April 2025 by Jane Stansfield
Didn?t stay here attend for a conference. Staff were friendly and helpful. Food was good. Car park seemed small for what the hotel offers.
April 2025 by Katie Thomas
This hotel is not worth the money. When you?re paying £300 per night you expect a lot better!! When we arrived I actually thought we?d got the wrong hotel as it looking nothing like the photos on the website. It didn?t look great from the outside.
We booked a family suite, a suite it was not! You couldn?t move in the room it was small. There were no curtains just blinds so the light shone through the sides in the morning. The room was also very overlooked, the room was basically in the car park.
Check-in took 20 minutes and after a 3 hour drive with 2 children this was not ideal. When we arrived we were told our breakfast slot was 10.15am which was too late for us as we had to be at my son?s football match nearby at 10am. We were told the only other slot was 7.45am which meant we had to set our alarms (which you shouldn?t have to do when staying away) and we couldn?t use gym and pool in the morning.
There was no room in the restaurant that evening so we asked for a recommendation for family, friendly restaurant. Where they recommended was not family friendly, the food was awful (worst we?ve ever had) and to top it off my husband got food poisoning when meant he was ill all through the night and the following day and couldn?t even make it to breakfast.
When I addressed my concerns to the hotel, they took a week to reply and were not helpful at all, in fact they tried pushing the blame on me. DISGUSTING!!
We stay in a lot of hotels and this was 100% not worth £300 a night. If it was half that price it would be reasonably priced but no where near £300! Don?t waste your money, I?m confident you can stay somewhere a lot better for the same price or lower.
April 2025 by Sara Watson
This hotel is not the prettiest from the outside, however inside is a different story. It's very welcoming, lovely reception / bar with a roaring fire. All staff were really helpful. Pool was great but very busy at certain times so lost its spa feel and was more like the local leisure centre. Restaurant was lovely, great food and staff couldn't do enough for you (particularly Amy, thank you!). Breakfast was delicious, self-serve and lots of choice.
We stayed on our way up to Scotland and then again on the way back down 6 nights later. The first room we had (family suite) was disappointing, despite apparently being recently refurbished. The shower tray didn't empty and I had to remove the trap (which was filthy and not a pleasant experience) to get the water to drain away, otherwise with 3 of us showering we'd have flooded the bathroom. The large double bed is really not large and the skirting around the bed was falling off (several stubbed toes). When we returned, we had the same type of room but opposite and all was fine. However, the following morning a member of staff let themselves into our room while we were getting dressed for breakfast. Not ideal and we did report it to reception. I was disappointed that the hotel didn't follow this up and get in touch with us as promised.
On the whole the hotel is the ideal place for a stop off, being so close to the M6. However, the 2 nights accommodation / breakfast cost us almost £600, plus 2 meals in the restaurant which came in at pushing £200, despite not being extravagant with choices. Sadly, I don't feel the experience was worth that much money on this occasion.
March 2025 by Dr Ice
Room comfortable but disappointed to have a shower over a bath
March 2025 by Mark Galley
First time stay at North Lakes and I would certainly recommend if you are considering (More family or group but maybe not as a couple).
Breakfast was plentiful and service was great (Could improve coffee).
Gym facilities were excellent, swimming pool was great (but a little on the cold side), Sauna and Steam room were all good.
We travelled as a family of 4 and the room was perfect for us with bunk beds for the kids. The addition of cookies on named plates was a great touch.
The location of hotel is idea, just off M6 and then only a 15-20 drive to Pooleybridge/Ullswater.
90 min drive from Whitley Bay.
Highly recommend and would certainly visit again. Thanks
March 2025 by Elaine
Enjoyable stay.
Hotel is in great location for our needs.
Nice pool area
Room a little tired and could do with a refresh. Corridor was a bit noisy with doors banging.
Despite this, I would definitely come back. Staff were lovely.
March 2025 by Billie McNeill
It?s a beautiful hotel BUT seems to attract quite an abrasive posh, entitled clientele which dampens the atmosphere somewhat.
February 2025 by Alan Dalrymple
Recently stayed for a couples experience, supposed to be £159 for double room breakfast and £30 each towards evening meal was charged £244?!! Paid extra £70 towards meal. Although lovely food not worth £130!! Very noisy restaurant with people shouting down their table! No background music but wouldn't have heard it anyway. Pool was noisy and full of kids, couldn't go in jacuzzi either full of kids, saunas were in separate changing areas for male and female?? Couples weekend?? No seats available around pool either! Nothing relaxing about it!! My wife also arrived early for a back, neck massage and facial- gift from our son and daughter. No robe offered on entering and after treatment asked if she'd like to relax in quiet area, fully clothed with boots on?!! Treatment was supposed to be 90 minutes, only lasted about 75 minutes . It should not be advertised as a relaxing couples stay. My wiffe arrived home more stressed than when we arrived. Great for families but not couples.
February 2025 by Laura Robson
Booked this stay for a relaxing spa break, went down to the spa it was like the public swimming pool screaming children splashing around a full family and children in the jacuzzi (which I was under the impression was not allowed due to the heat) no where to sit as the spa area was quite small and due to big families being there it was full therefore we had to put our towel and robes on the floor as there was no hanging space
We returned to the spa after family time was over (which we weren?t aware was a thing until we got there as this isn?t clear on the website) and the spa was very busy as all the couples had the same idea and didnt want to be around the screaming children and families
We went up to our room after the evening meal and at midnight there were children running up and down the corridor screaming
TV had limited channels and no option for Netflix there was a screen mirroring option which doesn?t work and after speaking to staff at reception was advised it is an option on the TV but you can?t actually do this as it doesn?t work?
Overall this was meant to be a relaxing spa break and we would of been more relaxed at home!
February 2025 by Steven Prescott8
Stayed here several times over the years , I wouldn't say it's 4* more like 2.5* trying to be a three . Changed it name a few years again but haven't upped there game . Food and drink is over priced and if you haven't booked with them directly and have an issue with anything they are just not interested.
You are told what time you have to eat , no choice in that , reception can't book a meal for you . Reception say they would get back to you and they don't, so don't hold your breath .
Large reception area with bar but very little seating area to enjoy the space .
If there's a wedding on when you vist .... well just forget it
February 2025 by Kath Parker
Not the best location, off a busy Motorway in the middle of a housing estate
Food and drinks: Restaurant food was lovely overall, the fish and chips were poor as the fish was tasteless, the chipolata sausage starter was burnt, this was room service
February 2025 by Stefan Lawrence
Overall, the hotel lacks a clear identity. By trying to appeal to too many different groups?families, couples, dog lovers, and spa-goers?it risks disappointment. If it had been advertised as a family-friendly hotel with a pool, sauna, and hot tub, I wouldn?t have been put off booking (or as a business traveller), but I would have arrived with much clearer expectations. While I?ve stayed in worse places, I'd try other options if I was back in the area.
Here's why:
We booked this spa hotel last minute for a couple?s NYE getaway but were immediately disappointed to find that the advertised à la carte restaurant was unavailable, replaced by an £85 buffet. After questioning what we were getting for the price, staff eventually agreed to reduce the rate and reassured us the buffet would be a ?lavish seafood buffet? with ?carved meats.? When I specifically asked if ?carved meats? meant a carvery, I was told, "no".
Upon arrival for dinner, the canapés and champagne were a nice touch, and the service was friendly. However, the ?carved meats? did indeed turn out to be a carvery. To be fair, it was a very good carvery, with plenty of meat and all the trimmings, but calling it anything else felt unnecessarily patronising. If it?s a carvery, just call it a carvery.
Similarly, the seafood buffet was not ?lavish.? For that description, I would expect premium options like lobster, but instead, it consisted of mussels, prawns in pink sauce, and minced crab meat. While the seafood was nice, it didn?t match the premium experience we were led to expect before the rate reduction. The addition of a singer and attentive service was a pleasant touch, but the experience still wasn?t worth £85, even with a NYE premium. As it was, the reduced rate felt fair, given drinks weren?t included.
Even at the reduced rate, having dogs near the dining area barking during NYE dinner felt inappropriate. We hadn?t realised the hotel was dog-friendly when booking, partly because I?ve never known a spa hotel to allow dogs, so I hadn?t thought to check. While this is great for dog lovers, hearing barking from rooms throughout the stay was a little odd and detracted from the atmosphere.
The ?spa? was another over-promise. It?s essentially a family swimming pool area with a small sauna, steam room, and hot tub. While this setup might appeal to families, it?s far from the spa retreat I had envisioned. Treatments were available, though we didn?t try them, so I can?t comment.
The room itself was modern, spacious and well-decorated, with thoughtful touches like a Nespresso machine. However, a faint chlorine smell lingered in the room from the moment we opened the door, which wasn?t ideal.
On the day of check-out, we decided to take our bags to the car before sitting for breakfast to save us going back to the room, before leaving. Just as we were walking back in to the hotel entrance, a staff member approached us, evidently checking to see if we were leaving without settling our bill. He told us we needed to pay before leaving, despite it being blatantly obvious we were returning back inside, to have breakfast and settle up. This unnecessary and awkward encounter just summed up our stay.
On a positive note, breakfast was reasonable, and the staff were by and large friendly and accommodating.
February 2025 by Lisa Christer
The rooms are very dated and shabby, and furniture needs replacing the sofa to sit on as hard as rock. Bathroom chipped toilet bowl so unhygienic mould on shower curtain. Swimming pool very small get filled very quickly steps every where if you have a wheel chair you would struggle. The good point is that the food was excellent. I rate the accommodation 2 *
February 2025 by Keeley Scott
We booked a weekend stay here, from the outside and entrance it looks lovely however once you venture further in it's not the best, our room was quite dirty, had stains on the walls, ive stayed in better travellodge rooms for less money, we only stayed for 1 night and left to go home, upon arrival they take a £200 payment incase you charge anything to your room but we didn't use it and it took numerous phone calls and almost 1 month to get the money back, the food was nice but massively over priced, we paid for spa passes but they only gain you entry and swim, to get massages etc it costs an absolute fortune, it's definitely not worth the star grading it has, will not stay here again
January 2025 by Amanda Adams
Booked the afternoon tea which was lovely. We were looked after when we first were seated then we were just left. Our table was not cleared when we had finished. We were offered more drinks and the previous ones were just left on the table. It was also very cold in the room and we sat with coats wrapped around us ?
