We visited the Macdonald Old England Hotel on 21st January for four nights fully inclusive and what a lovely hotel it is. The setting is beautiful and the staff could not have been more helpful and pleasant. The concierge got involved with everything to help the guests, from parking the car to giving directions and I was most impressed. I dont know when the other people reviewing this visited, but it wasn't very busy so maybe we were lucky. The lounge is lovely and peaceful with lovely views over the lake.
The food was delicious and the service great. We got an upgrade to a partial lake view which was fine and car parking is free, unlike other Macdonald hotels we have visited.
My only little gripe was that the rooms were not cleaned until 3.00 pm and if you wanted to come back to the room it was a little inconvenient.

Arrived on a Friday after booking a package for 2 nights £440 dbb inc wine in a feature room. Service at reception is VERY slow, definately need extra staff at check in and out times. After staying previously at this hotel we thought paying extra for a feature room would be extra special however were very disappointed, the view was more of a roof and wall than lake view. Good view of lake if you sat in the windowsill! (room 226) pictures on website very misleading, not worth the extra money above an executive room at about £100 less.
Asked at reception whether a feature room was more expensive than an executive and was given incorrect info as they said it was less expensive, couldn't check on Internet as no wi-fi, no Internet access in our room(broken) ,bt open zone not working in other areas. For a 4* hotel you would expect wi-fi in this day and age.
However beside the few negatives there are lots of positives.
Concierge parking the cars is fabulous , even helped with his assistant to dig everyone out of deep snow and return cars from the car park, also great sense of humour.
Lounge overlooking lake wonderful place to sit and relax, service excellent.
Food in restaurant fabulous, wonderful views, good service.
Breakfast also very tasty.
Great young waiter called chris who was serving in lounge, dining room and doing room service.
All in all a beautiful hotel in fantastic setting but needs a few tweaks to make it more value for money and definately needs another computer on reception! Also ask where your room will be!

My wife and myself have just returned from a 2 night stay at this hotel. The hotel was excellent and had a very comfortable warm friendly feel to it.
We were given a free upgrade to a lake view room which was very nice although possibly a little on the small size though. The lake view was more like a half lake viewso I would recommend that if you ask for ione of these you make sure that you have a full view from the window otherwise probably not worth the extra money.
The spa was excellent too. We treated ourselves to a treatment each, I had a full body deep tissue massage which was very good and certainly removed quite a few stress knots!!! My wife had a facial where they only use the top quality products.
The food was probably the outstanding part of the experience for us. Although the menu was fairly limited the quality and the taste was exeptional! Probably the best steak I have ever had! The breakfast was also outstanding. Who ever they have as a chef they need to make sure they hold on to them!
The only slight negative which made this 4 star rating instead of a full five was that there was no wifi in the rooms and the tv channels were limited to freeview only. Nowadays wifi in a top hotel should be a must.
Overall we had a fantastic break and will definitely go back again.

I had a 1 night stay here and the room was nice a spacious with a super clean bathroom,however the bed room was not,cobwebs,dust on most things and stains on the bed covers,over the years i have stayed at a few of the hotel in this group and have come to expect better.

the food was fantastic in the restaurant,quality ingredients used and well executed!