Gilpin Hotel & Lake House — Hotel in Great Britain

I would advise anyone with food allergies to tread carefully the Gilpin Hotel and Spa. As a celiac, I informed the hotel of my gluten allergy when booking in July. However, during my first meal, I was given food that was not gluten-free.||I arrived on 23/12/24 for a 4-day Christmas break. Initially, everything seemed great. The staff took my luggage, parked my car, and offered coffee and mulled wine while we waited for our room. Our room was ready quickly, and the staff took our luggage upstairs. After unpacking, we went downstairs for afternoon tea at 12:30, where the problems began.||||The waiter presented two platters, one for my partner and one for me, stating mine was gluten-free. My partner found their bread dry, but mine was soft and bouncy, unlike gluten-free bread. We asked the waiter to confirm, and he assured us it was gluten-free, claiming it was just really good bread. Despite our concerns, he insisted it was safe.||Feeling uncomfortable, I took a bite, but the taste and consistency alarmed me. We called the waiter again, expressing our concerns. He took the platter to the chef and returned, insisting it was gluten-free and his girlfriend the head chef on at the time assured him it was 100% gluten free. The waiter was stood at the other side of the room with a waitress looking at us visibly uncomfortable and gestured it was safe and to eat. Under pressure, I ate a sandwich, but the waiter continued to watch us, making us feel uneasy. ||||The waiter came over again and could see us uneasy and uncomfortable and stated he would like to get off on the right foot and we were quite clearly uncomfortable, so he would get the platters re-made again from top to bottom. The waiter took the platters away, and another waitress snatched our plates, giving us a disapproving look. When the waiter returned with new platters, he apologized and confirmed the original platter i was given and ate from was not gluten free, and laughed whilst saying hand on his heart he was sorry. He continued to make a joke of the situation. By this point, my partner and I were too agitated to eat and informed him we are leaving the hotel, fearing the effects of gluten contamination. This decision was not taken lightly as we had already travelled 3 hours to get to the hotel and we would now have to travel 3 hours home.||||We was introduced to general manager was apologetic, but we had already decided to leave. Mr Bridgewater also came to our room to apologise and a lovely woman, whom I unfortunately cannot remember her name, tried to do as much as she could for us to stay, but as we had already made up our mind as we knew the effect of gluten on me, she made sure all our stuff was taken down to reception. As we loaded our car the general manager came out again and apologised and my partner explained to him about the waiter taking the platters back and regarding the confirmation of his girlfriend the head chef at the time, the general manager then told my partner that the head chef at the time in there was male, which then confirmed we had made a good decision to leave as had the sandwiches ever been taken back to the kitchen? which could have avoided all this.||||I experienced severe symptoms over the Christmas week, including a bloated stomach, migraines, sleepless nights due to gastro issues and to put it politely frequent bathroom trips. The hotel refunded us before we even left the premises and offered a complimentary stay, but we won't be returning, as even when the manager said he would call in a few days, we never received a call. A courtesy call to check on my well-being would have been appreciated.||||The two waiting staff let down our experience compared to the rest of the welcoming and professional staff.||Additionally, the lack of proper communication and understanding of food allergies by the staff was alarming. The waiter’s casual attitude and the fact that he initially lied about head chef at the time and was unaware of what food was gluten-free showed a serious lack of training and awareness around food allergies and the health implications that can be caused.||||We are regular visitors to Michelin star restaurants up and down the country as we are avid foodies, and in all our time visiting Michelin star restaurants we have never experienced such unprofessional staff. Something you may expect to experience at a fast food chain.||||The overall experience was extremely disappointing, especially considering the high expectations we had for a Christmas break at a reputed hotel. The stress and discomfort caused by this incident overshadowed what should have been a relaxing and enjoyable holiday.||||We feel so strongly about this as allergens should be taken very seriously we have spoken to the Michelin guide and waiting...

I would advise anyone with food allergies to tread carefully the Gilpin Hotel and Spa. As a celiac, I informed the hotel of my gluten allergy when booking in July. However, during my first meal, I was given food that was not gluten-free. I arrived on 23/12/24 for a 4-day Christmas break. Initially, everything seemed great. The staff took my luggage, parked my car, and offered coffee and mulled wine while we waited for our room. Our room was ready quickly, and the staff took our luggage upstairs. After unpacking, we went downstairs for afternoon tea at 12:30, where the problems began.

The waiter presented two platters, one for my partner and one for me, stating mine was gluten-free. My partner found their bread dry, but mine was soft and bouncy, unlike gluten-free bread. We asked the waiter to confirm, and he assured us it was gluten-free, claiming it was just really good bread. Despite our concerns, he insisted it was safe. Feeling uncomfortable, I took a bite, but the taste and consistency alarmed me. We called the waiter again, expressing our concerns. He took the platter to the chef and returned, insisting it was gluten-free and his girlfriend the head chef on at the time assured him it was 100% gluten free. The waiter was stood at the other side of the room with a waitress looking at us visibly uncomfortable and gestured it was safe and to eat. Under pressure, I ate a sandwich, but the waiter continued to watch us, making us feel uneasy.

The waiter came over again and could see us uneasy and uncomfortable and stated he would like to get off on the right foot and we were quite clearly uncomfortable, so he would get the platters re-made again from top to bottom. The waiter took the platters away, and another waitress snatched our plates, giving us a disapproving look. When the waiter returned with new platters, he apologized and confirmed the original platter i was given and ate from was not gluten free, and laughed whilst saying hand on his heart he was sorry. He continued to make a joke of the situation. By this point, my partner and I were too agitated to eat and informed him we are leaving the hotel, fearing the effects of gluten contamination. This decision was not taken lightly as we had already travelled 3 hours to get to the hotel and we would now have to travel 3 hours home.

We was introduced to general manager was apologetic, but we had already decided to leave. Mr Bridgewater also came to our room to apologise and a lovely woman, whom I unfortunately cannot remember her name, tried to do as much as she could for us to stay, but as we had already made up our mind as we knew the effect of gluten on me, she made sure all our stuff was taken down to reception. As we loaded our car the general manager came out again and apologised and my partner explained to him about the waiter taking the platters back and regarding the confirmation of his girlfriend the head chef at the time, the general manager then told my partner that the head chef at the time in there was male, which then confirmed we had made a good decision to leave as had the sandwiches ever been taken back to the kitchen? which could have avoided all this.

I experienced severe symptoms over the Christmas week. The hotel refunded us before we even left the premises and offered a complimentary stay, but we won't be returning, as even when the manager said he would call in a few days, we never received a call. A courtesy call to check on my well-being would have been appreciated.

The two waiting staff let down our experience compared to the rest of the welcoming and professional staff. Additionally, the lack of proper communication and understanding of food allergies by the staff was alarming. The waiter’s casual attitude and the fact that he initially lied about head chef at the time and was unaware of what food was gluten-free showed a serious lack of training and awareness around food allergies and the health implications that...

I don't usually write reviews but I felt compelled to after our experience. In short, I really wanted to love this property, but I don't think it lives up to its 5-star price tag and lacks attention-to-detail.

The good: The location, views, and grounds are beautiful. There's even llamas, alpacas, and pigs on property. Rooms are well-appointed and generally have a lot of amenities Food is genuinely great, except for a couple minor issues noted below. The Source truly is an excellent meal. Staff were pleasant and helpful

The nit-picky issues: Obvious wear-and-tear on some parts such as broken wooden blinds, finicky light switches, peeling wallpaper, and rust. Room advertised electric blinds which wasn't the case. It appears it did have them at some point but broke and now had a curtain instead, but the curtain track had a problem and it was extremely difficult to open and close. Some of the amenities, like the sauna and steam room, are confusing to operate. They did explain that to us and direct us to their app which had instructions, but the instructions in the app were often different than the switches installed and had clearly not been updated after changes were made. The app had a phone number to text reception that didn't work. 2 of 3 room service orders were missing at least one item, and only one was corrected after a significant wait. One issue with food quality where we ordered the same soup twice over the course of our stay and something was clearly wrong the second time. Extremely bland with overpowering acidic flavor. Several other items that just show a lack of attention-to-detail. At some point the nit-picks add up to take away from the experience.

Issues I cannot look past: No guarantee of being able to dine on property. While they do not state that the restaurants are reservation-only, that's essentially how they functioned. That is understandable and typical of a Michelin-starred restaurant (the Source), but the "normal" restaurant (the Spice) turned out to be the same. By the time we checked in there were no reservations available during our stay, and we were turned away when we attempted to walk-in on the last night of our stay. There was no attempt to accommodate us after a wait or at the bar, and we were turned away and had to decide between driving off property or waiting over an hour for room service. I don't really think it's fair to be forced to leave for dinner when there's two restaurants and a bar on property. They add an optional 7% service charge to your final bill (including on all food) that is not quoted in the original price or disclosed until after you book and receive your confirmation email. This is not uncommon at restaurants in big cities, but I've never encountered this at a hotel before.

Overall it feels like this property was beautiful upon completion and really peaked about 5 years ago but is now resting on its laurels a bit. There's some obvious wear-and-tear, and it felt like the staff were not properly supported and probably stretched too thin. I don't blame them as our interactions were always pleasant, but they didn't seem to have enough resources.

In the end I would seek out other properties in the Lake District for my next stay that are more polished...