Lakeside Hotel and Spa

Very nice and welcoming hotel. Great facilities

We have just had an excellent break at the hotel for our daughter’s 10th birthday. The food was superb. I can recommend the fine dining experience (a big thanks to David for being so kind and attentive in the restaurant), and the brasserie was excellent too. The staff were very good, from the GM, Ben, to the waiting on staff and reception…n fact one and all. Everyone aimed to make our stay special. A big thank you is reserved until last for Pip on reception. She always smiled and offered advice and kind words. Thanks Pip! Kudos to the hotel and staff! Russ, Abbie and Eva!

Nice room, fantastic view. Staff really nice. Food on second night in the brasserie was not too good, burnt chicken burger and bun but rest ok

The lakeside is somewhere that’s always had a piece of my heart. I have visited too many times to count but the last time was 18 years ago. Since then I know the lakeside was acquired by another company and I was nervous to see if there had been any changes. Well changes there have been, some for the better and some not so much. The lakeside was a family owned, high end and elegant hotel, staff used to actually go to the lakeside to be trained in their areas of hospitality. If you were to go the lakeside for the first time you would no doubt see a wonderful place however as a frequent past visitor it’s not hard to spot the missing touches. In a nutshell it feels like the current ownership have stripped back the luxuries, increased the prices of certain things and tried to make additional income with gimmicks that have no place. I will be as honest as I can and obviously this is just my opinion. Reception - Visually the reception hasn’t changed, it’s just missing the beautiful array of fresh floral displays that it used to have. The welcome was not warm and questions seemed to cause an inconvenience. Key areas of information were missed and we had to go back a few times for clarity. Just to note, as always, you can park on the large car park serving both the hotel and the nearby attractions, you still display a reservation notice on your dash to show you are a guest of the hotel. However this time, you are informed your car must be moved between the hours of 10.30 and 3.30 as visiting guests to the attractions get priority. Your car must be moved behind the aquarium of the lakes. Not a big deal but not as upmarket as it used to be. The oak room - This room used to be one of my favourites. It was like a snug or library and in winter the fire would make it feel really cosy. It was somewhere to go after your meal and a gentleman would come in with a drinks trolley and offer you a brandy etc. Now it’s empty except for a huge conference table and chairs, it’s soulless and such a loss. The muddy boots pub - Visually this hasn’t changed, it remains oldie worldie, which is nice. However the service is poor, you are ignored for what feels like an eternity. They don’t sell Pinot Grigio they sell Gavi, which apparently is similar at £15 per glass! The games room - An unnecessary addition in my opinion, it looks tacky. The spa - Visually the spa remains the same. It could do with some more innovation and modernisation but it ticks the spa box. The seating area used to be lovely and fresh and you could get drinks delivered there and even afternoon tea. Not now, it’s squashed up as there is a dry hydrotherapy monstrosity taking up half the seating area which clearly never gets used. Also a lanson champagne bike which is empty so it’s just taking up room. Both just add-ons to make extra cash. Another improvement would be to make some adult only swim times. The conservatory - The conservatory has been redecorated and in my opinion for the bet

Nice location and views, food in the bistro also good. However, generally the hotel is not up to standard. The room was nice but looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned properly and was a long walk from the facilities - some may struggle to carry their bags up the many staircases. Spa was a bit naff - the pool was more like a kids pool, not relaxing. At breakfast I asked if more bread could be provided for toast as it had run out, although bread was provided I was told it was very hard to get as breakfast time was almost over - there was still 15 minutes remaining and many people wanting toast. We had late check out at 12, despite this house keeping knocked before 11 and then once again at around half 11, rudely asking us if we were nearly done. Wouldn’t return.