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Claife Viewing Station and Windermere West Shore

Windermere Ferry

West Vale Country House

Ambleside

Hi.  Me and my wife stayed here last year. I have been meaning to write a review only now got around to it.   

Ok to start with the web site states there is a decanter of sherry waiting in the room..there was not. It also states that room service is available, breakfast in bed, afternoon tea and their “famous platers are all available. Non of them are offered. When asked about this the young boy who I believe is the manager replied. “ oh the sherry isn’t very nice you wouldn’t of drank it any way “. And “ I’m too busy to offer room service .“ When I asked About the platers he just ignored me, I asked two or three more times and he stood blank faced refusing to acknowledge the question. 

When I booked the room the website also offered a fruit basket in the room on arrival which guess what ... it wasn’t there ! I asked about this when being shown the room and the lady showing me the room replied , “erhh.... I can get you some apple and oranges from the kitchen if you       want “ ....????

There was also access to the hotel bar advertised on the website. When I asked about this when we were leaving the young boy replied “I have got some beers in the fridge you should of rang the bell”. To which I replied “I did for about half an hour yesterday evening and nobody came “. To which he again had no reply. 

Now to the breakfast. There website states

“Fresh Fruit including pears, bananas, oranges, blueberrys and strawberrys”. 

In reality was apples and oranges from the supermarket still in their net bags.  The croissant were brought out at random times , one morning they were not brought out at all While we were having breakfast. As for the cooked breakfast, I’ve had some of the nicest cooked breakfast at different establishments around the lakes. This however was not one them. It was at best an average quality, child sized breakfast.  

You may ask why we stayed after the first night. The reason we did was because literally every thing else nearby was fully booked. 

This was supposed to be a relaxing pampered break for my well deserving wife. We had no plans to leave the hotel except for maybe a light walk and dinner in the evening. As we believed we would be fully catered for at the hotel. Instead every day  we were forced to leave after breakfast and return in the evening after dinner. 

On the plus side it’s in a lovely location perfect for exploring the lakes. And the village is a shortish walk or shorter bus ride away. There is also a lovely pub just up the road. That does great food. 

Having stayed at lots of different hotels and b&b’s in the Lake District of which I could recommend all of them. This visit was by far the only bad experience I have had in years of visiting. And to make it worse it was also the most expensive.

So to some up DO NOT BELIEVE THE WEBSITE!!!!   If you are after an expensive poor quality b&b( and I mean expensive) then this is the place for you !

Rubbish.....Website full of lies !!!

We had booked via booking.com over a month in advance due to the excellent review. We were staying for 5 nights from the  31st July.

Whilst travelling up on motorway on the day of check-in, We received a voicemail (As I was driving and couldn't answer the phone and even if I could I was already halfway there) from the owner at 12.30pm saying that he had to cancel my booking as the B&B had no hot water- and hadn't had any for two weeks, he was very apologetic but as I was sitting in the car on the B&B car park this didn't cut any ice. 

The owner said he was 'truly sorry' but said he could do nothing more for me. He didn't offer any alternatives or help in any way and no compensation was offered.

 We tried calling the owner back but the call went straight to voicemail and ringing the doorbell also led to no success.

It is very disappointing as after a long journey to arrive to find out this info, it was unnecessary to wait until 12:30pm on the day of arrival as he had known for two weeks in advance that this was an issue! 

Utterly Disappointed 

I booked via booking.com on 1st May, over 10 weeks in advance for a stay of two nights on 14/15 July. I emailed B&B on 9th July to enquire if I could have an early breakfast as taking part in a local mountain marathon with early start - no response. I telephoned on 13th July and left two voicemails and also sent a follow up email - again no response. Whilst travelling up on motorway from midlands on Friday 14th July i.e. day of check-in, I received a telephone call from the owner at 1.30pm saying that he had to cancel my booking as the B&B had no hot water. I said that I did not mind that problem but was told that he was cancelling all bookings and he stated firmly that he would not open just for me. He did not explain why he did not return my telephone calls or emails which I found very strange. The owner said he was 'truly sorry' but said he could do nothing more for me. No compensation was offered and only after asking did he suggest I contacted the nearby Cuckoo Brow Inn. He did not even give me the telephone number or indeed offer to reserve it for me. The Inn had one room left but only for one night, not the two which I required which meant that I had to drive home after my six hour mountain marathon on the Saturday evening which was not pleasant or indeed very sensible due to fatigue so hence I was obliged to take naps in two motorway service stations on my way home. The Cuckoo Brow, which was excellent, told me that my experience of West Vale is not the first time this has happened to guests and recent reviews, sadly from overseas visitors, highlight this. The irony is if I had cancelled my booking at similar late notice for 'personal reasons' then I would have been charged the full amount for the two nights with absolutely no refund. I have waited until Tuesday 18th July to post this review to see if the owner was going to contact me and offer some form of compensation, find out how I got with alternative accommodation or indeed provide a written apology but sadly four days later, nothing. I am at a loss to understand how anyone with such good previous reviews would want to leave me and it appears other guests in such a predicament.

Appalled and Dismayed

We booked on Expedia for 3 nights. Received a follow-up email from Expedia 2 days before our stay was to commence, confirming the reservation. Arrived after a three hour drive from York, to find the doors were locked, with no sign of life. After some time we encountered a workman on the site, who told us there was no hot water, and the manager, Damien, had closed up for the repairs to be made, as he was not expecting any guests! We had received no notification from the manager or from Expedia. Voicemail messages were left with the inn's number and with a private cell phone number given us by the workman, to obtain a recommendation for alternative accommodation, but the calls were not returned. The next inn down the road was fully booked, but the sympathetic manager made some attempt to help us; she said this was not the first time this had happened. It ended up being a luck break for us, as we eventually managed to snag the last available suite at Nanny Brow in Ambleside - rated best accommodation in Britain by AA!

Frustration

Our travel agent booked us here for two nights. I attempted to call to confirm the reservation when we were in York. I made the call in the afternoon and got a generic voice mail message was generic that didn't give the hotel's name or any other information.
I called the following morning and the same thing happened. I called back an hour later and a man answered, giving the b&b's name. I gave him my name and he had the reservation. I told him that we would be arriving late, around 8:30 or 9, because we were driving from Haworth and that we would want to stop for dinner. I asked for a recommendation, which he did provide and he thanked me for the advance notice. 
We arrived at around 9 p.m. to a darkened entrance that was locked with no note or any information. We tried calling and heard the phone ring inside--again with the generic voice mail.
One of the guests had no idea how to reach anyone or if the owners were on site.  We returned to the Cuckoo Brow down the road, where we had dinner, and asked if they had a way to contact the owners. They did not...and what was worse, they told us that we weren't the first to experience this. Fortunately for us, they had a room for the night. We immediately emailed our travel agent recounting our experience and asking for a refund. We were not going to return, especially since the b&b has a tiny parking area and it took a while to maneuver our car out of there.
I'm glad so many people have had good experiences but that's not true for us. This is a shoddy way to run a business and if they can't even have a voice mail with information, that tells you something.
Our travel agent will not refer them to any of her clients and we can't recommend them at all.

West Vale Country House

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