Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Deals in the Lake District

A good Lake District break starts with deciding what you want from it. A memorable dinner and a bedroom overlooking Windermere? A private spa and an afternoon doing very little? Or a comfortable inn where you can come back from the fells, take off your boots and settle in for supper?

Our selection covers all three. Around Windermere and Grasmere, you’ll find some of the area’s most ambitious restaurants and indulgent hotels. Head towards Borrowdale, Loweswater or Wasdale and the appeal becomes more about the landscape, the walking and a welcoming place to return to. Below, we compare the stays by what they do well, with a few practical details that can make the difference between a lovely break and the wrong one.

Where would we start?

• For the lowest indicative price: Damson Dene, with dinner on site and a pool; compare Lindeth Howe if you prefer a smaller country-house setting.
• For a spa stay at a lower budget: Rothay Garden in Grasmere, with its Riverside Spa.
• For a luxury spa escape: Gilpin Hotel & Lake House, with carefully chosen accommodation that gives you the spa experience you want.
• For a food-first weekend: Forest Side, especially if seasonal Cumbrian ingredients are what draw you to a restaurant.
• For a romantic stay with a sense of occasion: The Samling, on the hillside above Windermere.
• For restaurant quality at a more moderate guide price: 1863 Restaurant with Rooms in Pooley Bridge.
• For a dog-friendly base: The Borrowdale Hotel, where dogs can join you for meals in designated areas.
• For a walking break: Kirkstile Inn for Loweswater, or Wasdale Head Inn for a stay beneath the high fells.

The hotels and restaurants worth comparing

Gilpin: our first choice for a luxury spa break

Gilpin is where we would start if the hotel matters as much as dinner. Its five AA red stars and two Michelin Keys make it a strong hotel choice, with two very different dinner options: Michelin-starred SOURCE and Gilpin Spice. The Spice pairing currently has a £485 midweek guide total, compared with £675 for SOURCE. Spice offers pan-Asian cooking; SOURCE is the tasting-menu choice. Neither price should be read as the cost of a Spa Suite. The accommodation is a separate decision: a Spa Suite is a different experience from a standard hotel room, and Lake House facilities are reserved for guests staying at Lake House.

Choose it for a restorative, indulgent break. If your main priority is a bedroom looking out over Windermere, compare The Samling and Linthwaite House first. Selected Gilpin rooms also welcome dogs, although dogs cannot accompany you to evening dinner at SOURCE; Gilpin Spice is the dog-friendly dining alternative.

Forest Side: our restaurant-led pick

At Forest Side, the draw is Paul Leonard’s cooking, with ingredients from the kitchen garden, the surrounding countryside and Cumbrian suppliers. The Michelin-starred restaurant offers four- and eight-course dinners: this is somewhere to give the evening time, rather than fit it around other plans.

Grasmere makes a lovely base for a break built around food and walking. Compared with Gilpin, we would choose Forest Side for the restaurant rather than a spa experience. Six bedrooms welcome dogs, but the lounge and restaurant do not, so consider what your dog will do while you dine. Check dinner dates before booking: the published dinner schedule is Wednesday to Sunday.

The Samling: our romantic occasion pick

The Samling brings together a Michelin-starred restaurant, two Michelin Keys and a hillside setting above Windermere. With just 12 rooms and cottages, it suits a special occasion where the setting and the sense of a small, considered hotel matter.

It carries one of the higher guide prices in this selection. We would choose it for a celebration rather than trying to make it the value option. Check the individual room description before booking: the outlook varies, and a lake view should be part of the room choice rather than an assumption.

Askham Hall: compare it for Michelin dining and character

Askham Hall sits in Askham, on the eastern side of the Lake District. Its Michelin-starred Allium restaurant serves a six-course menu shaped by the Lowther Estate and its gardens. It offers a different kind of escape from the Windermere hotels: a village setting and a meal that gives the stay its focus.

Its catalogue guide total is lower than Gilpin’s or The Samling’s, making it worth comparing with Forest Side when restaurant quality is your priority. The room rate used here is estimated, so check the actual offer before judging value. Allium also states that it cannot accommodate vegan or dairy-free diets; discuss dietary requirements before committing.

1863: a strong balance of food, price and village location

1863 has eight bedrooms in Pooley Bridge, close to Ullswater, with Phil Corrie’s restaurant offering three-, five- and seven-course menus. Its three AA Rosettes recognise the cooking; its Michelin Selected status is distinct from a Michelin star.

For us, this is one of the most persuasive middle-budget choices: a small, food-led stay without the guide price of the larger luxury hotels. Choose it if dinner and a village base matter more than spa facilities. Compare it with Askham Hall for a more elaborate Michelin-starred evening, and with The Punch Bowl if you prefer a country inn.

Linthwaite House: a Windermere alternative with Henrock

Linthwaite House is another good starting point for a stay above Windermere. Dinner is at Henrock, Simon Rogan’s restaurant, where local and seasonal ingredients meet influences from his restaurants further afield.

It is worth comparing with The Samling if you want an attractive hotel setting and a distinctive restaurant at a lower catalogue guide total. Henrock is Michelin Selected, rather than Michelin-starred. As with The Samling, choose the room carefully if a particular outlook is important to your stay.

The Punch Bowl: a romantic country inn at a gentler price

In Crosthwaite, The Punch Bowl offers nine rooms and a two-AA-Rosette restaurant. It would be our starting point for a romantic inn break where you want a good dinner and a characterful bedroom, with less emphasis on a long tasting menu.

Some rooms have especially appealing details, including a roll-top bath, so compare the room descriptions rather than booking on price alone. The setting is rural rather than lakefront. One important booking detail: the inn’s own website says dogs are not accepted in bedrooms.

The Drunken Duck: a small inn for a quieter escape

The Drunken Duck at Barngates, near Ambleside, has 11 rooms and a restaurant that makes it a natural comparison with The Punch Bowl. It suits a break where you want the character of an inn and a good meal, rather than the facilities of a larger hotel.

Its guide total is close to The Punch Bowl’s, so let the room, menu and availability make the decision. Dog owners need to plan ahead: there is only one dog-friendly bedroom, available by prior arrangement. Dogs are welcome in some restaurant areas, which should also be arranged when booking your table.

The Borrowdale Hotel: good value, with a dinner-location detail

The Borrowdale Hotel is a useful base for Borrowdale and the Derwentwater area. Its £220 midweek guide total is competitive, but Damson Dene now sits below it and Lindeth Howe matches it with dining on site. The quoted Borrowdale dinner is at Fellpack in Keswick, rather than the hotel’s own restaurant. That means a separate journey for your evening meal.

If you would rather dine where you sleep, ask for the hotel’s own dinner options and compare that total. It is also a practical dog-friendly choice: dogs are welcome in selected rooms and can join you for meals in the lounges and conservatory, although not the main restaurant. Dog charges are additional; Fellpack’s dog policy should be checked separately.

Kirkstile Inn: our Loweswater walking pick

Kirkstile Inn sits beneath Mellbreak at Loweswater. Its appeal is straightforward: a small inn, a striking western Lake District setting, pub dining and Cumbrian ales. We would choose it for a walking break where the landscape is the main event.

It has a lower guide total than most of the restaurant-led stays, and a quieter setting than a Windermere base. Standard rooms do not have televisions; the Premier Suite offers different facilities. That may be exactly what you want from a few days away, but it is worth knowing before you choose your room.

Wasdale Head Inn: stay close to the high fells

Wasdale Head Inn is the choice to consider if your plans centre on the Wasdale valley, Scafell Pike or Great Gable. With the Abraham restaurant and Ritson’s Bar on site, it offers somewhere to eat and settle in after a day outdoors.

Choose it for its location beneath the mountains, rather than as a convenient base for Windermere restaurants and shopping. Dogs may be accepted at management’s discretion, with an additional nightly charge, so arrange this before booking. Compared with Kirkstile, let your walking plans decide which valley you want to wake up in.

The new choices that change the comparison

Damson Dene: our lowest-price starting point

Damson Dene has the lowest midweek and weekend guide totals in the current results: £195 and £215 for two. It is in the Lyth Valley near Crosthwaite, with the Heron View Restaurant on site, a heated indoor pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. That is a useful combination if you want a countryside base and a swim without spending most of your budget on the room.

Heron View uses seasonal produce, including ingredients from the owner’s kitchen garden. We would choose it for facilities and price rather than make it our tasting-menu recommendation. The woodland hot-tub cabins are separate accommodation, with a two-night minimum; the £195 comparison does not establish a cabin rate. Dogs are accepted in many bedrooms, but not in Heron View or the leisure club.

Rothay Garden: the spa alternative to Gilpin

Rothay Garden gives the spa comparison a more accessible starting point: £265 midweek and £295 at the weekend in the results. In Grasmere, its Riverside Spa has a hydrotherapy pool with submerged loungers, sauna and steam room. It suits a break where a walk, dinner and time in the spa all matter.

Compare it with Damson Dene for a lower-cost pool stay, and Gilpin for accommodation built around private spa facilities. They offer different experiences: Rothay’s shared hydrotherapy facilities should not be confused with a private Spa Suite, or a pool intended for swimming lengths. Check the spa access attached to the room or offer you book.

Storrs Hall or Langdale Chase for a lakeside weekend?

Storrs Hall brings a lakeshore setting and four AA red stars at a lower guide total than Langdale Chase. Its two restaurant options also make a material difference: the Bistro pairing is £320 midweek and £360 at the weekend, while Lake Edge is £380 and £420. Lake Edge currently serves dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, so a Monday stay belongs with the Bistro comparison. Choose your room separately if you want a lake view or one of the lakeside hot-tub suites.

Langdale Chase starts higher, at £525 midweek and £665 at the weekend. The reason to compare it is the combination of a five-star hotel directly on Windermere and the two-AA-Rosette Dining Room. Michael Cole’s cooking draws on Lakeland and coastal produce, including Herdwick lamb, fish and shellfish. We would favour it when being beside the water and dining with panoramic views are central to the occasion; Storrs is the stronger starting point if you want the lakeshore at a lower guide price.

Borrowdale Gates or Hazel Bank for walking and dinner at home?

Borrowdale Gates is a useful comparison with The Borrowdale Hotel because its quoted dinner is in the hotel itself. At £290 midweek and £305 at the weekend, you pay more than the Borrowdale/Fellpack pairing but avoid the journey into Keswick. Its two-AA-Rosette restaurant combines British and French influences, with fell views from the dining room and dinner served daily.

Hazel Bank offers a smaller country-house alternative in Borrowdale, with seven named bedrooms and a set four-course dinner with canapés. Its current guide totals are £362 and £400. Choose it for an evening centred on the house’s set menu; choose Borrowdale Gates if an à la carte restaurant suits you better. Hazel Bank serves dinner between 7pm and 8pm, so it needs to fit your walking plans.

Lindeth Howe or Cragwood for a country-house stay near Windermere?

Lindeth Howe is worth comparing with Damson Dene at £220 midweek and £235 at the weekend. The attraction is a country house above Bowness and dinner at the same address. Its restaurant’s sample dishes include duck liver parfait, guinea fowl and whole Cornish sole: a useful indication of the cooking, rather than a promise of what will be served on your dates.

Cragwood starts at £240 midweek and £245 at the weekend, with a twenty-acre estate on Windermere’s shores. We would shortlist it if access to the grounds and lakeshore matters more than a leisure club. It also has an established dog-friendly offer, but dogs cannot be left alone in bedrooms; arrange where you will dine with your dog before reserving dinner.

Three more practical comparisons

Newby Bridge Hotel gives you a southern Windermere base, dinner in the Garden View Restaurant and an indoor pool. Its guide totals are £225 midweek and £220 at the weekend, so the weekend is currently the cheaper comparison. Compare it with Damson Dene for a hotel with leisure facilities rather than assuming a spa label means the same experience.

For the northern Lakes, Lyzzick pairs its hotel with The Covey at £250 midweek and £280 at the weekend. The restaurant combines British cooking with international influences and currently serves dinner daily from 5pm to 9pm. That makes it worth comparing with Borrowdale Gates if you want an on-site restaurant without committing to a set tasting menu.

The Punchbowl Inn in Askham is the village-inn alternative to Askham Hall, at £260 midweek and £285 at the weekend. It is a different property from The Punch Bowl in Crosthwaite. Choose between them by village and restaurant, rather than treating the similar names as interchangeable.

Which offers the best value?

For a restaurant-led break, we would compare 1863, Askham Hall and Forest Side first. They offer different levels and styles of dining, so the best choice depends on whether you want a shorter menu, a Michelin-starred evening or the most attractive package on your dates. Forest Side advertises its own dinner, bed and breakfast offers, which can differ from the separate room-and-dinner guide below.

For a lower-budget hotel stay with dinner on site, compare Damson Dene, Lindeth Howe, Newby Bridge and Cragwood. Damson Dene leads on the indicative total and adds a pool; Cragwood is a closer comparison for lakeshore grounds. For an inn stay, compare Kirkstile, The Punch Bowl, The Drunken Duck and Wasdale Head Inn. Borrowdale’s Fellpack pairing also sits at the lower end, but travel to dinner belongs in that decision. Borrowdale Gates costs more and keeps the restaurant on site. Gilpin and The Samling make more sense when the hotel experience or the occasion justifies spending more.

A guide to the total cost for two

Bringing your dog?

Cragwood adds a useful Windermere option, but its rule against leaving dogs alone in bedrooms makes the dinner arrangement important. Langdale Chase has selected dog-friendly rooms, a dog wash, and dog-friendly lounges and bar; confirm where your evening meal can be served. At Damson Dene, dogs cannot enter Heron View. At Borrowdale Gates, they cannot enter the public areas, including the bar. Neither is an automatic choice if you want your dog beside you throughout dinner.

Start with The Borrowdale Hotel if being able to eat with your dog matters. The Drunken Duck is another possibility, but its single dog-friendly bedroom makes early planning important. Forest Side offers more dog-friendly bedrooms, with separate arrangements needed while you dine. Gilpin can work for a more indulgent stay if you choose an eligible room and plan dinner around its dog policy.

Check the bedroom, dining area and additional charges together. A hotel welcoming dogs does not automatically mean your dog can join you for the dinner included in a deal.

Nearby alternatives, outside the Lake District

If you want distinctive cooking at a lower guide price and are happy to stay outside the national park, consider The Black Bull in Sedbergh. Sedbergh is in the Yorkshire Dales, not the Lake District. Nina Matsunaga’s cooking draws on British ingredients and her Japanese and German background, with bedrooms upstairs and dog-friendly accommodation available.

Its guide totals are £279 midweek and £314 at the weekend for two. Compare it with The Punch Bowl or The Drunken Duck for an inn-based food break; the trade-off is a different destination, rather than a Lake District stay. If availability is limited locally, explore our wider North West England dinner, bed and breakfast deals or Yorkshire hotel and restaurant breaks before settling on your dates.

The expanded results also include The Dalesman Country Inn in Sedbergh (£250 midweek, £300 weekend) and The Fat Lamb near Ravenstonedale (£280 for either basis). These suit a break around the Howgills, Eden Valley or Yorkshire Dales rather than a central Lakes itinerary. Quite Simply French is in Lancaster, with rooms above its restaurant (£270 midweek, £315 weekend); it belongs on a Lancashire shortlist, not a Windermere one. Use the map to compare the actual base before choosing a cheaper result.

A few questions before you book

Which is best for a special occasion?

Our first comparison would be The Samling for its setting and Michelin-starred dinner, and Gilpin for luxury accommodation and a spa-led stay. For a lakeside occasion at a lower guide price, compare Storrs Hall; for a more modest budget, look at The Punch Bowl’s individual rooms and 1863’s dinner menus.

Does every deal include dinner at the hotel?

No. Check the named restaurant as well as the hotel. In this selection, The Borrowdale Hotel’s quoted pairing uses Fellpack in Keswick; the hotel also has its own dining options, which need a separate price comparison.

Which has the lowest indicative price?

Damson Dene currently leads the displayed selection at £195 midweek and £215 at the weekend for two. Lindeth Howe is a useful comparison at £220 and £235; Newby Bridge’s weekend guide is £220. If a pool matters, compare Damson Dene and Newby Bridge. If a country-house setting matters more, start with Lindeth Howe or Cragwood.

Should I choose the cheapest price?

Compare the whole evening: the room, the dinner menu, any travel between hotel and restaurant, and the extras you will actually use. A less expensive room is not automatically better value if it leaves out the experience you came for.