A Long Weekend at Another Place Hotels, The Lake District

It sounds silly having grown up in Scotland and lived in the UK for most of my life, but I’d never been to the Lake District until this summer when we had a long weekend at Another Place Hotels. I’ve long thought the lakes looks beautiful and wanted to visit, but with the possibility of inexpensive flights abroad I always thought “maybe next year”. And well, 2020 is the year of not going abroad and visiting all of those places in the UK you’ve long said you’d visit!

Another Place, located on the shores of Ullswater, one of the smaller lakes in the Lake District. It’s been on my list for a while after being inspired by Alice and Gina, so earlier this year, when we had a few days of annual leave to use, we thought that a trip to the lakes might be in order.

A long weekend of waking up to beautiful views of Ullswater, jumping in the lake before breakfast, long walks and then returning for a long, late lunch and swim were exactly what we needed after months of being in London. Even as we flung the car doors open and emptied our (many!) bags, the fresh air and peaceful, beautiful surroundings immediately gave us a sense of calm.

Because of the current restrictions, we’d checked-in online before we arrived and so all we had to do was pick up our room key. We checked-in to our lovely spacious “Bigger” room, which had a small storage area for our bags, a seating area looking out onto the amazing view, and a huge king-size bed that was perfect for snuggling into after a day of exploring.

The hotel has a huge focus on spending days outdoors, exploring the lake, before coming ‘home’ for a delicious meal and a cosy evening. The staff are more than happy to give you suggestions for local walks – my top tip would be to take your Tunnocks tea cake from your room as a walking snack! You can also go wild swimming or book stand-up paddleboarding or kayaking directly from the hotel’s pontoon. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the weather to go out on the lake much. The friendly staff will even bring your wetsuits and shoes to your room – meaning you’ve got no excuse not to go for a quick dip in the lake!

When you’ve explored till your heart is content, head back to the hotel for a coffee or a glass of wine, and make sure you spend some time in the incredible pool. With full length windows which look out onto the lake beyond, it’s almost like an infinity pool, or that you’re swimming in the lake (only it’s slightly warmer!).

The rest of the hotel is as beautifully decorated as the bedrooms, with the library making a wonderful spot for post-dinner drinks or a cosy place to read your book when it’s raining.

You can either book your room on a bed and breakfast rate, or a dinner, bed and breakfast rate. We opted for the dinner, B&B rate as we didn’t think we’d want to venture too far at night (and weren’t sure how much would be open given, well, 2020).

Breakfast is a real treat and can be ordered either in your room or in Rampsbeck, the more formal restaurant. Make sure that at some point you taste the waffles – they’re incredible, especially with the berry compote. Other treats included eggs on toast, fruit salad, smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels or a full-English breakfast.

For dinner you can choose to eat either in The Living Space or Rampsbeck, and if you’ve opted for the dinner inclusive rate, you’ll be able to enjoy three courses a night. We preferred having lunch in The Living Space as it’s more casual and a simpler menu, and then dinner in Rampsbeck. The only thing I think the hotel is missing is a separate bar – you can have drinks in The Living Space, but when people are having dinner at the same time, we’d have preferred to be in a separate bar.