Regions • United Kingdom • Lake District
Country-house hospitality, handled properly.
The Region
Cumbria holds something England does not produce easily: scale. Country houses with enough rooms to take a leadership team under one roof, lake-front estates that still feel unhurried on a Friday afternoon, and ground between Manchester and Glasgow that brings a national team together without anyone losing a day to travel.
The topography does the work. Ullswater to Windermere, Kentmere to Coniston, each valley reads differently. A strategy week on the eastern side carries a different tone than an off-site above the western lakes. The choice is rarely about which hotel. It is about which part of the region matches the work being done.
And it stays private. There are no crowds at the doors, no press on the gravel, no queue at the bar. Which is part of why the region keeps finding its way onto our best clients' calendars: board meetings, partner weeks, the kind of gathering that benefits from being somewhere it can breathe.
The region
Thirteen houses across the region. Click a pin for the notes we keep on each.
Click the pins. Scroll the page, not the map.
Ullswater Valley, Penrith
A fourteenth-century castle gatehouse, still in Lowther family hands. The kitchen gardens feed Allium straight from the bed, and the dining has the kind of precision that wears its age lightly.
Set east of Ullswater, with the Lowther Estate behind and the lake valley unfolding in front. A proper place to begin a week.
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Grasmere, Central Lakes
A Victorian hunting lodge on the edge of Grasmere, fells rising directly behind it, the lake five minutes down the hill. The kitchen is properly serious. Tasting menus built from what is in season on the land and the shoreline right outside.
Small enough to hold a group on its own terms, rather than absorb it into something larger. Quiet in a way you notice after a day or so, and then find difficult to leave.
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Windermere, Western Shores
Two properties within a few miles of each other on Windermere's quieter western flank. Linthwaite sits directly above the lake; the Gilpin and its Lake House sit back, in their own grounds. Two Michelin-starred kitchens between them: Henrock at Linthwaite and SOURCE at the Gilpin.
Together, they comfortably hold a larger party without anyone losing sight of the water.
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Southern Lakes, High Newton
Coniston Water sits south of the central fells, wider and quieter than its neighbours, with less of a crowd. The village inn at High Newton nearby wears its Michelin star as lightly as anywhere in the country. Regional produce, cooked without ceremony.
The southern lakes give you the landscape without the Windermere footfall. Quieter in register, and often the right answer for a smaller group.
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Cartmel, Southern Cumbria
Simon Rogan's flagship. Three Michelin stars, inside a twelfth-century smithy in Cartmel village. The kitchen runs straight from the farm, and anything on the plate can be walked to in under an hour.
A private dinner here is the kind of evening a Cumbrian week quietly builds towards. Getting the room is the hard part. That side we look after for you.
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Keswick, Bassenthwaite and Borrowdale
North of the Penrith to Cartmel line sits a different Cumbria. Bassenthwaite in the shadow of Skiddaw, Derwentwater south of Keswick, and Whinlatter Forest folded between them. Quieter again, and less often on the circuit.
Armathwaite Hall on Bassenthwaite, Lodore Falls on Derwentwater, and The Cottage in the Wood inside Whinlatter hold this corner of the region for us. One-Michelin star dining in the forest, 400 acres of grand-house estate on the lake, and Borrowdale on the doorstep.
Enquire about these housesThat is Cumbria, walked. Tell us what you need.
From the first arrival at the drive to the last car leaving it, we look after the lot.
Start a ConversationA Walk Through the Lakes
West through the valleys.
Ullswater Valley, Penrith
A fourteenth-century castle gatehouse, still in Lowther family hands. The kitchen gardens feed Allium straight from the bed, and the dining wears its age lightly. A proper place to begin a week.
Enquire
Grasmere, Central Lakes
A Victorian hunting lodge on the edge of Grasmere, fells rising directly behind. The kitchen is properly serious, tasting menus built from what is in season on the land and the shoreline right outside.
Enquire
Windermere, Western Shores
Two properties a few miles apart on Windermere's quieter western flank. Two Michelin-starred kitchens between them: Henrock at Linthwaite and SOURCE at the Gilpin. Together they comfortably hold a larger party without anyone losing sight of the water.
Enquire
Southern Lakes, High Newton
Coniston Water sits south of the central fells, wider and quieter than its neighbours. The village inn at High Newton wears its Michelin star as lightly as anywhere in the country. Regional produce, cooked without ceremony.
Enquire
Cartmel, Southern Cumbria
Simon Rogan's flagship. Three Michelin stars, inside a twelfth-century smithy in Cartmel village. A private dinner here is the kind of evening a Cumbrian week quietly builds towards. Getting the room is the hard part. That side we look after for you.
Enquire
Keswick, Bassenthwaite and Borrowdale
North of the Penrith to Cartmel line sits a different Cumbria. Bassenthwaite in the shadow of Skiddaw, Derwentwater south of Keswick, Whinlatter Forest folded between them. Armathwaite Hall, Lodore Falls, and The Cottage in the Wood hold this corner of the region for us.
EnquireThe houses
The properties we return to, chosen for the kitchen as often as the view. Some you will know. Some you will not. All of them we have walked ourselves.
Penrith · Country house
Lowther estate, one Michelin star at Allium, kitchen garden on the doorstep. Medieval and unhurried.
Grasmere · Country house
Victorian gothic house on the edge of Grasmere. One Michelin star. The kind of quiet you notice after a day and then find difficult to leave.
Windermere · Country house
Directly above the lake. Henrock holds one Michelin star. Simon Rogan. Tarn walks from the door and the water visible from most rooms.
Windermere · Country house
Cedar spa suites, SOURCE holds one Michelin star, family run since 1987. Takes a larger party without losing the feel of the house.
High Newton · Village inn
One Michelin star worn lightly. Kevin Tickle's daily-changing tasting menu in a village inn above the southern Lakes. Regional produce, no ceremony.
Cartmel · Restaurant with rooms
Simon Rogan's three-star flagship inside a twelfth-century smithy. The evening a Cumbrian week quietly builds towards. Getting the room is the hard part.
Ambleside · Country house
Above Windermere, set on fifteen quiet acres. The rooms are properly grand and the drive up feels like leaving the century behind.
Windermere · Country house
Former hunting lodge above Windermere with views across to the Langdale Pikes. Oak-panelled rooms, two AA Rosettes, a serious wine list.
Bassenthwaite Lake · Country house
Seventeenth-century manor on Bassenthwaite Lake, 400 acres, full spa, stables. The Lake District's big grand house. Handles larger groups without feeling processed.
Windermere · Country house
Grade II listed manor on the eastern shore of Windermere, reopened 2023 after a full restoration. Two AA Rosettes, Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
Windermere · Country house
Grade II* Georgian mansion on its own promontory into Windermere. Adults-only, 30 rooms, landscaped gardens running to the lake. Quiet by design.
Borrowdale · Country house
On the southern shore of Derwentwater, with the falls rising directly behind the hotel. Spa, lake-facing rooms, and the Borrowdale valley on the doorstep.
Whinlatter Forest · Restaurant with rooms
Inside the Whinlatter Forest, nine rooms and a one-star kitchen. Jack and Beth Bond took the reins in 2024. Set deep enough that the week feels properly away.
The food
Cumbria holds more Michelin stars per head of population than any English county outside London. A three-star flagship in Cartmel, several one-star kitchens along the lakes, and a working tradition of cooking that takes the landscape seriously.
For a leadership week or a private dinner, the region offers a good deal more than a room. Treat the list below as a map of the neighbourhood, not a roll of partners. We put the right kitchens into your week, property by property, whether that is a table for the whole group or a dinner one evening for six.
How we work
Nothing about Cumbria is treated as a template. Tell us what the week needs to feel like and we will walk it against the valleys, then come back with accommodation that actually fits the group. Once the shape of the week is set, the detail is ours to carry.
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