The Langdale Hotel enjoys an enviable location in one of my favourite regions of the Lake District: the beautiful valley of Great Langdale. From the doorstep of this high-class, four-star hotel you can explore a multitude of fells, including the famous Langdale Pikes, a collection of peaks situated on the northern side of the dale.
But if walking the hills isn’t your cup of tea, then you’re just a short distance from the local towns of Ambleside and Windermere. Alternatively, you can take advantage of the hotel’s amenities, including the leisure centre, spa, 20-metre swimming pool, tennis courts and table tennis room. Or why not simply relax within the grounds of this luxury 35-acre estate where woodland and sparkling streams help create an idyllic oasis?
I visited with my wife and two children, aged eleven and five, and enjoyed our time so much that I didn’t want to leave. What got our visit off to a good start was the attitude and manner of the staff: being greeted with a smile and showing a willingness to help made us feel welcome – and that feeling remained throughout our stay. Take the restaurant – or I should say restaurants because there are two plus bars and a nearby traditional Lakeland pub where food can be obtained. My wife and I chose the relaxed Terrace Restaurant, but being a family of vegetarians were a little apprehensive about finding suitable dishes for ourselves, let alone the children. We needn’t have worried, though, because not only were there several dishes on the menu to choose from, the staff were happy to adapt the meals to suit our requirements, wherever possible.
The food was delicious. Many dishes in the Terrace Café are cooked in an imported oven from Spain, apparently the only charcoal-filled oven of its kind in the Lake District. I chose fresh pea risotto with mascarpone cheese to start followed by fresh pizza and mixed summer fruits with vanilla cream in a brandy snap basket; each course was spot on and the restaurant hit all the right notes.
The estate began life as a small woollen mill but, during the 1930s, a local landowner spotted its potential and turned it into a holiday resort. Before the decade was out, a small hotel, handful of furnished cottages, dormitories, rustic cabins and guest house stood within the grounds. Much has changed during the last eight decades. Now, 16 luxury suites are being added and should be ready by Spring 2013.
We stayed in one of the Fellside ‘Signature’ rooms which offered all the mod cons you’d expect. Just a stone’s throw from the hotel’s main entrance, this contemporary-styled room afforded us a comfortable night’s sleep.
I noticed that The Langdale used the phrase, “Some days it’s beautiful…the rest it’s perfect”, in one of its brochures. Well, based on my own experience of this beautiful estate, I’d find it hard to disagree!
Further information:
The Langdale Estate
Great Langdale
Nr Ambleside
Cumbria
LA22 9JD
Visit www.langdale.co.uk or call 015394 37302