Anniversary break

Hotel was great and the Thermal Spa was amazing. Staff were excellent they even gave us a room upgrade to help us celebrate. Could not fault our stay. Food in both restraunts very good and so was breakfast. Will definately be back. I would also like to thank the booking agent for the great advice when making the reservation

Comprehensive Spa Facilities. Beautiful Views. Dog tolerant

There are lovely things about Low Wood Bay and if you are looking for a hotel you don't need to leave all weekend and be comfy and warm and a nice spa then this is the one!

If you are an outdoorsy type I don't think this is the hotel for you (or me !).

The Spa is really wonderful, book a treatment and spend they day there.

I found the restaurant over priced for the quality 18 for a scallop starter with one scallop! Breakfast was good but not what I expect for a 300+ per night hotel (e.g. basic packaged cereals and yoghurt. Coffee machine was "broken"). Through the hotel it was often difficult to find a cleared table, noone seemed to be clearing glasses after guests had moved on, even on leaving in the morning, there were many tables with leftover drinks from the night before.

I booked Low Wood Bay through Country Hotel Breaks on their dog friendly list, but found this hotel Dog tolerating not dog friendly, but perhaps I've been spoilt by other hotels in the area.

Despite booking the Dog friendly rate and package, the promised 'bed, treats and bowls' were not provided. I did ask and we were given a bed, bowl and towel which was very handy, I'm glad I asked!

I generally felt a bit uncomfortable as a muddy, fell running, outdoorsy person at Low Wood Bay, most people were at breakfast in cashmere and stilettos. If that is your jam, this hotel is perfect, each to their own. We like luxury and good food and don't mind spending money on it, but the quality and service did not seem up to the prices paid at Low Wood Bay.

Just too many issues to make it great

I'll start with the negatives
1. Road noise. When I go away I want peace and quiet. I live on a housing estate where road noise is minimal. Unfortunately our room faced the main road. The hotel sell the room as one with a lake view which is of course true, but then the road is in front of the lake and it is very busy and noisy. I would rather have had a room facing the hills/rear.

2.Pool complex. Whenever I have been so a hotel with spa facilities as a guest you get access to at least a pool, sauna and jacuzzi. This hotel gave access to a pool and jacuzzi, but the 'sauna' was a heated room rather than a proper traditional sauna which was disappointing. In addition access was limited in terms of times and we found ourselves being turned away when we misjudged the timing which again was a shame and something I have not experienced in other similar hotels.

3. Dining experience. Firstly, I can't recall the price we paid for our meal, but it was expensive even with the discount we had as a result of the booking arrangement.. My starter, a single beef skewer was dry and lacked taste, then I had duck, the breast was fine but the leg was overcooked.
My wife had a sushi style dish, which was average then a chicken main which again was dry and overcooked. In all this by no means justified the cost. The next night we had no hesitation in driving to The Queens Head at Troutbeck for our evening meal. I am sorry to say it was far superior to the one we had at the hotel at a fraction of the price.

Positives

1.The hotel was very clean, relaxing and nicely decorated.

2.Plenty of room in the car park

3. Really nice room and bathroom.

4. Great staff. I must say that I don't think I have ever visited a hotel with such polite, helpful and friendly staff. From the car park guy, to reception, bar staff..everyone was excellent and a credit to the hotel.

Vince and Ann's visit.

All staff were polite and welcoming. The hotel was very clean and well presented. Restaurants were very good with the excellent standard set by staff maintained. A simply beautiful location.
The bed room was small, but otherwise we throughly enjoyed our stay.

Relaxing stay

The stay was overall good.

The location is amazing!

The staff however are not the most helpful. We arrived early so waited for check in, little things like they walked passed us to put are bags in are room but didn t tell us it was ready . Seemed abit odd.

The staff also especially spa staff are on the phones or sat on desks chatting. Just seems an odd vibe when you re in an expensive high class spa hotel. Staff in general just don t seem very approachable.

The food at the restraints was very good. Very expensive but good quality so overall just about worth it. The staff however weren t very knowledgable on the dishes and miss a personal touch.

Rooms are very tired, a lot of little bits of damage in the room like broken bits of wood in the room tired looking carpets and walls. The bathrooms seemed new and lovely. Overall defo need a revamp.

Lovely present

We stayed on overnight stay with breakfast and 2 hour thermal journey which was a present from our children.
The hotel and spa are beautiful and the staff are all very friendly and helpful.
It's in a really good location for walking into Ambleside or catching a bus which can be done from outside the hotel