Sumptuous, Scenery, Splendour - The Perfect Lakeside Setting

The last time I was at Lake Windermere I was cycling a gruelling 150 miles coast to coast in 24 hours - as you do! Having set off from Whitehaven at 6am I eventually arrived at the Chain Ferry in Bowness.

If I had known the Beech Hill Hotel was just a stone’s throw away, I would have turned right after disembarking the short ten-minute ferry and gone off to pamper myself at the hotel’s spa.

This time, it was a more relaxed journey from North Yorkshire to Cumbria on a beautiful drive with a lunch stop in the lovely Cumbrian town of Kendal. There are plenty of eateries and my advice is to make it a light lunch because you will not want to spoil your appetite at the excellent in-house restaurant, named after the local slate, Burlington’s.

Beech Hill is not far out of Bowness and the anticipation begins to build on the approach following part of Lake Windermere. The setting is idyllic, and the exterior has a feeling of a rustic country establishment; don’t be fooled there is a large car park to the rear to complement the few at the front.

There are many entrances to the different floors from the outside terraces and plenty of stairs, which doesn’t make it ideal for wheelchair users as there is no lift.

The reception area is spacious and quiet with views across Lake Windermere towards Grizedale Forest. A friendly welcome and quick and efficient check-in and we descend four flights of stairs to our suite.

The hotel team ensures that the stay is comfortable and not crowded. Trips to the spa, breakfast and dinner are carefully choreographed to ensure the experience is relaxed and congenial.

Deciding to book a trip to the spa the receptionist says with a glint in her eye, “of course what time, although you may not want to leave your room!”

What could she mean?

Rooms with a view

To coin EM Forster’s phrase, every room has a view over the pastoral, peaceful idyll. Beech Hill Hotel is nestled beautifully on the banks and the views are just fabulous. Even more impressive at morning and dusk as the sun rises and sets.

The innocuous door at the entrance of the room confutes the traveller’s expectations. It opens into a large room with chaise longue, sofa, a superbly comfortable bed, modern bathroom with walk-in shower and spa bath and, the piece de resistance, glass panelled doors across the width of the room offering unobstructed incredible views across the lake. The doors slide open, and it is then I understand the receptionist’s earlier comment.

A private hot tub outside and sun loungers are on offer and where one can leave the daily travails and unwind and, in doing so, be inspired as the setting is poetically magnificent.

Spa

Having booked into the Lakeside Spa the private hot tub can wait and donning my gown I head off to meet Emma, the enthusiastic Spa Manager, and Anna the equally fervent therapist, both of whom tell me about the facilities. Everything from massages, facials or NEOM treatments and Spa Days, which, they are quick to tell me, are available to both guests and non-residents. There are a couple of treatment rooms, including one for couples.

Emma, disappointed that I nearly didn’t try the spa because of the private hot tub entices me to see the Himalayan sauna and aromatic steam room, both aesthetically pleasing designs, and the 40ft indoor pool. There are also a couple of outside hot tubs. Everything has carefully been curated in the design because nothing hinders the spa view.

The luring garden areas seduce us to take a walk down to the water’s edge. It is mesmerising watching the birds skim across the lake and the ripples from a boat that has recently passed by are hypnotic.

Food and drink

With the stresses and strains of the day dissipated and after a glorious repose in the private hot tub we head to Burlington’s for dinner. A pre-prandial - Lakes Gin, what else? Sitting in the light airy bar area for a while watching the sun go down, we eventually move to our table with, and you have probably guessed, another wonderful, picturesque view over the gloaming landscape.


The reasonably priced menu 2 courses £34.95, 3 courses £44.95 and 5 course £49.50 menu was appealing. There is also an excellent wine list and the Mâitre d' well-versed in the minutiae of wine choices and food knowledge offers recommendations.

From peppered venison carpaccio to mackerel and dill ballotine with cured apple and potato and caper salad it was difficult to pick a starter, eventually settling for the house-smoked sea trout pate with horseradish cream, watercress and melba toast and a chestnut mushroom and truffle oil risotto with pickled walnuts and crème fraiche.

I have to mention the butter: sourced from Netherend Farm, Lydney in Gloucestershire. It was startlingly good and salted to perfection complementing the bread rolls superbly well.

The risotto was impressive in texture, consistency and taste, the flavours warm and translucent, the pickled walnuts a lovely contrast. The sea trout pate equally as good. In both the flavours lingered. A raspberry sorbet palette cleanser was presented, and we waited for our mains which had also been a difficult choice. From lamb rump with sautéed hisi cabbage to cod loin with creamed leeks and saffron potatoes, our selections were the confit duck leg with sweet potato mash, red cabbage, poached pear and the 6oz Fell-bred fillet steak with, as is common these days an £8 supplement, chunky chips, grill garnish mushroom duxelles and a choice of sauces, mushroom, peppercorn, or red wine and a further £3.50.

The competing flavours of the pear and red cabbage (which was rather understated) with the duck worked well and the plate was awash with colour: purples, greens, orange and yellow of corn, a kaleidoscope of colour which was reflected in the sky. So often, chefs can be lazy with the sauces for steaks - not here. The mushroom sauce was delicious, porcini mushrooms and peppery. Consumed with delight, although the mushroom duxelles was a garnish not really needed. In fact, the meat was so well cooked it did not need any adornment.

We should have stopped there. The first three parts of the menu were spot on, but the deserts however were a disappointment. The black cherries frangipane tart with double Jersey ice cream was hard, dry, and heavy as if it had been in the fridge for too long. The special, a banoffee souffle was cooked well, but some of the flavours not strong enough and let down by the more than subtle salted caramel ice cream.

As the clouds were hanging in the sky like an art installation, punctuated with red from the slowly sinking sun we had our truffles and coffee/tea watching the shadows create yet further magic over a lake transformed by dusk and nightfall. A post prandial on our private terrace ended a pleasant day.

There is also an extensive lounge menu for those who want something lighter. This caters for brunch, sandwiches, sharing platters and classic main meals as well as afternoon tea.

Having slept well, as we opened the doors to the terrace we were further treated to a new portrait of the lake as the morning dew and sun created yet a different palette of colours that Monet would have appreciated.

We don’t often have breakfast but on this occasion we opted for the full English, of which the quality and quantity was perfect, more than worth the upgrade and it more than set us up for the rest of the day consisting of of strolling around Bowness and taking a ferry trip.

Time precluded doing the full tour, but it is good value. It lasts for a period of 24 hours from the time of purchase which includes Islands Cruises from Bowness and cruises to Brockhole. The other scenic cruises include an approximately 75 minute journey from Bowness around the northern basin of the lake, with the option to get off at Ambleside maybe for lunch, returning later in the day. The Yellow Cruise is a 90-minute excursion around the southern basin of the lake and the Islands Cruise which departs every 30 minutes throughout the day is a 45 minute circular sightseeing trip where passengers can take in the contrasts of nature whether it be the scenery of mountains, or the tranquil bays.

Back on land there was time to visit the Beatrix Potter Museum which my colleague Andrew Liddle wrote about (Beatrix Potter – A National Treasure In The Heart Of Lakeland) and have a locally brewed pint before returning to the serenity of Beech Hill Hotel and a further a trip to the spa and another fine meal.

Earlier we had viewed the hotel from the middle of the lake and seeing it nestled on the wooded shoreline made one appreciate the romantic beauty. For the second time in 24 hours the sun did not disappoint, which along with the blue skies, verdant landscape and lovely cloud formation emphasised all the crowning glories of the Lakes’ geography.

It’s not hard to see where the romantic poets got their inspiration.