Having a daughter who lives in Scotland, my wife and I make regular long trips from Devon, and tend to stay overnight in the Lake District, somewhere not far from the M6. On this occasion, while the hotel is conveniently situated near the motorway, we felt we found a hotel we would not be keen to return to.
Firstly, it’s definitely out in the wilds and not near to any town or facilities, being situated on top of the Shap fell. Its exterior appearance is quite impressive, signs of former prosperity when it was a staging post for those travelling across the Pennines. Even the reception area, with its Chesterfield sofas and armchairs, looks impressive. The bedrooms, however, at least the one we were in, were not. They look very tired, old-fashioned, and very much in need of a face lift. We found no towels on arrival, having to request some from reception, and the television reception was a joke, as we were unable to watch any of the three main channels satisfactorily.
We also found the bar and restaurant poor in terms of service and the meals we ordered. Firstly, at a busy time in the early evening, there was no-one serving when we went into the bar and we had to wait several minutes until the barman returned. We discovered that no food could be ordered before 6pm, which was a problem for us as we had been travelling all day. The waiter who brought my meal very nearly tipped it on my lap, and neither my wife nor I were impressed with the quality of the food.
I always try to find positives in places we visit and stay, but here it is hard to find many, apart from maybe the breakfast! It was a handy stopping point for us, but that’s about it.
“Hotel website”:http://www.shapwells.com/
