My boyfriend and I stayed at the applegarth villa for one night and I don't think we will be returning. It was a last minute booking as we missed out on the hotel we really wanted - Windermere Boutique Hotel, and we also stayed on a saturday and usually have to stay for a minimim of 2 nights at the weekend. Thank goodness we didnt. We stayed in room 18 and paid £170 for one night bed and breakfast! We are both students and so this was a complete one off for my birthday treat- and for a 5 star hotel we expected a heck of a lot more than what we got! Although in the photos the room looks nice and it is, it is very claustrophobic and rather small. The room is a basement room and eye level with the patio chair legs outside! Of course non of this is on the website. The bathroom is also very small and although nicely finished it was just not what we were expecting. Maybe a few fluffy towels and two bathrobes rather than just the one we were given would have made it slightly better! The room was nice but rather plain and the bed and pillows were a bit too hard! The tea tray was appallingly bad. Tucked in the bottom of a wardrobe with 2 tea bags, 2 UHT milk cartons and 2 rubbishy little biscuits- definitely not what you would expect from a supposed 5* establishment! A few soft lighting lamps wouldn't have gone amiss either! The two owners left a little to be desired also. The lady was chatty but that was about it and who I'm guessing was her husband was very off hand, almost rude. I felt like because we were obviously young and perhaps did not look like we belonged there that we were almost not even worth bothering with. We weren't helped with our bags or shown to our room and were never asked if we enjoyed our stay. The breakfast wasn't great either. Not a massive amount of choice and the poached eggs i had were tasteless and a bit soggy. Checking out time was half 10 and I thought that was completely ridiculous- especially as we could only check in from 3pm! As we are not used to staying in hotels we were unsure of the etiquette for complaining! My boyfriend hates complaining anyway and didn't want to make a fuss- but now I really wish I had! Having seen the reviews on here after I am unsure as to whether our complaints would have even been listened to by the owners. Luckily we had a great time in the Lakes- the snow made it even better! However this had nothing to do with the Applegarth Villa and would dissuade anyone from spending their money here. Perhaps the other rooms are a lot nicer and we just got a dud, I'm not sure, but I wouldn't risk it again! Although it is ideally situated in windermere and the hotel on the outside looks lovely, there are many b&bs in the area that could give you a lot more value for money! If only the owners were more friendly and were perhaps more interested in serving and pleasing their guests than just taking their money I would be more inclined to give this hotel a better review. The Lake District is faultless and beautiful- unlike this hotel. What a waste of money!
- Applegarth Hotel Windermere
- Applegarth Hotel
