On the eastern side of Lake Windermere, up the winding Crook Road and past the broody, rolling fells, you'll find the Gilpin Hotel & Lake House. The Cunliffe family have spent six generations turning this Lakeland bolthole into one of England's most coveted retreats and there are actually two abodes set a mile apart: the 21-acre Gilpin Hotel, with its Michelin-starred restaurant, pan-Asian Spice and a meadow of llamas and micro pigs, and the six-bedroom Lake House, hidden in 100 private acres on the bank of Knipe Tarn. Both run on the same motto, "love and laughter," and both deliver it with aplomb (with plenty of G&Ts to go around).
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The hotel has 30 rooms. Half are in the Edwardian main house, and are generous and bold with patterned wallpapers, thick curtains and heaped cushions. The rest are a tad more modern, scattered throughout the grounds, and some have private hot tubs. The headline acts are the Spa Lodges and Spa Suites that are kitted out with saunas, steam rooms and automated massage chairs (really!). The Lake House's six rooms, each named after a family daughter, are open-plan and flooded with light. Ask for Ethel: small, but the view over Knipe Tarn is the loveliest of all.
The Lake House Jetty Spa, a treatment room hoisted three metres into the tree canopy with floor-to-ceiling views over Knipe Tarn.
Staying at the Lake House but want the Michelin tasting menu? Gilpin runs you to the hotel and back, sometimes by Porsche, so you can do justice to the wine pairing.
The two estates have different perks. Only the hotel has in-room hot tubs and the Spice restaurant; only Lake House guests get the private pool and grounds.
Start with a recommended trip or create one from scratch
Gilpin Hotel & Lake House can be booked with Timbuktu as part of a tailor-made UK trip, rather than as a standalone room reservation. Start online, customising one of our recommended UK trips featuring Gilpin Hotel & Lake House or get advice and suggestions from one of our UK specialists who will design the trip around your dates, check availability and handle every booking for you.
Stays at Gilpin Hotel & Lake House start from around $240, or US$240, per person per night as part of a tailor-made trip. The exact price depends on your travel dates, room type and the shape of the rest of your itinerary. A Timbuktu travel specialist can give you an accurate quote for your dates.
With its wild fells and mirror-still lakes, the Lake District is England at its most dramatically beautiful.
