Macdonald Old England Hotel & Spa

The view from the room was wonderful, balcony main viewing point over towards Bowness Pier Head, then 2 windows at the side with views over Windermere towards Ambleside. Location brilliant short level walk to Bowness Pier Head from there a choice of lake cruises or the 599 bus to Ambleside and Grasmere (£3 per journey!) Short uphill walk to shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs. Good choice of top quality produce for breakfast, restaurants over looks the garden and lake, not only a view of the lake but of the resident bunny and Canadian Geese enjoying their breakfast as well.

There is a good selection of fruit, cereals, pastries, cheese and ham, cooked breakfast is served to you and is wonderful very fresh and hot. Staff are very friendly, the location is outstanding the views are breathtaking. The location for shops, bars and restaurants is perfect and on you door step. Rooms very comfortable.

We stated recently to celebrate a family members 94th birthday. The hotel was fabulous from start to finish. They communicated well with us around things like the accessible room and advising us that the lift was out of order to the Spa etc. Check in was lovely and a lovely gesture that disabled parking is complementary and right outside the door which was fabulous. Check in was excellent, informative and swift and we even managed to check in a little earlier as our room was ready. We had booked an accessible room, the room itself was amazing, spacious and a fill wet room and our room was just next door. What I would add here though is there is only one fully accessible room in the hotel and this is on the first floor at the back of the hotel and not the ground floor so it’s quite a distance from the lift access and a ramp involved. We asked about round floor rooms which are available but not accessible and we needed handrails etc for our stay. Sadly we didn’t get to stay at the hotel, as soon after check in our mother had a fall in the room and needed to be whisked off to hospital but what I would add here is just how incredibly kind and caring the staff were at this time. The first aid was efficient, the manager Agata was wonderful and Anna and a lovely guy from the restaurant ( sorry I didn’t get his name ) were both so helpful and kind, saying with my mother for a couple of hours while we waited for NHS service to call us back and generally making sure we were ok. We have stayed before and will definitely be back. The personal service we received made all the difference to what could have been a very traumatic event. My mother is on the mend and wanted to also comment on the kindness showed by the hotel too.

Location was excellent, room was very good, staff were friendly and helpful, swimming pool was great and lovely changing rooms. The breakfast was nice. Bed was comfortable.

The location of the hotel is perfect for your visit to Lake Windemere, with an car park nearby for guests. We loved the family room, which included bunk beds. It was nice for our son to have his own space in the bunk bed nook, along with his own TV. The large hotel bar area offers beautiful views across the lake, and the grassy terrace outside is a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of town. We didn't have any spa treatments, but did enjoy access to the swimming pool.