My husband and I had always wanted to stay at a National Trust property, and we were delighted with our stay at Monk Coniston. The setting was incredibly beautiful, on a tree-covered hillside overlooking Coniston Water. The hotel is a set of historic buildings--we stayed in the main house. The room itself was clean, up-to-date, quiet, and comfortable. The bar and lounge areas were gorgeous, tastefully decorated with lovely views. And the price was very reasonable.
Service was a bit scattered--the manager was coping with walking-tour groups as well as with independent guests like us--and were were told that dinner would not be available to us that night due to a private party--which I suspect was just a larger-than-usual walking tour group. That was OK with us, since we didn't mind the 20-minute walk into town, but others might have found that inconvenient if they were expecting to eat at the hotel.
Breakfast was very good, but the seating arrangement was tight--too many... more