Rooms and staff were exceptional. The restaurant is expensive and serves ‘signature’ dishes. These were not quite my taste but that is my issue, not the hotels. There are numerous alternatives in and adjacent o Ambleside.

Perfect location on the edge of Ambleside. The staff were all exceptional. There is a large car park one minute walk from the main reception area, but you can drop off bags and turn right outside. We stayed in the main building because we wanted a proper balcony and we had the largest one. Two sets of double doors opened into the balcony and a lovely view of the quite large garden, which had some nice plants and trees. (In the separate, more modern, building the upstairs rooms have Juliette balconies and the ground floor rooms have dog friendly’ outside areas.) Our bathroom had a bath that filled very quickly and a large, free-standing shower (rainfall and hand-held) with excellent water pressure. Beautiful ‘Bath House’ toiletries were provided. The bed in our room was very big - a super king I think. The sheets were lovely. The restaurant’s ambience was perfect and the food was sublime. YOU MUST GO! The high quality extended to breakfast too.

Despite mentioning a few things here, I would choose to stay at the hotel again in a heartbeat, due to the wonderful staff, location and food. The mattress was on the soft side, but this is personal preference. A couple of new benches are needed in the garden. There was one decent one and the other was rotten. The balcony looked slightly forlorn - a lick of paint on the iron work would have overcome this. There was a lot of banging from the building site across the garden - ongoing since last July apparently.

Our stay at Rothay Manor was perfect. Staff were welcoming and helpful and made us feel right at home, The room was nicely furbished. Bed was super comfortable and the bathroom was spotless. The shower was excellent, lots of flow and great temperature control. Nice fluffy generous towels and soap / shower gel. We also ate at the restaurant. Food, ambience and staff were all excellent. Slept comfortably and peacefully. We were also able to park at an EV charger parking spot and recharge the car overnight at a very reasonable rate for a public charger. Breakfast the next morning was great. Just perfect all round.

Nothing to dislike. We stayed during a mini heatwave so the room was quite warm with no A/C but wouldn't normally be needed in the Lake District.

Lovely welcome upon arrival & shown to our room. The room was spacious with double doors opening onto patio with a gate leading out which enabled us to take the dog out without going thru the hotel. Bathroom was huge with roll top bath & separate shower. Products in bathroom were lovely from liquid soap to hand lotion. Fresh milk in the fridge & homemade biscuits in a jar by the kettle were much appreciated after a long walk. Breakfast offered a variety of choices from sourdough toast to full English. Nothing was too much the staff were fantastic. Louie the dog enjoyed sausages for breakfast & walks in the well kept garden. Beautiful fresh flowers dotted around the hotel added colour. We will be back for sure

Nothing!

The menu choice was comprehensive & food excellent quality. The room was beautiful -decor & furnishings excellent quality. Lots of little finishing touches to make extra special.Spotlessly clean. Everything provided for our dog . Lovely little private seating area outside adjoining the room- which was a pleasant surprise. Location was amazing with wonderful walks in all directions & 5 minutes from Ambleside. Staff were super friendly & accommadating - & great with our dog. Will definatly re-visit

Prices of drinks were rather expensive - especially cocktails -

The hotel is set in attractive gardens with outside tables where you can eat and drink throughout the day (meals, snacks, afternoon tea..). The rooms were quite spacious, with armchairs and window seats, which I particularly like. The decor was very pleasant, harmonious and in-keeping with the country atmosphere while retaining an elegant feel. It was very relaxing. The hotel is a 5 to 10 minute walk from the centre of Ambleside where there are numerous restaurants, gift shops, high street shops and bus stops. There is also a walk from the centre to the waterfalls which takes about 15- 20 minutes. In the other direction from the hotel, after a 10 minute walk through the fields (or along the road), you arrive at the departure point for boat trips on the lake (eg to Bowness). The buses go from Ambleside to Windermere/Bowness, and there are numerous easy walks to Rydall caves/Grasmere for example, directly from the hotel. Breakfast was very good with everything being very well-prepared and of good quality. The scones in the afternoon were delicious.

Service at breakfast was very variable: sometimes very good; most of the time slow and haphazard. The food in the restaurant was excellent, by far the best in Ambleside, and beautifully presented, but the portions were really very small: a duck liver parfait no bigger than your index finger and a small piece of fish served with a raviolo (that's like ravioli but singular). I had a coquille saint-jacques, again singular, but which was served with pork belly which gave it some substance. Delicious, but we had a two-course menu and perhaps should have added a desert. The bill was just under £160 with two glasses of wine, not a bottle.

We spent three nights here in mid March, we booked the suite with the hot tub. This room is in the new pavilion across a courtyard from the main building. The room was beautifully decorated and had everything we needed (huge bed! Two showers and sinks! Big bath, fridge, safe). The room has a huge wrap around courtyard, with floor to ceiling windows. The hot tub was a real treat and was ready to use when we checked in. Breakfast was lovely with lots of options. We had the set menu one evening, we enjoyed the experience but too rich to have each night imho so we ate out. The bar and restaurant are very comfortable, two lounges in the main house and a smaller lounge in the pavilion. You can hear traffic noise when outside but not inside. The location is good for exploring the area, lots of parking on site, Ambleside is walking distance away. Lots of thoughtful touches in the room and elsewhere, umbrellas available and a boot room.

Nothing!

As we were on tour, we booked a two night stay in a classic plus room and boy was it plus with double aspect and plenty of space as well as a Nespresso machine and lovely teas. Breakfast all brought to the table was delicious and dinner was superb. We will definitely return.

Slight little niggle that the boot room was more set up for dog cleaning than cleaning your boots. We were at another hotel recently, which had a great contraption to clean boots. There were no brushes etc only a shower. But a minor complaint for what was a lovely stay.

The hotel is a characterful building in a convenient location for Ambleside and lake Windermere, and a good base for touring the lakes. The bed was very comfortable and breakfast was good, if a little slow.

My only complaint was the price of the 3 course menu in the restaurant. At £65 each it was very pricey, and although the quality was good, it was overpriced for 3 courses… we’ve enjoyed similar quality in France for half that price! The wine was similarly expensive, with the cheapest wines around £40 a bottle. They used to do a tasting menu, but no longer because they haven’t got the staff apparently, yet the 3 courses were the size of a tasting menu course, which is small, and would be fine if you were having 7 courses, but left you feeling short changed when only having 3 courses. There wasn’t a bar menu as an alternative to the 3 course set menu.

Our superior room was stunning. (first room at the top of the stairs - forget the name.) It had some fantastic wallpaper. Amazing large bathroom, large walk in shower and free standing bath. Large balcony overlooking the gardens. £5 option to have breakfast on the balcony table. Hotel happy to organise flowers for arrival. 6 x 22kW (11kW usable in my EV) 3-phase EV chargers. Reasonable £0.40/kWh charge. Food in the restaurant was excellent and very foodie - you wouldn't however want to eat there more than once though as there is limited options/limited set menu and it's £65+ per head for min 3 courses. The cheese trolly was special. Very clean and comfy king size bed.

Road noise when on the balcony and outside in the gardens. Thankfully you cannot hear when inside/sleeping. The hotel is situated in a very busy island surrounded by roads left, front and right. These roads can can very very busy in peak times. Felt like the decor/furniture in the restaurant could be cosier or more intimate.