Dr Sinclair
August 2018
Holidays are very personal things so what matters to one person, may not be important to anyone else.. As far as the Lodge on the Lake goes, once you have found it in its tucked away location, I think this Lodge has the best position in all of the Park.
The views from the lounge and deck are quite breathtaking, unsurpassed and uninterrupted across Lake Windermere. There is no pedestrian or vehicular access in front of the Lodge and very little traffic passes behind it. There is a neighbouring lodge on one side only with trees on the other, leading to a private little beach. There is a large and very well appointed decking area in front of the lounge. So, it is very quiet indeed unless you count the calls of the geese! I note earlier guests saying that parking for two cars was an issue. We actually managed to park three cars in the area provided, albeit only two could get out at a time - you just have to be creative!
We had 6 adults and one toddler staying in the lodge and we didn't feel particularly cramped for space. As ever there are things that could have been better for us. I found the single beds to be very soft and uncomfortable to sleep in. The travel cot was broken along one of the long edges so we had to line that edge of the cot up against the wall. There was no travel cot mattress provided - again we had to be creative with duvets. The owners may not have realised that this was necessary though. Not a serious issue for our toddler but I feel this would have been a show-stopper for a younger baby. There was a high-chair but no table attached to it - again, not a problem for us, but wouldn't have been great for a smaller child. There were only six hangers in each of the wardrobes- somewhat unrealistic for a three bedroom house designed to accommodate 6 adults so we had to go and buy some more in town. There are only six sets of cutlery, crockery so with seven of us staying, we couldn't really use the dishwasher!! The rest of the cooking utensils, equipment, pots, pans, bowls etc were all fine. The Park's own internet didn't really extend down to the Lodge so we had to rely on the internet signal provided in the Lodge itself. This was described by my android phone as "unstable". It worked most of the time but it was very slow. Again, this may be irrelevant to others but I had to rely on turning the 4G Vodafone mobile signal into a personal hotspot to be able to work.
It is a great place to base yourself to tour the Lakes. Bowness was extremely busy and seems to have dedicated itself to relieving tourists of their money at the fastest possible rate. There are lots of eating places to suit most wallets and the Park access means it was easy to get out towards the northern Lakes.
Overall, then a very positive experience because of the privacy and location, and which with a little attention to detail, could have been flawless!!