Rothay Manor - Ambleside, United Kingdom 

We stayed at this lovely lake district hotel for three nights with our two young children. We had a brilliant family suite with lots of space for everyone and a separate sleeping area for the children. We found everyone really welcoming. The kids had high tea everyday and then we were able to have dinner without them as they had a baby listening system that really worked. Most of the other guests were older couples but we felt very comfortable being the only family with small children. Dinner was good and breakfasts excellent.

Most reviewers give this hotel 5 stars, so why am I only giving it three stars? First the positives - I can confirm that the rooms are great, the beds very comfortable and the service is really excellent, the staff are experienced and friendly and really want to look after you. It's a well-run small hotel and the prices are about right for the facilities and quality of the place. But there are a few negatives as well. The location is only OK. If you want to be on a main road on the outskirts of Ambleside and don't mind traffic noise when you open your window then it's not a problem. Our room had a big balcony overlooking attractive gardens with a view over the trees to the hills beyond but the local one-way system has turned the hotel grounds into a large traffic island. If you want a very comfortable hotel in an accessible location and you intend to drive off in search of adventure each day then this could be ideal, if you'd like to walk out of the hotel into the countryside then it doesn't work. More importantly the Rothay Manor makes a big deal out of its food so we were looking forward to a treat. It was OK but not something to make a special trip for. Starters were good but my main course was lemon sole and it was deeply uninspiring. The fish was tasteless and rather dry. It was accompanied by the most boring vegetables imaginable. The carrots were acceptable although looking like school dinner veg slapped on the plate but the "new potatoes" were horrid. The catering industry seems to have a real problem with new potatoes and I don't understand why. You get some small salad potatoes in their skins, cut them in half, boil them for 15-20 mins, dress with a little butter and chopped parsley and you have a dish fit for a prince. Why restaurants so often serve peeled chunks of undercooked tasteless spuds and pass them off as new potatoes I can't understand although I always suspect they are buying in large cans of pre-cooked "new potatoes" from unscrupulous suppliers. Then there was the atmosphere. The hotel was unusually empty on the Thursday night that we were there and I'm assured that it's normally busy and lively-feeling. However when there are only a few people in the lounge and restaurant it becomes tomb-like and people start whispering to avoid being overheard. A little carefully chosen music would be a great help in "filling" the space and when we mentioned that to one of the staff she recognised the problem and was genuinely interested in solving it so maybe that will get better. But the atmosphere was not helped by the lighting and decor in the restaurant. The lounges were very attractive and easy on the eye and the restaurant might look fine on a summer's evening with sunshine streaming in but after dark the appalling lighting creates a dreary uniform and rather cheap feel that I wouldn't expect from somewhere that takes such care over most things. The mix of chandeliers with lots of exposed candle bulbs (always cheap and nasty) and lots of chintzy wall lights is an impossible combination. The lack of any light and shade and the multitude of exposed light sources to force your retina into retreat guarantees a dim and dismal experience. And finally, at midnight, we were woken by the clock radio alarm. Apparently if the alarm is unplugged, during cleaning perhaps, or by a previous guest, it resets itself to go off at midnight. Bad enough but my partner then could not get back to sleep and what could have been a good nights rest became a sleepless vigil in a strange room.