The Ullswater Inn — Restaurant in England

Terrible weekend, 21st-23rd May 2021. Room 44 is smaller than my wardrobe. It has a 6ft long Queen Size bed (I'm 6ft 1"). The bathroom is so small the shower screen couldn't be opened because it bumped into the toilet cistern. This meant you had to climb into the bath to turn the taps on.

The tiny lift takes an age to arrive and it so small you can't fit more than 2 people with bags. You used to be able to acces the car park via an archway. This now has doors at both ends which the staff annoyingly keep locking. This means that you are either locked in the car park and then have to go through the bar or when you are sick of waiting for the lift and go out the front you have to walk on the main road to get to your car.

The breakfast food was great, the service was appalling. It arrived 10 minutes apart so my guests were nearly finished and waiting to leave when my cooked breakfast arrived. On the second morning we were left waiting by the door to be seated by a waiter who prioritised clearing dishes over seating us.

The Glenridding Hotel used to be a GREAT hotel with 2 fantastic restaurants and great service. It now has 1 bar restaurant serving burgers and pizza.

Due to Covid most of the facilities are closed and you only get 30 minutes in the swimming pool if you are lucky.

Save your money and book a B&B if you are going to Glenridding.

Response from the owner 23 hours ago This is very comical to read Mr Higginson especially as you are an ex-employee of the Glenridding Hotel. I would hope anyone reading this review take it with a pinch of salt.

This answer implies that I was a disgruntled ex staff member of the current owner. I did work at the hotel in the early '90s, under previous owners, and loved every minute of it. This was the reason why my wife and sons bought me the weekend at the hotel for my birthday. Knowing what a brilliant place the Glenridding Hotel used to be makes my review MORE valid not less.

Notice the owner did not dispute a single fact of my original review. I have reduced my review from ONE to ZERO stars because of the owners...

Worst hotel experience in my 10 years traveling and working in event management and booking hotel rooms for all budgets. ||Severe hygiene problems: We found hairs scattered across the room, on the bedside table, shower area and bathroom walls. We also found a severe leakage behind the toilet which had built up mould (the bathroom is also not tiled but covered in vinyl, which is a health hazard). When we told the assistant manager and then the manager about this, they both asked “how are you sure this isn’t your hair” and that “nobody had complained ever about the leakage”. until we showed the photos. The next day, we also found hairs on the breakfast area, with nobody minding to clean this up. I also noticed that the shower gel and conditioner had been watered down. ||Staff: Overall, it seems like the staff don’t care about the customers or the company’s revenue or reputation. Receptionist/assistant manager is extremely rude, providing no explanation on our stay but handing out a printout instead (listing all the things that they WON’T do for you) but spending a long time talking about why we should sign up to their loyalty program. When I told him I wasn’t interested, he snaps by saying “don’t interrupt me”. The only kind staff was the bartender who came to clean up the hairs, who also was the only person to apologise. He promised to find a solution in the morning. ||Haggling skills needed: The next morning, I had to negotiate the refund of the rooms, with the manager first offering a refund only for the first night, then a partial refund for the stay. I told him that the leakage was severe and a health hazard, that I had photos, and that I had already booked at another hotel. While he was friendly and refunded the full amount, I do not appreciate having to haggle this, when there could be black mould in the bathroom. ||We were so happy to leave that we left behind a charger, but it won’t be missed. The issues we saw weren’t a one-time housekeeping problem, but continued neglect of hygiene codes. Please do not stay here if you care about...

Worst hotel experience in my 10 years traveling and working in event management and booking hotel rooms for all budgets.

Severe hygiene problems: We found hairs scattered across the room, on the bedside table, shower area and bathroom walls. We also found a severe leakage behind the toilet which had built up mould (the bathroom is also not tiled but covered in vinyl, which is a health hazard). When we told the assistant manager and then the manager about this, they both asked “how are you sure this isn’t your hair” and that “nobody had complained ever about the leakage”. until we showed the photos. The next day, we also found hairs on the breakfast area, with nobody minding to clean this up. I also noticed that the shower gel and conditioner had been watered down.

Staff: Overall, it seems like the staff don’t care about the customers or the company’s revenue or reputation. Receptionist/assistant manager is extremely rude, providing no explanation on our stay but handing out a printout instead (listing all the things that they WON’T do for you) but spending a long time talking about why we should sign up to their loyalty program. When I told him I wasn’t interested, he snaps by saying “don’t interrupt me”. The only kind staff was the bartender who came to clean up the hairs, who also was the only person to apologise. He promised to find a solution in the morning.

Haggling skills needed: The next morning, I had to negotiate the refund of the rooms, with the manager first offering a refund only for the first night, then a partial refund for the stay. I told him that the leakage was severe and a health hazard, that I had photos, and that I had already booked at another hotel. While he was friendly and refunded the full amount, I do not appreciate having to haggle this, when there could be black mould in the bathroom.

We were so happy to leave that we left behind a charger, but it won’t be missed. The issues we saw weren’t a one-time housekeeping problem, but continued neglect of hygiene codes. Please do not stay here if you care about...