Macdonald Leeming House

Great location. Friendly staff. Nice bathroom. Comfortable bed. Good food. There was no fridge in the room. Though the hotel room had strong musty smell. Windows had mould. The exterior paintwork was peeling off. No swimming pool.

We went to The Macdonald Leeming House for a special occasion and it was a complete disappointed. The rooms are in poor condition to say the least and we booked a super deluxe room and so not cheap, dark and depressing, peeling paintwork, lose fittings, rotten door & window frames, disgustingly dirty bathrobes all over the collar with a previous guests make up, the bathroom was dirty and the shower in the bath was tiny, cracked toilet seat to name a few, the list goes on. The hotel and grounds are in desperate need of refurbishment with lose steps, weeds and general poor upkeep again of the paintwork which is peeling and also rotten wooden windows etc. the driveway to the hotel has weeds in the flower beds, broken down walls either side of the driveway, really very poor. If you want a special place to stay avoid this hotel, the only positive is the location and the pillows were comfortable. If you book Dinner Bed & Breakfast, as we did, you will be hit with supplement after supplement on the menu, as if £324 a night wasn't enough, even and unbelievably, there were supplements on the breakfast menu for overpriced food which isn't up to standard. I didn't want to complain as it was my wife's birthday and I didn't want to ruin it for her but when we left we both had the same thoughts. The website looks beautiful but unfortunately that's where it ends. I wouldn't recommend this hotel to anyone, there are far better hotels in the Lake District than this.

Went to sample the restaurant. Menus aren’t available on the website but a very pleasant receptionist explained they are created daily by the chef and e mailed me a copy Sadly there’s too many one we were presented with at the table was different Never mind the food was tasty and beautifully cooked but quite small portions a single mushroom and what the menu calls carrots translates as half of a single carrot Desert also creative and tasty but the first time I’ve ever had a chilled apple crumble Nice setting lovely food but a bit space in quantity for the price A good spot for those on a diet

Classic elegant hotel

Such a lovely historic building, yes looks a bit tired but updating would ruin the effect. Breakfast was great, choice of continental and cooked. Beds are very comfortable, rooms are spacious and clean. The view from the Terrace is one of the best I have seen. The staff were hardworking and nothing was too much trouble, a special mention to Debbie, Jordan, Tracy and Manuela. We ate at Brackenrigg Inn, Pooley Bridge Inn and had drinks in The Secret Garden (such a special place)

Our visit to Leeming House was amazing value and the customer service second to none. Debbie gave exceptional assistance responding to my queries with clarity and kindness ( l am not technically expert!) Our room had a wonderful balcony and view. Exceptional!

Very welcoming and friendly staff, there was a small problem with the original room which couldn’t be fixed, but the staff were excellent and immediately moved us into a nearby room as a complimentary upgrade. Handled very professionally and the same staff member checked in with us later in our stay. The hotel itself is lovely, impressive building in a stunning location, with excellent views from the room we stayed in and from the lounge/restaurant

Beautiful Hotel upon first glance but needs a lot of work to bring it up to standard to reflect the pricing. We stayed in a garden view room with doors that opened onto a small terrace, the doors were old and flaking, the outside seating area was tiny and the metal table and chairs were old and covered in bird poo, just not a nice area to sit in to be honest, to the side of our terrace was a staff door covered in insulation foam. The room was tired, armchairs well used and peeling, peeling paint in the bathroom, old decor, flaking bath panels, and not even a proper coffee machine, but a kettle was provided. The grounds are beautiful but on closer inspection need a massive amount of work done to be suitable to host weddings etc, a lot of cracked and unstable stonework and steps, the main fountain wasn't on during our stay and was green and stagnant. At dinner we paid £15 for a small affogato, as seen in pics, rip off. Other small gripes that all added up to a below par stay were only one small generic conditioner bottle in room, no soap bar etc(they show Elemis toiletries in the room photos), no pen, no robes, very small TV, not a smart TV. Breakfast was OK, not a lot of choice and costed £29pp to have in our room inc £10 tray charge, which was excessive. Wouldn't stay again, definitely not a 4 star.

I am sorry to write this review as I really wanted to love this hotel. The facilities are great -gardens lead down to the lake and there is a new set of steps making access to the water easy for paddlers or swimmers and the views over Ullswater to Howtown are simply splendid. Plenty of room to exercise kids and dogs. It's got really easy access to walking round the lake, with Aira Force a short walk away and pretty equidistant between Pooley Bridge and Glenridding with shops, pubs, restaurants and the lake steamer. There is a bus stop at the gates linking to both Penrith and Windermere stations. Yes it's décor is a bit old-fashioned, but fits with the country house feel and age of the hotel, a bit worn but dog friendly and comfortable-rather than a luxury hotel. A poor welcome, and dire room checking didn't get us off to a good start. Arriving at 1pm in the pouring rain, I have never before been told by a hotel reception effectively told to go away until check in at 4 pm. Bed was comfortable and we got the hang of the heating to sort the cold room. Very dodgy wifi outside public rooms that dropped frequently. The slick of leaking bath gel in the bath would suggest that the room was ready way before 4pm. It was a nasty surprise to find underwear from a previous occupant. However lovely the staff are, and there are some real diamonds, I got the feeling the hotel is overstretched e.g. worn linen and towels, swingeing prices for very average food, poor housekeeping, tight portion control and extras charged at every turn. Menu choices in the restaurant were more British pub plus than fine dining. Dinner for two with 2 pints of beer cost £138 -just one glass of wine and only one of us had starter, desert and coffee. Anyone on a package inclusive of dinner would do well to ask for menus in advance to get a handle on all the supplements. Lunch was similar- £17+ for a very average tuna sandwich on supermarket bread and a soft drink. It wasn't stated which award the "Award Winning Breakfast" won ( £26 for full, £20 for continental), but it was memorable for the wrong reasons. Great to see they took food waste seriously- you had to order tomato or beans -commonly left on the plate. Of the 8 hot breakfast choices - four came at a supplement -an extra £6 making a breakfast of avo toast £32...really? Watery orange juice, miserly cooked breakfast portion with poor execution. Completely inedible deep fried potato cake dripping with oil (who does that to a potato cake?). An order for simple beans on toast turned up as a small pot of lightly congealed baked beans and one slice of supermarket bread toast on a plate. leaving aside the poor value, is it too difficult to actually put the beans on the toast and make it look attractive? Yes money is thin on the ground and costs are high. I'm sad to see the management haven't looked at pricing and customer experience to actively retain customers in the hotel. I'd sad as it was a lost opportunity. Had I been shown by a friendly staff member to a lounge with a fire (it was very cold), had someone offered to get me some coffee after a long drive or some lunch, and had the food and drink prices been reasonable - I might not have left the lounge with a view or the wood panelled bar for three days! As it was, we felt ripped off and spent our money elsewhere with better value. It gives me no joy to write a poor review but those spending their hard earned money have choices and reviews on TripAdvisor inform those choices.

Lovely location with great views of the lake. Slightly negative reception team telling me there was no way my booking could be changed to a twin as the housekeeping team had already made it up as a king, then sharing negative experience of sharing a room with their own mother in law finally informing us that the taxis for the valley were over priced made for an "interesting welcome".Beware the steps by the fountain are broken and very unsteady under foot. Tired hotel with chipped paintwork. Uninspiring breakfast where you had to pay extra for poached eggs on toast.