An interesting break away...
The hotel staff were very kind and helpful, however our stay was a little bit like Faulty Towers. Starting with, tepid showers after 6pm, cold radiators in the bedroom, very small bathrooms and a fire in the sitting room that hardly had a flame!
The good news is that the food is plentyful and well cooked.
New year went off with fireworks, but not all the residents knew of the event!

Husband and I had a lovely stay, food could be improved but still the service was excellent and we would go back!

We'd stayed at the King's Head before and had a great experience so we were looking forward to staying again.

The staff were friendly as they had been previously. We actually selected a bigger room than the first time we went, though I must admit I preferred the previous one. There was a problem with the door "sticking" and it was difficult to shut - we did let the staff know and they did fix it promptly. The heating in the bedroom was also stuck on but they did fix this as well. The rooms we have stayed in were old-fashioned in decor, which may not be everyone's thing but in a way, that's part of the charm, and the views are superb.

Food, as before, was fresh and good - a few of the special deals they had on were good-value. You can either sit in the bar, which is more modern, or in the restaurant setting, plus there's the fancier restaurant we didn't try so can't comment on that. Nice selection of ales and wines and the little shop in the corner is a nice addition for souvenirs and local produce.

It's on a main A-road with a bus stopping right outside to take you to Grasmere and Ambleside (I think in the opposite direction it goes to Keswick) so the location is good in that sense, and also if you plan to do Helvellyn from the Thirlmere side - one of the easy-to-follow footpaths starts right by the hotel.

Breakfast was nice too - as well as the usual English breakfast they offered other options including one with local chutney and thick-cooked ham, which made a nice change and it was fresh and flavoursome.

I admit some of the rooms are probably looking a tiny bit tired and if there was anything I'd suggest, maybe a few little tweaks here and there would make it a lovely hotel.

We've been living in Keswick for 8 months and only got round to trying this place this week, having driven past it lots of times. We were really glad we did! We showed up on a Wednesday night at 7.30 with no booking but the place was almost empty. We chose to sit in the older part of the restaurant, with a cosy booth and wooden beams all adding to the character. If you prefer you can sit in the modern area near the bar.
I had gnocchi arrabiata & my partner had the beef burger. Average price for a main course is about £12, so we expected it to be nice and it really was, plus the portion sizes were very generous. My salad garnish came on a separate plate! You have to order everything at the bar, which I thought was unusual for a restaurant of this type but it didnt affect our enjoyment of the meal at all.
Only minor complain is that I had 2 glasses of white wine which were priced at £3.95 on the wine list, but when the bill came I'd been charged £5.20 each, so either the price was wrong or they'd given me a more expensive wine!