Macdonald Old England Hotel - Bowness-on-Windermere, United Kingdom 

Just had a four night stay in this hotel and what a wonderfully, pleasant, relaxing experience it was. We got the room on a special weekday offer of ?60 per person per night (?120 per room), which included cooked & continental breakfast, use of the spa / gym and a cruise on the lake. Our room was stylish, very comfortable and spotlessly clean. The bathroom looked newly and impressively re-furbished with a good sized shower and floor tiles which were not cold to the feet. We didn't dine in the hotel as it was a little overly formal for our tastes and somewhat over-priced, but found a great choice of restaurants and pubs nearby. The choice of continental breakfast was not the best i've ever seen, but the cooked breakfast was tasty, freshly cooked to order and served by friendly staff, which is infinitely better than a congealed, self-serve, buffet style breakfast which seems to be the order of the day in many hotels these days. My eggs were fried to perfection. It would be difficult to find fault with this hotel and will certainly recommend it and will probably stay there again.

This is the best surprise I’ve ever had with a hotel. POSITIVE surprise. I’ve been to England over 12 times in under 10 years and love seeing the variety of hotel rooms. Being a bargain hunter and a single traveler (usually), I’ve gotten stuck with some pretty small rooms. But, since they are just to sleep and wash in, I never really care. Before I booked this hotel, I had made sure it was in the perfect location…and as I usually do, I read reviews from a variety of travel sites. Most of the reviews on this one were positive with the occasional mixed or bad one. The hotel sounded dated and in need of some TLC. I read in a few places that the hotel was currently being remolded, which of course is great since it sounded like it needed it but maybe not so good for me, depending on HOW much remolding was going on. I found a great deal on four nights (just over 100 GBP per night including tax and breakfast) and I booked a single room. Long story short, this was one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at in England…or anywhere else for that matter. My room was HUGE. I had a king size bed and I could have danced in bathroom…which had BOTH a tub and a shower stall. The remolding was all completed when I arrived and boy, did they do a great job. All of the public rooms were cozy and warm looking. The d?cor was sophisticated but yet not too stuffy. I swam one night in the pool, belonging to the connected spa, and it was one of the best pools I’ve even swam in…especially hotel pools. The breakfast was all fresh and delicious. The staff were all pleasant and above-and-beyond helpful. The location, as I hoped, could not have been more ideal…right on Lake Windermere. I would not hesitate to stay here again. Actually, I wouldn’t mind living here!