plate for an appetizer. At the end of the meal, their sticky toffee pudding was quite rich and among the top four I've had in my life. They have a very lovely outdoor setting, complete with comfortable tables, that allow for glorious views of Windermere, both the town and the body of water. Angel Inn also has a guest lounge area, with comfortable sofas and chairs that allow you to warm yourself by their wood burning fireplace. It is within easy walking distance to the post office, co-op, Laundrette, and mere. It is a 1.6 mile walk, all downhill, from the Windermere train station. There are also bus routes to take you into town.

Beautiful B&B, although it borders on a small boutique hotel. The room was very nice and…read morecomfortable. It was easy to find and convenient to walk around town. My food was excellent. Essentially, Bangers and Mash.

a friend of mine from the states and i recently took a short trip to the lakes district. we chose…read moreto spend our night in winderemere at denehurst--and boy, was it the best decision we made! denehurst guest house is a small b&b run by a lovely, charming british couple. running a prize-winning guest house, they told us, has always been their dream. and you can tell! from the tasteful, understated elegance of the decor right down to the chocolate chip biscuits on the tea spread, every detail has been thought about and paid attention to. the beds were cozy, the room impeccable (and huge closets and toilets!), and the breakfast was to-die-for. i'm not sure if i could overstate that last bit, even--may have been the best bacon in all of britain. they have a menu for you to chose what you want for breakfast the night before and will keep feeding you until you're completely stuffed. in addition to tasting amazing, most (if not all!) of your breakfast is locally-sourced, free range, and organic! not only were the accommodations great, but the couple (ken and cindy) attended to our every need. need a ride to/from the train station? want them to check if your restaurant is open and make you a reservation? or how about a recommendation for a lake hike or local restaurant? all this and more given to guests without hesitation or complaint---heck, we didn't even have to ask for all of this help! and speaking of restaurants, they've compiled a binder full of menus and reviews of restaurants they've been to and loved or had consistently good reviews from guests. it was so helpful in deciding where to go for us, that my friend and i both left dinner feeling we'd had the best meal of our year here in the UK, without emptying our wallets! and best of all, this complete package was all for much, much less expensive than any of the other b&bs or hotels we looked at! it may have been ken & cindy's dream to have the perfect little bed and breakfast, but they certainly made our lake district dream come true. :)

Thanks to this railway station, now people all over the world get to enjoy the Lake District,…read moreespecially those traveling without a car like me and my friend. According to our local tour guide, the Lakes are set to have 18 million visitors this year. It's quite convenient that there is a direct train from here to Manchester. We came in changing at Oxenholme, but upon leaving, I don't have to do that. I only have to change at Manchester to get to York. It's good too that there is a self Service ticket machine inside. And Booths is next door, where you can get a sandwich or a bottle of water for your journey. You can also catch the Service 599 and other buses to get to Bowness, Ambleside, Grasmere, Keswick and other towns.

Mountain Goat Tours- 10 Lakes Spectacular…read more We spent a terrific day in the Lakes District with an outstanding guide. Lisa was competent, fun, knowledgeable, funny, patient, entertaining and genuinely cared that everyone in her charge had a great experience. It was not the ideal day with rains and winds that caused Lisa to change from Plan A to Plan B to Plan C on the fly. Still, we had a great day and got a nice taste of the Lake District natural sites and stunning vistas. This tour is an absolute must for any visitor the the Lakes District

From the owner: Established in 1972, Mountain Goat offer exceptional tours across Northern England. Our tours take…read moreguests away from the crowds to view spectacular views. Alongside the dramatic landscapes and picturesque scenery, you'll be treated to on-board commentary from Mountain Goat’s highly experienced local driver guides, all of who have a passion for the area and will share with you fascinating histories and stories of the region.

My friend booked out this gorgeous little cottage for her hen weekend. The cottage sleeps 14…read morepeople. The ground floor has the kitchen, living room, dining room and small toilet. The rooms are spacious and decorated in style to the cottage. There are 5 bedrooms spread over the 2 upstairs floors. 3 rooms with double beds and the others are dorm type with 3 and 5 single beds in. Plenty of bath/shower rooms. There is only a limited amount of parking so we had to double park. Outside in the garden there is a BBQ and dining area. There is also a small shed with the hot tub in. The hot tub had a very strong smell of chlorine so if your planning on using it, leave the doors open for a few hours before to circulate the air a bit. The cottage is a 5 minute walk from the train station and local supermarket, it's also very close to the town centre which had every kind of shop you could hope for.

Cute guesthouse located not too far from Windermere station. Although it's a walking distance from…read morethe station, I recommend taking a cab if you have a big suitcase because the roads are hilly. The room is simple but is tastefully decorated. I paid £100 for a queen size bed room which is a-ok for the UK standard but it felt slight expensive coming from the States. The breakfast was rather simple but hearty and traditional. There is a bus stop for 599 just a few minutes away which takes you to Bowness Pier, Grasmere, etc. I recommend going down to the Bowness Pier and take a ferry from there to Ambleside. My overall experience was 3.5.

Grab a pint and sit out in the beer garden in the back while waiting for your train out of…read moreWindermere! This is just a few minutes walk from the train station, which makes it great for killing some waiting time with a drink. They have TV screens inside as well with information about trains, status, etc, which was helpful. One of the many spots around that are dog friendly. One of the few spots that serves a cold beer (ie caters a bit more towards the tourists visiting in the area). Refreshing!

If you are looking a cheap and cheerful pub in Windermere this is it. I was lured in by the £5…read morelunch offer and it didn't disappoint. The staff are friendly too as they chatted to customers including myself and the atmosphere was great as people chatted to each other as well. This place is suitable for locals, tourists and families and you get the odd folk coming in just to use the loos!! If you are wanting more of a pub feel and bigger portions of food then the Queen's pub is next door.

My mom found this lodge after reading some reviews online from previous guests and booked a room…read morefor four people. Located down a small winding road, Holly Lodge Guest House is snugly situated near a few other guest houses and looked very quaint when we stepped through the gate. When we rung the doorbell, a cheery woman cam bustling out and gave us our keys and asked us to fill out a breakfast survey of what we wanted to eat the next morning. She was very giggly and very friendly and made us feel very welcomed! We had to lug our suitcases up the stairs because the place was not equipped with any elevators, but what can you expect from a place that's been renovated from a normal house to a guest lodge (the owners still live downstairs in the house though). However, when we got opened the door, we were pleasantly surprised because the room consisted of two separate rooms connected together by an open door. Each room had a tv and queen-sized bed and one room was connected to the bathroom. Everything was so organized and clean it looked like a hotel suite! Since we stayed here for two nights, we got to experience what their tidying service was like, and it did not disappoint. Every time we came back from a long day of exploring Windermere and the Lake District, all our beds had been tidied, our bathrooms cleaned, and even our strewn papers, books, and bottles of shampoo and makeup neatly lined up in order. Definitely great service! For breakfast, there were four options for hot food: bacon sandwich, traditional British (sausage, poached egg, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon, and black pudding), smoked salmon with scrambled eggs and toasted muffins, vegetarian, and toasted crumpets. For the first breakfast there, my sister, my mom and I all chose the smoked salmon and my dad the traditional British. In the morning, we went downstairs to eat (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/holly-lodge-guest-house-windermere?select=sEiXTcndEAhmxbnwqysy4g#sEiXTcndEAhmxbnwqysy4g) and conveniently found our designated dining table labeled with our room number, 7. There was a breakfast yogurt, fruit, and cereal bar against one wall (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/holly-lodge-guest-house-windermere?select=sEiXTcndEAhmxbnwqysy4g#npIs6K7TcLbayt2MQ4Ar6w). I loved how they provided fresh fruit (blueberries, kiwi, pineapple, grapes, apples) instead of canned, which I find is often the case for small motels and lodges. The owner came out to ask us whether we wanted coffee or tea. I had their coffee (a whole French press), which was smooth and strong (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/holly-lodge-guest-house-windermere?select=sEiXTcndEAhmxbnwqysy4g#LNxpxJ-bBsNmgIGDvGmQeQ). Then, they gave us a basketful of complimentary bread with butter, which was very nice considering how we had more food coming. Smoked Salmon with Scrambled Eggs and Toasted Muffins (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/holly-lodge-guest-house-windermere?select=sEiXTcndEAhmxbnwqysy4g#0zPr_I8xR_nW2Uszc8Gwig) - I was expecting a little more smoked salmon (there were only 2 pieces) and the scrambled eggs turned out to be made from powdered eggs and not real eggs, which was kind of a bummer. However, the toasted muffins were hot, buttery, and soft, which was quite tasty. Even though the portions don't look like much, that plus my bowl of yogurt made me feel bloated. Traditional British (I had all the items minus the black pudding) (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/holly-lodge-guest-house-windermere?select=sEiXTcndEAhmxbnwqysy4g#4WQVyKTGiEoI_P7Ypht2UA) - I ordered this the next morning and it was all right. Nothing much could go wrong with all the items on this dish and the mushrooms were quite tasty. The poached egg was obviously made fresh and the meat portion was a lot! However, I'm not a big fan of beans so this wasn't my favorite. Holly Lodge also gives tenants the option of asking them to prepare take-away sandwich meals (£5 each), and we decided to do that for next day's lunch as we had to leave for the train station early and did not have time to buy lunch after breakfast. I placed our order to the owners at the back of the house, and the owner was very willing to adapt to our request (she only had ham and cheese in the house but the flier had indicated beef, chicken, and tuna were also options and we wanted one beef and one chicken). The next day, she gave us our orders on time in giant paper bags. When we peered in, we were surprised to see not only sandwiches in each bag, but granola bars, bottled waters, potato crisps, and fresh fruit inside! Definitely worth our money! Holly Lodge, you were one of the better places we stayed at during our trip to the UK. I will never forget your warm hospitality!

The breakfast is really good, but sometimes there is no warm water. I even cannot take a shower…read moreuntil waiting for fifteen mins.

If I could give a zero star, I would…read more. Now I will tell you why: 1. We had booked a C class car which is selection of economy car Honda Civic, VW golf and Ford Focus. But when I went there to pick up the car the only car I saw there was Polo, Class B. The guy rudely just said, this is what is available and I had no other option then take it. He actually charged me for the class C which was a pound more then class B, which if he was a good guy, he wouldnt have even by mistake. 2. We had read reviews that he is a very rude guy and he NEVER returns back your deposit. So when we went to return back his car, we made sure that we got his signature on the contract paper that there was no damage. It isnt he is lazy but he is just an ass. He was very angry and he didnt want to sign that paper and made us believe that he'll just return the deposit. But we live in USA and we didnt want to run after him to get our deposit back. And not to our surpirse, when we saw our credit card bill, our deposit was NOT REFUNDED. Very odd location, very hard to find it. Since this is the only car rental company in lake district he monopolizes. He thinks, he can get away with it. So a very bad experience overall.

If you're considering booking a car with this lot, be sure to pay a deposit BY CASH only, and not…read morecard. Make sure you get written confirmation that any deposit paid will be refunded at the same of the returned vehicle. Upon booking a car with Jim (the manager) at Windermere Car Hire, he comes across a very decent and honest old man, even offering to pick you up from the train station when you arrive. The reality is he's a bit of a sneaky crook that needs to be watched carefully. The booking process is swift and easy, however, he will not mention that you'll have to wait over a week (or more) for your deposit to be refunded. Assuming you get it back at all. We were told the deposit would be refunded in 2 days after returning the. It's been over a week now, and we're yet to receive it. We are having to chase head office for the refund. I suggest you look for alternative rental companies in the area, or pay a cash deposit.