This isn't really a hotel as such - it's a pub with rooms. To be fair to the management I don't believe that they profess to be anything other than this and all of the staff we met were helpful enough.
Our group had 5 rooms and it was a case of pick a set of keys and that's your room. We got slightly 'lucky' as we were given the 'Borrowdale Room' which was on the highest floor you could get to before being in the staff quarters (so further away from the bar and nightclub in the basement!). The rest of our party had rooms 7-11 (as i remember) which were all directly over the pub. One of our party said they could hear the TV in the pub below their room and this was before the nightclub even kicked off!

It was quite strange having a bunk bed in your room (I really would not recommend this for a family so it must be intended for pile-em-high group stays) - but I guess for a stag do or a group of friends meeting for a booze up it doesn't matter that much how pretty your room is. The sheets were clean enough and there were tea and coffee making facilities of sorts (although I didn't try them). However, given that we had one of the 'themed' rooms (a few photos of Borrowdale on the walls) which you would expect to be the better ones, the room was incredibly tired. Lying in bed looking up at the curtains in the morning we realised how filthy they were - covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust. We didn't explore anywhere else in the room in great detail - ignorance in bliss in some cases!

The 'bathroom' was pretty appalling. It was like a mothballed old pub toilet you might have found in the 70's with dark red lino flooring, chipped sink and a yellowing plastic shower cubicle wedged into the corner.My boyfriend had a cold shower experience followed by a loud yelp as he took the skin off his arm trying to squeeze his way out of the cubicle. After this I decided not to risk it!

BE AWARE BEFORE BOOKING there is a nightclub in the basement of this hotel. The pub itself is also pretty loud and to be honest our party said that you couldn't hear the nightclub any more than you could hear the music in the main pub......because the latter drowned out the former anyway! There was some extra noise around kicking out time (although quite entertaining I hear). Then to add insult to noisy injury the hotel is next to a church who started off their two hour bell ringing session at approximately 6.30am. There wasn't a hope of a lie in after a heavy night trust me!

So - there's the negatives - and i'm sure you can see that this is in no way somewhere where you'd want to bring your beloved for a romantic stay, your family or indeed anyone who isn't up for drowning out these bad surroundings. However - for a 'party' stay there are some redeeming factors that it would be unfair not to mention.

It's a few minutes walk away but the free parking voucher from the hotel is excellent. There really isn't much parking apart from that car park so without the pass there would have been an extra expense to consider.

The Stags head is very well placed for visiting the rest of Bowness as it's right in the centre. Whether you're shopping, sightseeing, visiting the lake or out for a night of eating and drinking Bowness is a real gem.
Whilst it's a major negative sleep wise the pub is a lively place with music and (very) cheap drinks (wine £7-£9/bottle i think). The nightclub below has a local feel but entry is free if you're staying in the hotel and if you want to continue the party after hours then it's an OK place to do so.

The breakfast was a good and hearty English pub breakfast - exactly what you need after a heavy night's partying! (although it was a bit odd eating in the pub where you'd been drinking the night before).

So - all in all I wouldn't recommend this place unless you really were looking for a big heavy night and aren't too fussy about cleanliness. I'm afraid I don't think the £80 we paid was quite cheap enough to make up for the shabbiness of the place and we won't be returning except maybe for a pint outside on a summer's day.