On the shores of Ullswater, wild-swimming fanatics will love
this home from home, which places its surroundings at the centre of
its being. Open-water swimming, sailing, paddleboarding –
you name it, everything revolves around the water. The colours and
textures of the hotel’s interiors reflect the wholesome living
you’ll adopt as soon as you arrive. If it’s too grey outside for a
dip, the indoor club has a heated 20m pool and spa treatment
rooms.

With its own mini lagoon on Lake Windermere, The Boathouse
arguably has the best setting in the Lake District. An adorable
bolthole for two within a 200-year-old stone cottage bridged over
the water, it’s atmospheric and luxurious in all the right ways.
Expect a hot tub, firepit and plenty of outdoor space. If you fancy
a bit of hotel life, Storrs Hall do a cracking afternoon tea with
quintessential scones, finger sandwiches and tartlets galore.

The icing on the cake at this country-house hotel is Simon
Rogan’s restaurant, Henrock. True to Rogan’s ethos, the focus is on
beautiful local ingredients, many grown on his own farm just a few
miles away in the Cartmel Valley. Henrock is launching a spring
terrace pop-up on 14 April for five weeks, serving casual comfort
food overlooking the lake. Afternoon tea also gets a Rogan twist,
with his very own label Hampshire Rosé Brut. For a more isolated
stay, a number of private lake suites were built in 2019, with
king-sized beds and floor-to-ceiling windows.

A boutique hotel with eighteen rooms (and a futher eight in the
pipeline), Rothay Manor underwent a huge refurbishment in 2020.
Husband-and-wife owners Jamie and Jenna Shail spent lockdown 1.0
repainting the front of the house before gutting the historic,
Grade-II-listed manor. There’s a fine-dining restaurant with a
tasting menu featuring dishes such as Scottish langoustine with
carrot and yuzu, as well as a handful of charming pubs down the
road in Ambleside. Dogs are welcome and horse-riding can be done
from outside the front door.

With mountain views to the west and tranquil woodlands to the
east, Gilpin’s spa suites are gorgeous pods in which to hunker down
for the weekend. After a wholesome day marching around Lake
Windermere, it’s exactly what you’ll want to come home to. The
larger suites all have their own cedarwood hot tubs, steam rooms,
saunas and massage chairs, as well as cocktail bars and private
terraces. In the evening, Michelin-starred HRiSHi combines Cumbrian
produce with flair. For groups, the Lake House just down the road –
featuring its own jetty and swimming pool – can sleep 12 and be
booked for exclusive use.

The Samling sits in a bowl of Lakeland fellside, looking out
south along Windermere and west towards the Coniston Old Man
mountain range. It has vast grounds, including woodlands, a
vegetable garden, ornamental water features and beehives. The
Samling’s restaurant and immersive chef’s table is led by Robby
Jenks, who uses the kitchen-garden produce at the core of many of
his dishes. There are several walks and even a national trust trail
starting from the hotel, and watersports aplenty on the lake.
Inside, freestanding copper bathtubs and vaulted ceilings set the
scene for a bit of Jane Austen romance.

Slap bang in the middle of the Lake District, this boutique
16-suite hotel describes itself as “more than just a hotel”. What
this means in practice is that they’ve got complimentary beer,
wine, nibbles and treats in the Reading Room for you to graze on at
any hour of the day, hiking gear for you to borrow from the boot
room at leisure, and cosy blankets to snuggle up by the outdoor
fire. Think of it as a stay with your most hospitable friends, who
happen to have an adults-only spa and an indoor-outdoor pool.

A vintage American school bus in a field in the Cumbrian hills
is exactly what John and Hannah Graham dreamed up in this holiday
home for two. Hinterlandes moves between fields in the same remote
corner of the Lake District every few months, going completely
off-grid and leaving no trace. Inside the revamped van, you’ll find
an Aga along and all the mod cons – including a top-notch sound
system – in surrounds of gleaming wood and latticed glass. For a
combination of quirky and unique, this can’t be topped.

Hidden deep in the woods, this log cabin was built as a passion
project out of larch wood grown on the Edenhall Estate. There are
three bedrooms, a log fire and squishy sofas perfect for lazy
afternoons playing board games and disconnecting from the outside
world. Close to the Pennine Fells, the lodge overlooks the river
Eamont. Catch your own wild trout for supper, grill it on the
barbecue then unwind in the outdoor hot tub as you count your lucky
stars.

If you’re on a gastronomic tour of the Lake District, The Yan is
an unmissable stop. Billed as a “bistro with beds”, it’s built on a
17th-century former farm at the foot of the fells, just outside the
picturesque village of Grasmere. It’s renowned for its spectacular
comfort food, and everything – right down to the tomato ketchup –
is made from scratch by chef Will Manley and his team. A solid “Yan
brekkie” of spicy beans, sausages, poached eggs and the rest will
set you up for a day in the great outdoors.

A pair of boutique private rentals in the Yorkshire Dales,
Brownber Hall and House offer the quintessential British country
home experience with added chic. The estate overlooks Howgill
Fells, just a stone’s throw from the Lake District. The grand Hall
sleeps up to 15, while the Victorian farmhouse next door sleeps
eight. Both properties are fully kitted out with cooking
facilities, but Brownber Kitchen will also rustle up picnic
hampers, dinner parties and home-cooked meals to fill the fridge
with.

Feeling nostalgic for camping in the woods and building dens?
This two-bedroom treehouse is a childhood fantasy with
sophisticated low-key luxe interiors that adults will appreciate.
With views out onto the Scottish border, the Northern Lakes, Gretna
Green and Hadrian’s Wall are all within reach. There’s a hot tub,
wood-burner and fully functioning kitchen to cook up a storm among
the treetops, making it an ideal bolthole for a family weekend
away. Throughout the summer months, the river Esk has a prolific
run of salmon and sea trout.