This is the second of three reviews of 3 Lakeland Hotels we stayed at during January for my wife and my Birthday celebrations.

On arrival (very early because we had only come from Crook after leaving the Wild Boar) our room was not ready and we decided to use the health club. We were killing a bit of time but it was nice to sit by the pool and in the Hot-tub, while we waited - oh it was such hardship.

The receptionist staff were lovely and friendly and check in was really efficient. We were asked if we were going to eat in the restaurant but we chose not to. We had planned to, but because English Lakes Hotel group had withdrawn the useage of Taste Cards from their hotel restaurants in December, we decided to give it a miss. We felt that the break would become very expensive if we chose to eat at the hotels every night, especially after being a bit 'stung' at the Wild Boar, two nights previously. I honestly think that English Lakes have missed a trick here, because at the end of the day, we ate and drank elsewhere. 'Promotional' bottoms on seats might not always bring huge profits, but they keep places ticking over during wet cold January evenings and act as adverts for for those 'window brousing potential diners'. I hope that English Hotels Group accountants will crunch the numbers of non-Saturday covers and then re-instate Taste Cards throughout the Groups portfolio of hotels.

The room (500) was very clean, spacious and warm (although we did not have a view as such). There was also a Birthday card for the both of us as well as a Congratulations balloon and a miniature box of chocolates too. Nice touch Low Wood and very gratefully received. Thank you for thinking of us but a lake view would have been nice too.

Internet access in the room was through cable connection but it was lovely and fast.

Room service was excellent and the following day when we went back from breakfast to sleep. Because we had missed housekeeping at 2.30 (yes lying by the pool is very tiring!) housekeeping had left a towel pack by our door, which we did not even ask for. This contained towels, toilet roll and spare drinks making items. Again we thought that was a lovely touch.

Something else that we liked was the fact that there were Ice making machines on all floors of the hotel. Very useful thing to provide guests.

Breakfasts at Low Wood were nice. Nothing special but nonetheless tasty, wholesome and plenty of choice. One thing I would get rid of though is the DIY toast maker (very old hat and not very convenient - people don't like to make their own toast!).

Facilities at the hotel were fine and we loved using the Health Club.

Not the best hotel in the group but still nice. Location, location, location makes this hotel special as too do the staff. In fact, all of the English Lakes staff are assets to the Group.

Have stayed at Low Wood twice and found it to be comfortable, clean and has a great location away from the centre of Ambleside. Staff were always friendly (even at 07:00hrs!) and effcient in every way.
The adjoining leisure centre and watersports will provide even the pickiest customer something to do!
I stayed for business and found the hotel an ideal base.
Many thanks to all at Low Wood.

This is the first time I have ever left a review (despite reading loads regarding where ever we visit!) but as I do feel disappointed in our stay at The Low Wood Hotel I feel it is time to write one. For a special birthday we wanted to book a short break in the Lakes (our favourite place ever!) as we are frequent visitors for holidays and day trips. Having driven past The Low Wood many times and commenting on how lovely it looks we decided to book there for 21-23.12.2011. Prior to our arrival we emailed the hotel, just to say that we would be celebrating a 40th birthday and if it was possible to have a lake view room we would be extremely grateful. On arrival, we found our room didn't have a view (we looked out onto the carpark) which was fine as it was what we had paid for, but surely just a complimentary reply to our email would have been courteous. Our family room was lovely and had everything we needed and we did enjoy our stay. I was, however, quite disgusted with the grime which was around the base of the sink taps and we discovered that the shower leaked, so when the four of us had showered we were an inch under water throughout the bathroom. My main complaint though would be the fact that we were woken up at 6am on our second morning by delivery noises. It sounded like lots of trollies being dragged past our window which was very noisey and lasted for about an hour - this definitely was not appreciated. As I said we did enjoy our stay, the leisure facilities were good and there is plenty of parking. Our experience on this occasion would not deter us from staying again. Despite all the paperwork in the room declaring exceedingly high levels of customer service and promises of staff going that extra mile, we didn't really see any evidence of this. I have put these comments in writing and sent them to The Low Wood but in 4 weeks there has not been any return correspondence. We have had much cheaper short breaks but on this occasion I feel maybe our expectations were too high. From the outside The Low Wood looks very impressive but on the inside we were left feeling let down.

We stayed at the hotel as a treat following a terrible year. We had purchased a special deal online and when we got to the hotel we found that out of the many, MANY rooms which were unoccupied we were stuck on the top floor miles away from anything. The place was a labyrinth and as I was recovering from an operation the distance to the room took its toll on me,

The room itself was pretty poor, in my opinion. There were extras, such as mint imperials, and a decent enough bathroom, but the room itself was on the smaller side and the bed was like rock, with springs that would pop up whilst we were asleep. We had a tiny window set high up over a table, so even if we wanted to see out we couldn't. The walls were thin and we could hear our neightbours on the second night chatting until 2.30am. However, it was clean and tidy.

The breakfast was lovely. There was lots of choice and you could help yourself to cooked items too, which we liked.

We visited the leisure club, but felt really judged by the staff over there. I was waiting for my partner and tried to chat to the lady at the desk, but she was having none of it and clearly wanted to return to daydreaming. The pool wasn't particularly big but was adequate for a few lengths and clean.

We purchased the deal with a view to seeing if we would return, but I think overall we'd give it a miss.