Linthwaite House

“Great place but let down by a few minor issues”

We had visited LQF in Franchoek 18 months ago and loved the hotel, so we decided to visit Linthwaite House. Having been a regular visitor to the lakes and having spent time at different hotels, Linthwaite House has to be our favourite but is let down by a few things. The hotel is a haven of tranqui… more

We had visited LQF in Franchoek 18 months ago and loved the hotel, so we decided to visit Linthwaite House. Having been a regular visitor to the lakes and having spent time at different hotels, Linthwaite House has to be our favourite but is let down by a few things. The hotel is a haven of tranquility with manicured grounds. We loved the charm of the hotel, with open fires as you enter the hotel and in the bar. The Bar/restaurant is a place you can spend the whole day looking down at the lake. The hotel has to have one of the best view of the lake without the hustle and bustle of Bowness. On a sunny day, you could easily spend the day just sitting outside looking at the lake with a drink. The hotel in 5 min drive from Bowness and probably 15 min walk. We didn't try the restaurant in the evening but found breakfast to be excellent and the bar restaurant to be equally good. The hotel has 3 electric car chargers which was handy given that it meant we could charge the car but unfortunately, i had to ask them to turn the charger on every time. What we didn't like. We found the bedrooms to be the smallest bedrooms we have ever stayed at with the beds being very firm. The hotel was very low on occupancy when we were there. i had asked whether i could get a late check out and was told that, i would have to pay an additional £50 for two hours. I have never encountered that in any hotel. When booking the hotel, the hotel offered me the rooms at more expensive price than online. when i went back to the hotel, they said, if you can get us a screen shot, we will match that. I had said, why don't i just book the online. I was told we would leave something extra in your rooms which would be a special gift. We arrived and there was nothing in the rooms, not even fruit or chocolates but a welcome card. All in all an excellent hotel but let down by small touches. staff on the whole are excellent but you have to find the staff as they are not there a lot of the time. We would definitely return but get a bigger room as entry rooms are pathetic. Such a shame as the hotel is a great hotel

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“Beware of wine prices £22 for a glass of rosé”

Beautiful hotel & afternoon, amazing location & attentive staff, cannot fault this at all. What does disappoint me is that we were charged £22 per glass of 250ml of rosé, yet a schooner of lager was only £5. Don’t mind paying extra for such an amazing hotel & location but feel this is extortionate!… more

Beautiful hotel & afternoon, amazing location & attentive staff, cannot fault this at all. What does disappoint me is that we were charged £22 per glass of 250ml of rosé, yet a schooner of lager was only £5. Don’t mind paying extra for such an amazing hotel & location but feel this is extortionate! ‘Rip off Britain’ comes to mind, such a shame as such a beautiful hotel.

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“Very disappointing”

We paid £960 (excluding dinner and the bar bill) for 2 nights B&B for a 'view room'. The view was nice. The room (3) was fairly small. The en-suite was large. Hot water took a very long while to arrive... a really long time! Information about the hotel's facilities is non existent. For example, we… more

We paid £960 (excluding dinner and the bar bill) for 2 nights B&B for a 'view room'. The view was nice. The room (3) was fairly small. The en-suite was large. Hot water took a very long while to arrive... a really long time! Information about the hotel's facilities is non existent. For example, we discovered a picnic could have been arranged when we saw a notice to that affect in the summerhouse by their tarn on a walk around their quite stunning grounds. It would have been nice if this information was available prior to arrival. Other information was similarly missing, It is a lovely hotel. There is some fabulous, if somewhat quirky artwork and the staff are mostly genuinely interested in you and invested in making sure you have a good time. I say 'mostly'. Breakfast service is dreadful. We weren't aware they could provide more coffee options than a very (very) weak cafetiere until our 2nd morning, when, upon asking for an additional spoon of coffee in said pot I was told they couldn't do that because the coffee pots were all pre-prepared...but I might get lucky if someone was a bit heavy handed. Anyway, we were then told x, y and z coffees were available. We ordered two: 20 mins later one arrived, along with a pot of tea. A random plate of grapefruit arrived, as did juice we didn't order, but our breakfast took a bloody long time. Overnight oats had been prepared some 20mins before serving: gritty and runny (I'd had them the day before... beautifully creamy and soft). Breakfast mains didn't arrive. We asked when it was coming. Soon, they said. Some 40mins after asking and nearly an hour since ordering, it turned up (scrambled egg and salmon on one plate, scrambled egg and bacon on the other). Unfortunately the waitress put my plate down resting on the edge of my coffee cup and saucer, which totally upended as soon as I put fork to plate... breakfast was ruined in a pool of poor quality coffee. The replacement came out in less than 5 minutes. Microwaved fatty bacon and a miniscule portion of sloppy scrambled egg. The waiter came over to explain the very lengthy wait... apparently another table preffered to have their breakfast order served at the same time. So, despite being seated and ordering first, we were made to wait. When I said that I really did not care about another table's preference, and would just have liked our breakfast to have been served in a timely manner, the waiter looked shocked and exclaimed that I should care. My husband, who was less than halfway through his breakfast asked if I wanted to leave. I did. I took my abysmal breakfast plate to reception to complain. I was so upset. This had been a treat for my 65th birthday and my lasting memory is of that man giving preferential treatment to people who were staying in a more expensive room. The cost of breakfast... £70 ...was knocked off the bill. Apologies were given. The manager rang the next day... we should let her know when we next planned to stay; she would personally look after us, and we would be given a special upgrade. She would give us her email address. A week on and she hasn't. But even if she had, I wouldn't stay there again. The way that man spoke to me is unforgivable and the way we were placed in some sort of 'pecking order' was really quite disgraceful for a hotel of any quality, let alone the standing of Linthwaite House. It is interesting to note that Linthwaite House doesn't respond to reviews. Also interesting to note that given the very many negative comments about breakfast service, it does nothing to improve. Or perhaps it just doesn't give a toss.

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“Disappointing afternoon tea”

My husband treated me to an afternoon tea at Linthwaite house, an experience I had been wanting to try for a long time, to celebrate our 10th Wedding anniversary. The house looks wonderful and is set in beautiful surroundings. The staff were all friendly and gave very good service. However, I am sa… more

My husband treated me to an afternoon tea at Linthwaite house, an experience I had been wanting to try for a long time, to celebrate our 10th Wedding anniversary. The house looks wonderful and is set in beautiful surroundings. The staff were all friendly and gave very good service. However, I am sad to say, the afternoon tea was a disappointment. The sandwiches could have been made with fresher bread. The sweet and pastry treats, although looked impressive, didn't taste as good as I expected. Advertised at £39 per person online, then discovered it was £45, when we got there..which I felt was far too much. So sadly, my experience wasn't all that I hoped it to be.

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