Windermere, Fayrer Garden House Hotel

What can I say about this hotel,

My new wife and I had our wedding reception here, it was a small wedding but the impression left by the staff will be unforgotten.

Before we had even booked here we popped in for a chat, well the manager Mark was spot on in all we could ask for, with a can do approach that couldnt be beaten.

The hotel itself is an old large house, sitting in suptious gardens with superb views of the lake.

the room was a supeior suit with the same views of the lake with en-suit.

the bed was huge and very very comfy.

The Resturant food is fantastic and that showed when all of our wedding party had different items from the menu and all were very impressed.

The dining room Manager (sorry I have forgoten his name) and all his staff were brilliant.

If you are after brand new and shiny, go to a hilton

if you are after massive rooms with your own butler then go to new york

But if you want a hotel that makes you want to stay, with views perfect (especially for a wedding), staff that will do what ever it can for the perfect stay then this is the hotel for you.

I had a small wedding of just 9, and all 7 guest loved the fayrer gardens so much they will all return, the eldest being over 80, the youngest being 22.

And the bar and its measures cant be beaten.

I have stayed in many hotels and non can be beaten for price against service.

Lets be right, this hotel will be well suited to the retiring kind but if you are looking for a hotel with good public rooms and some life about it then I think there are plenty of far superior hotels nearby. Having read other reviews I was deeply disappointed with what I found and I think they created the wrong impression of the hotel. Yes the food is very good but not exceptional in my opinion and the staff are very helpful, but otherwise the hotel lets itself down in my view. I found the bedrooms to be small and not luxury, the bathrooms might have whirlpools but in our case at the expense of putting the toilet in a position that I think is only suitable for contortionists. The decor looks tired to me and I think will be too kitsch for some people. However, as I said if you are the retiring type this might be just the place for you, but if you have yet to retire then I'd go somewhere else.

On arrival

Fayrer Garden House Hotel is on the lake, it has a nice driveway, leading up to a cottage and the house hotel.

We entered reception through some very old original doors,lovely! There was a guest book with hundreds of good reviews, they had walks printed out and five cost just £1.50. On the reception desk they had the weather for the day and the predicted weather for the morning. The receptionist had written about her drive to work and where to take care(ice etc) Our room was ready and it was called a cottage room with garden view. We were given a key and then shown around the whole hotel(never had this before!) The lady then took us to our cottage and explained that we had private parking outside our door! In front of the cottage was a well maintained garden with a natural spring running through it.

The room

It looked new. It was very light and airy. The bathroom was new too with a walk in shower. We had two comfortable chairs, a coffee table, a king bed, a dressing table and plenty of Lights. It was clean and spelt lovely. On the dressing table there was a bottle of chilled champagne 2 glasses and some thorntons chocolates(my husband had asked for these as a suprise!)

There were plenty of information booklets and money off vouchers for days out. As well a tea,coffee,hot chocolate and biscuits.

Our evening meals were included and we were asked to order our wine before dinner so they could allow it to breathe.

Evening meal

We had ordered our wine earlier. We went to sit in the hotel bar(they have a smoking bar and a non smoking bar) We ordered pre dinner drinks and sat and listened to the very relaxing music. There were board games and dominos for the guests. We were then brought a small tray of canopes and given a menu for dinner. The choice was great and it was a 5 course meal.

The restaurant was very tasteful, with a live pianist. We were taken to our table and informed that it would be the same table throughout our stay. The staff were very attentive and the food was to die for!

The staff had a lot of local knowledge and were able to direct us to places such as ambleside with no problem at all.

The checkout was smooth and quick.

This hotel is one of the best I have ever stayed in. Although they did not have a pool, they gave you a card to use another hotel, free of charge. The hotel had 3 stars which suprised us. I have later found out that you get stars for things like a pool etc.

I can guarantee that you will love the undivided attention, splendid food and relaxing atmosphere that you will receive.