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At the accessible end of the Lake District, a mile or two above Windermere, the grandest of the lakes, there’s a family-owned country house hotel which, over the last two decades, has quietly, painstakingly made a reputation for itself. Despite a welcome modern influence in the design — and in the architecture of its graceful expansions — Gilpin Lodge is a classic.

Some English country houses fall over themselves to show how hip, how youthful, how fun they are, with a cartoonish sense of design and a self-consciously silly name for everything. Gilpin Lodge aims instead for classic country-house hospitality. You might not be audibly admonished at the table for reaching for the wrong bit of silver, but you will find you’re trusted, in some measure, to provide your own fun.

In this atmosphere of high propriety it’s perhaps a little bit surprising to find the rooms as modern as they are. Even the classic rooms in the old house have evolved with the times — they’re contemporary Georgian, not historical-reenactment Georgian. And the modern rooms and suites in the newer buildings are just plain contemporary, their clean lines and cutting-edge gadgetry lending themselves to a feel that’s much more urbane than you might expect from the Lake District.

The expansive and thougtful public rooms are meant to be lived in rather than rented out, and the spa is fully equipped. All fine indeed. But it’s the restaurant that is perhaps Gilpin Lodge’s greatest draw, serving sophisticated, award-winning dishes crafted from local Cumbrian ingredients.

How to get there:

Gilpin Lodge is located approximately ninety minutes’ drive from Manchester Airport (STN). Please contact customerservice@tablethotels.com to arrange airport transfers.