The Glen Rothay Hotel and Badger Bar — Hotel in Great Britain

Fawlty Towers! Impersonal service. Stayed as a family, in 2 separate rooms, Rydal Suite and Ulswater twin room in 28th and 29th December 2022 as a special family break. We were informed by the owner on Christmas Eve, there was scaffolding still up at the window of Rydal suite partially obscuring the view from the balcony. The reason being the ‘builders had over run in their works’. As we were meeting friends in the Lakes it was rather too late for us to change our accomodation. We were offered £40 off in food vouchers for each day of our stay. The booking price was £440 for 2 nights for our room, plus £330 for the children’s room. I explained beforehand that we were likely to be eating out at least once and subsequently, prior to our visit £80 per night was taken off our room rate. On arriving, the fascia board above our room was new, unpainted and there was no way the work was anywhere near finished. The owner had just tried to deflect the blame in our opinion. With the scaffolding, the Rydal Suite was dark, the view from the window and balcony was obscured and the handle on the inside hand been removed from the balcony windows so we couldn’t open the doors to let air in and for our whole stay the windows were dripping in condensation. The windows in Rydal suite have no ‘inner double glazing’ like they have in the dining room downstairs, hence the room is noisy. The curtains didn’t close properly and I needed to hold them together with a hair ‘bulldog clip’ at night. The traffic noise in Rydal room from the A591 at night felt like we were in the centre of the road. It went on til close to midnight. On the 2 occasions the bath was used in the Rydal suite it leaked and we mopped up with towels. We could hear, everything going on in the room next door when in the bathroom, so taking a bath was not a relaxing experience. On the first afternoon, we went for a walk and came back to find the window seat in Ullswater room where our sons were staying was wet. It was leaking in from the roof. Their room smelled musty and damp from the moment we arrived. I took photos of the leak and went to the reception area and bar area to find a member of staff to be told pleasantly ‘ it’s not the first time it’s leaked and won’t be the last, until the roof is fixed!’ They kindly put a plastic bucket on the window seat with a cloth in it so our children didn’t have to listen to the drip, drip, drip! They offered us a round of drinks ( consisting of a pot of tea, and 2 apple juices) and pudding off the meal on the first evening- which consisted of 2 ice creams and a cheesecake. The children’s room cost £330 for 2 nights. These TWO rooms, Rydal Suite and Ullswater room should never have been available to book. The damp & musty smell in Ulswater room means the leak has been going on for a considerable period of time and probably all filled with mould and Aspergillus fungus. The complacent attitude of the owner and staff, by allowing these room to be available to book, not considering the customer first sums up the overall attitude. There was no personal apology from the owner during our stay, when I am sure a visit to our table in the breakfast room would have been gladly received by us. Aside from the fact my lamb was lukewarm on the second evening I’d lost the will to complain anymore, as I don’t take a mini break and precious family time to complain. My realistic expectations are that the place should be as described and look like the website pictures illustrate. Potential customers, give this place a large swerve. I’d love to add the photographs I took, but I’m not sure how to as I’ve never experienced anything so poor and had to leave a poor review, but hopefully the description and rating is advice enough. The...

We have driven past the hotel hundreds of times and have had a meal in the Badger Bar a couple of times but decided we’d like to stay the night when we had a week off work with no other plans.||We booked early check in for 12.30 and on arrival just after that time were taken to our room ‘The Windermere’. First impressions are so important and we found it to be a delightful room with a view out the back of the hotel. The main room is a double bed (very comfortable), a couple of easy chairs, a dressing table, tea and coffee making facilities with a couple of biscuits and a TV with multiple channels and various streaming channels such as Netflix, ITVx etc….||The decor is very tasteful with William Morris wallpaper which suits the age of the hotel.||The double doors open up onto a tiny patio with a couple of seats, ideal for good weather but sadly the rain put paid to any plans to sit out.||The temperature was just right in the room. There is also a single bed by the room door making it ideal for a family of 3. The is also a small cloak area with a few hangers, there was also an oil filled radiator stored in there with worked perfectly to help us dry out after our very rain soaked walk.||The bathroom is lovely with tastefully coloured tiles, a toilet, sink and combined bath/shower. The water was hot although the water flow wasn’t the most powerful but still fine for getting clean.||Breakfast was included and this constituted of a cold selection such as cereals, yogurts and fruit as well as orange or apple fruit juices, water & milk. A hot food order is taken and we had the Full Cumbrian breakfast and the Eggs Benedict. Both extremely tasty and plentiful. A pot of tea was also provided as well as toast. The porridge someone was having at another table did look gorgeous so I may try that next time.||Last night we had an evening meal at the Badger Bar and the roast beef dinner was lovely, lots of beef and piled with tasty veggies complimented by a Yorkshire Pudding which was more than fine for this Yorkshire couple. The drinks were spot on, a couple of pints of Pravha for me and a raspberry gin and lemonade followed by a Kracken and Coke for Jo.||We went to see the badgers at feeding time and arrived just in time to barely see one running off when we got to the viewing point. We waited around for over an hour but they were obviously being shy last night, yet another reason to come back.||And trust me there will be a next time, it is a fantastic hotel in a stunning location perfect as a base for a Lake District stay. I can’t recommend it enough, just so long as the Badgers are less...

Arrived on the Friday evening and was greeted by Carolyne who was really polite and friendly. We booked in and was shown to our room. The room was beautiful, with a four-poster bed, chairs,(which are more comfortably than they look), table, television, brew making items and items of furniture. The en-suite bathroom was up a couple of stairs. With its roll-top bath and separate shower cubicle with a double-headed shower, it was warm and welcoming. The water pressure was brilliant on the bath and the shower. The room we stayed in had its own little balcony with chairs and a stunning view. The room was really clean and tidy, (we even checked on top of the four-poster bed). Although the hotel is situated on a busy main road, the traffic wasn't heard in the room, (and it was one of the closest rooms). Once we settled in we went down to the bar area where a table had been reserved for us. The bars restaurant room was cosy, with a beautiful roaring open fire. We ordered our food and drinks. Service was quick and the food we ordered was presented nicely, but more importantly it was so tasty and hot. We took drinks to our room and relaxed. We then went out in the grounds to see the badgers that reside in the grounds and were amazed at how close we could be to them. (There is also a webcam that you can watch them on). The bed was so comfortable and the duvet just encased you. The next morning we went to the hotels dinning room where the choice of breakfast was great. The choice of cereal, toast, fruit and of course a full English breakfast, which was just as tasty as the food the night before. We really enjoyed our stay and would definitely recommend it to anyone. The staff were all friendly, polite and helpful. The hotel and Badger bar are both brilliant, but if you're looking for a 5 star modern hotel this isn't for you, however if you want character, cosiness and homely with great views, walks and brilliant staff then this will definitely be...