January 2024 by ian outram
Great little store with lovely helpful staff
October 2023 by Carri Nor
Friendly staff and a good mix of produce. Its only a small store. I would say just enough room if you have a wheelchair. Disabled parking is very close by.
August 2023 by Getaway29215705547
We arrived at the castle to a warm welcome . We were shown around the castle, then to our room which was the Evidence room . The room was amazing, lovely and clean. They only do evening meals from weds onwards but breakfast was available which was lovely . Two mins down from the castle are a few pubs with beautiful food we went in the Crown and Cushion . Appleby is a small town with plenty of walking routes and lovely people .
June 2023 by healthlinks
This location had the best food of our whole 18-day trip across Wales, England & Scotland! The garlic mushrooms were excellent! It is a nod to an authentic experience and you need to be prepared for it?no TV, no rooms made up while you stay, etc. it was unique. The castle does need some attention to repairs (eg. front entrance when you arrive, chairs in the bar area, etc). It would be helpful to provide guests with a key for the castle to return in the evening so you don?t have wake the staff and wait for them to respond to ringing the door bell.
June 2023 by G8216YXjimmyd
I had to misfortune of staying here with my wife and new born, i want to say that Peter the "owner" was nothing but rude & arrogant, bedroom was filthy and rundown, internet not working either. Avoid this place like the plague if you want to visit appleby. I WOULD'NT RECCOMEND TO MY WORST EMENY. Jimmy And Linda Donaldson
June 2023 by DeLangeSarah
Fantastic experience! We stayed in the Clifford bedroom in Appleby Castle -- with a huge poster bed and beautiful red accents. The castle is steeped in history and we were fascinated to see the suit of armor over the fireplace in one of the large rooms that we read about in another location on our month-long tour of the UK. We weren't able to see the Norman Keep due to needing to be on our way with our travels, but we would have loved to have seen it. The dining experience there was one of our favorite meals during our trip; I'm still dreaming about the vegetable samosas we ate there. The soup, steak and salmon we ate there were delicious as well. This fulfilled my dream since I was 10 years old of sleeping in a castle. Would highly recommend!
June 2023 by Sherpa55293757276
went for lunch on Saturday 27th May 2023 and had a sharing meat and cheese plater for w with a glass of red wine. on arrival we joined the guided tour of the castle which was well presented by a professional and passionate staff member. recommend doing
May 2023 by SensibleTravellor
Having booked a night through Booking.com that was both very expensive and non-cancellable I caught Covid , was quite ill and clearly couldn't visit the hotel. A refund would have been ideal but I asked if I could rebook for another date. I spoke to hotel staff twice, who both said they weren't authorised to take any action but would ask someone to call me back. No-one called back.I emailed and had no response. I asked Booking.com to help; no response again. I know what the contract said but it's really poor service for the hotel to simply ignore a client. Clearly this hotel has very poor customer service surrounding bookings. I still hope for a response from the hotel....
May 2023 by Butlerduchess
We went on a Wowcher and was put up in what was previously known as the servants? quarters. This room just did not suit us at all. However, the management were excellent in reallocating a more suitable room. To gain access to the reception is a bit strange in that you have to ring a bell and wait for someone to open it for you as it is not manned. Once checked in you don?t get keys for the main door so you have to ring the bell each time! Organised castle tour is a must, very interesting. Delicious freshly cooked full English breakfast. The restaurant wasn?t open in the evening when stayed but it was early season.
May 2023 by ShanieRu
What a stunning building!! You can't step into this castle without remembering its old, if you want flat floors and bright lights stay at a travel lodge! From the moment you walk through the doors it's like you are transported back in time, from large flagstone floors at the entrance to the dark wooden grand staircase in front of you, the place is stunning! Our room was basic, but for our Wowcher price we didnt expect to be put in a suite, the beds were huge and extremely comfy, even if it did get a little chilly at night. With toiletries and plenty of big fluffy towels in the bathroom and well stocked tea, coffee, hot chocolate, water and biscuits in one of the 2 bedrooms, it was perfect for a couple of nights stay. Our room was on the ground floor down a creepy dark corridor (which we loved) especially as the games room was just opposite, so we could stay up playing pool without disturbing anyone. The staff were lovely, and friendly, especially the barman who gave us a quick tour around the castle after out quite late check in. Obviously drinks are expensive but no more than any other hotel really. Breakfast was delicious, on the first morning we opted for the cooked breakfast, everything was perfectly cooked and fresh, the second morning we just had the continental, croissants, fruit, cereals and such but it was still all fresh and the croissants still warm (very delicious) It was lovely to see the owners walking around and cutting the lawns, stopping to talk to guest and generally being very welcoming, to what is really their home. I honestly can't understand some of the reviews on here, we need to support family run herritage sites or lose them to chains that will strip them of all originality and history. I would definitely return
May 2023 by kelleyh291
Give me strength on this one! I love staying in castles and full appreciate the limitations, ages and challenges faced with such old buildings so this is a measured review. It took an absolute age to sort the two night stay out with Peter, he didnt answer my questions, kept mislaying the voucher information I was sending and took days to respond despite chasing. I did get red flags at that point but, I wanted to experience the castle so persevered. On arrival we were shown the Lemshin room - requested an easy access room because if you happen to use a vouher, you are automatically shoved up to the top floor! The room was down a really dark, horrible corridor and Peter suggested we upgrade to the Nightingale cottage for £65 extra. I thought we were getting a bargain but given we paid with Buy a Gift voucher for £99 and an upgrade to that for £200 then the further £65 - we only actually saved £26!! So, enterng the cottage my husband and I were much more happy with the space on offer and everything did appear to be just that little but better. However, as the stay progressed I noticed more and more how dirty everything was. Greasy ovens, woodlouse and generally grubby. Laugh, I saw the cleaner tip box! Then the breakfast - that was when we were finally let in to the main building as nobody told us you could just access it, you had to wait. The 'chef' turned out to be Peter in a 'white' jacket that was covered in dirty brown stains all down each side. Pay for a cooked breakfast after seeing that? No thanks!! So we settled for the abysmal 'continental' turn out. We were served by someone who frankly sounded like he wasnt going to make it through the day. Coughing and spluttering. Then, I had a drink from the bar - double vodka and two can of diet coke. Was told it came to £16 something and nearly fell over! I didnt bother with another, I couldnt afford the second mortgage! On getting home to complain I also found I was charged for a double gin too and they kept by £30 holding deposit. I managed to get the gin refunded but nothing else. Absolutely disgusting place - such a shame! We left to stay at Peckforton Castle, it may not have the history but my goodness it was a splendid castle, beautifully clean, professional, great food and just the absolute opposite of Appleby.
May 2023 by richardswanderings
I went for a look round this beautifully restored castle. It's an absolute joy to gently wander round the grounds and soak up the history. Sadly I was a bit early for the cafe and Norman experience. But still had a great time.
April 2023 by X7324FKrobertm
Stayed for one night, that was enough. Whole places needs a clean. It could be so nice but it?s a bit run down. Bath room floor felt dirty if you were bare foot. The power tripped in our room and had to find someone to reset the electric. Staff seemed to have the can?t be bothered attitude. We had booked to eat in the restaurant, but on seeing the state of the kitchen we felt we couldn?t eat anything prepared in it. So we found a local pub and ate there. Breakfast had very little choice and we weren?t going to eat anything cooked. So we had a quick breakfast and left. Definitely wouldn?t stay again.
April 2023 by Simon C
Check in was fine, we received a warm welcome from the manager. Then we were shown our room and it all went downhill. Our room was in a dark corridor, we had to use our torches on the phone. The room was: basic would be an understatement. 2 beds, 2 chest of drawers and a tea table. When I tried to make a cup of tea, I realised that the cups and spoons were dirty (with dried hot chocolate). The milk was out of date. What was ironic that there was a tip jar on the table for the cleaning staff. With a bitter first impression we made our way upstairs for a charcuterie board. It was fine and plentiful, nothing spectacular. The lady who was serving us was kind but couldn?t answer any questions regarding wifi, breakfast time, drinks menu etc. We asked the gentleman who was serving us some wine where the bar was. He opened a room and switched some lights on and ?voilá!? We were in the bar. I have asked for a single whiskey and which I got served in a dirty mulled wine glass and got told it can be charged to our room (it was at our checkout when I found out that it cost £9. For the record it was an average whisky, about £30 a bottle) Next day we went for a morning walk around the beautiful grounds surrounding the castle. It was upon our return that we couldn?t get back in. We rang the doorbell a number of times and in about 5 minutes we were let back in. We booked in for a ?continental? breakfast which for pathetic. We got 2 slices of toasts each, made of stale bread. They had orange juice, cereal and some fruit, which i had to pick carefully as half of them were mouldy. The jug of milk had some floating objects in it so we had our coffees black. The room was still dirty with dishes and beer bottles on some tables left from last night. The gentleman serving our breakfast had a strong smell of alcohol. When he brought some croissants out on a plate I picked one and decided immediately against eating it; it was cold and so hard that you could have put a window in with it. At this point, with hygiene having become a major concern we decided to cut our losses and checked out a night short. It is a shame, as the people seem well meaning and the place has a real feel of authenticity and a huge potential to become a success. Certainly not enough staff and massive lack of attention to detail and cleanliness. Please get the basics right!
April 2023 by mickmc2
Arrived at the castle to an abysmal welcome by a member of staff who curtly took booking details and then took us to our room, conversation was non-existent until he said "this is your room" and handed over the key, the room was "Sackville" in the servants' quarters, it had a very badly sloping floor and a massive gap under the door which is forgivable as it's a very old castle. The tea tray was fine. Bathroom was surprisingly modern, but the shower was just adequate and shower head kept sliding down so had to jam a towel underneath to secure it. Towels were large and of really good quality. The room was very clean (apart from a thick layer of dust behind the bed head), the bed was very comfortable with a decent warm quilt and I'm sure we would have had a good night's sleep but for the constant sound of water going through the pipes all evening, which was compounded by the noise of what sounded like a booster pump kicking in every few minutes and was extremely loud. By 10.30 pm I'd had enough and went downstairs to complain about the noise but when we got down to reception it was in complete darkness despite a claim of 24 hour service, I rang the bell outside a couple of times to summon someone, but was sorely disappointed after 10 minutes when no-one turned up. There's a notice on the outside door with a number for emergency out of hours service but on ringing it the phone on the reception desk rang, it would have been laughable if I wasn't furious at the time, after waiting a while we went back to the room the noise finally stopped at 12.30 am. We opted for Continental Breakfast in the impressive breakfast room, to find it was very poor; a few cereals, a little fruit and croissants was all, no cooked meats, cheeses or yogurt and had to ask for a pot of tea. By this time we'd had enough so just packed up and left, on checking out there was no-one on reception, in fact we only saw one member of staff while we were there, it was only a one night stop over so we just cut our losses.
