Macdonald Old England Hotel & Spa

“Absolutely fabulous hotel”

Couldn’t fault this hotel at all. Great welcome and easy instructions to the car park. Absolutely fabulous room overlooking the lake (see pictures) Great breakfast with even better views. Very impressed although they did have a problem with the hot water but this was soon resolved.

“Great hotel value for money and staff super”

Great hotel Prefect location with great views. Room very clean and bed was so comfortable. All staff we meet professional and went out of their way to help. Reception staff Ahmed brilliant always happy to help. Will stay again next time in the lakes

“Disappointed”

I booked a stay at Od England Hotel in Bowles’s Windermere on a two night one free deal on McDonald’s website It was to celebrate my birthday with my partner , from the 14th October to the 17th , I received an e-mail the day before departure informing me of various upgrade options I chose to upgr… more

I booked a stay at Od England Hotel in Bowles’s Windermere on a two night one free deal on McDonald’s website It was to celebrate my birthday with my partner , from the 14th October to the 17th , I received an e-mail the day before departure informing me of various upgrade options I chose to upgrade to a suite with lovely views of lake Windermere, at £100 per night extra ,the suite came with a complimentary bottle of wine and chocolates Unbeknown to me my partner had rang the Hotel and paid for balloons and chocolates . Upon arrival we were allocated room 122 , the Hotel in the public areas is a little tired slightly dated we had a nice room , bit small for a suite , but stunning views . I informed my partner the wine and chocolates were complimentary , came with the suite , she then informed me she had called the hotel a paid for balloons and chocolates, there was a small helium balloon in the room but no other chocolates later after speaking to reception another two very small chocolates arrived . As it was my birthday Ion the Tuesday 15th I decided to order breakfast in bed , start the day special , filled in the menu requesting between 9-9.30 am 9.45 still no breakfast, rang reception they said will check with kitchen, rang back saying 20 mins So my partner and I decided to to just walk down to the restaurant and eat there The waiter on duty in restaurant apologised for the lack of of room service breakfast, but no explanation Got a call later that day offering afternoon tea , we did not accept the offer , just left it at that Not overly critical, but what should have been a lovely day was slightly spoiled I did expect more from a Hotel we have stayed at before Disappointed Stephen & Paula

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“Not good enough for the price”

Stayed at The Old England hotel for a couple of nights this week. Booked a deluxe king room on a bed and breakfast basis. We had visited Bowness on windermere a few times and had seen the hotel and always wanted to stay in it due to the look of the facade and the position on the lakeside. Initial… more

Stayed at The Old England hotel for a couple of nights this week. Booked a deluxe king room on a bed and breakfast basis. We had visited Bowness on windermere a few times and had seen the hotel and always wanted to stay in it due to the look of the facade and the position on the lakeside. Initial issue is parking. There’s no on site parking and the offsite is £20 per day. We stumbled on a public carpark which is closer than their carpark which was £20 for three days. It’s situated two minutes walk away in Rayrigg road. I’ve attached a google map. Checkin was smooth enough and the common areas are in fitting with the age of the building. If you enjoy an older building with its quirks and squeaky floors, like me then you’ll be fine. There’s a few nice common rooms and the main bar area has great views out onto the lake. Our room was big and had a partial lake view. It was very clean and the furnishings and decor were good. Bed was comfy and there was a bath and shower. The shower unusually for an old building was hot and the pressure was excellent. So you’ll maybe be thinking why 3/5 and average. Well that’s down to a few things. Breakfast. Disorganised and rudderless. Average food and supplements for a few things. Choice in the buffet was meagre and the hot food was just ok. The staff working were pleasant but it needs to be better organised. Tables coming in ten minutes after us were served before us and it all seemed a bit fawlty towerish. First morning breakfast took an hour! I wasn’t in a rush but come on. Dinner menu is expensive and drinks equally so. If you’re going to charge £150 a night minimum then you need to provide top notch service. The truth to his hotel doesn’t. There’s better for your money in the local area and unfortunately for that reason I wouldn’t return or recommend the hotel.

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