Hot Rooms
Superior stays in the Lake District and Dublin
Windermere’s oldest fan
[ LEEDS BRADFORD ]
“EVERYBODY THINKS WE’RE UNDER 10 FEET OF WATER,” says the taxi driver on the five-minute trip from Windermere train station to the Old England Hotel. “I don’t know why – it didn’t even flood down here!”
It’s a story repeated by everybody else – the heavy flooding in the north of Cumbria at the end of 2009 caused people to cancel holidays in the Lake District, even though this area, a short hop across the Pennines from Leeds Bradford airport, was unaffected.
It’s always busy at the Old England though, a grand Victorian pile in an enviable position on the edge of Windermere itself. Not that bad weather would ruin a stay here: they have recently added a new spa and swimming pool, there’s a serious fine-dining restaurant, and most windows have watercolour-worthy views of England’s largest lake. Rooms start from £110.
If the rain does stop for a second, you can take in the picturesque, though tourist-thronged, villages of Bowness and Windermere or visit the nearby World of Beatrix Potter attraction. There is golf, watersports on Windermere and, of course, the Romantic landscape of lakes and fells to explore. All this, and not a water-logged high street in sight. Lee Cheshire Old England Hotel, Bowness-onWindermere, Cumbria, +44 (0)844 879 9144, www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk
Rest at West
[ DUBLIN ]
FROM ITS LOBBY THIS FIVE-STAR HOTEL feels like it dates back to the era of De Valera. In fact, The Westbury was established in the mid 1980s. Nevertheless, it manages to bully up that old world, cream marble and crystal chandelier charm, without having any rickety lifts, narrow corridors, or skimpy suites. Rooms start at around €169, for which you get Nespresso machines as standard, as well as Acqua di Parma toiletries and free internet access. It’s just off Grafton Street, in the centre of Dublin’s shopping district, and it has all the business facilities you’d expect. Yet don’t let this efficiency put you off; it was still cool enough for Morrissey, who stayed here when he played in the city last year. Alex Rayner The Westbury, Grafton Street, +353 (0) 1 679 1122, www.doylecollection.com
