Sparkling days on the lakeside One of the attractions in escaping for a holiday or short break is the chance to leave your everyday routine behind. In South Lakeland for the Holker Hall Festival, we stayed at the four-star Lakeside Hotel on the shore of Windermere near Newby Bridge. If taking a break is about treats, then one of the best is opening the curtains in the morning and looking out on to the lake and Fell Foot opposite. We were lucky with the weather. On days when the sky is clear blue and the water sparkles, you wouldn't want to be anywhere else than the Lake District. The hotel's terrace and gardens are on the waterside. Guests can simply sit outdoors and enjoy the sights and sounds, or take a rowing boat on to the lake. Or the scenery can be viewed from the long conservatory. The hotel is owned by Neville Talbot, who has invested decades of effort in ensuring guests feel they have enjoyed a quality stay. The hotel has four stars but pretentious it is not and comfortably relaxing it is. Staff are genuinely friendly and attention to detail even comes down to a card bearing the local weather forecast which is pushed under the door so that people can plan the day ahead, and the fact that the hotel is the winner of the national Loo of the Year award for its ladies' facilities. The hotel has 17th Century coaching inn origins, which are reflected in the wood-panelled bar. Nearby is the Windermere ferry and cruises departure point and the quaint station for the Haverigg Steam Railway. It was the railways which opened up the Lake District, as they did the coastline of Britain. The hotel was used as a staging point and resting place for travellers, mainly in the cotton trade, en route to local businesses such as the wooden bobbin mills. In 1979, the stable area was converted into extra bedrooms, so that many of the guests enjoy lake or fell views. There are now 77 rooms graded into executive lodge, lakeview and lounge suites, deluxe lakeview, lakeview terrace, country house lakeview, lakeview double or twin, country house garden, premium and courtyard doubles and twins and family rooms. Facilities include a conference centre, 17-metre pool, whirlpool bath, sauna, steam room, gymnasium and spa treatment rooms. The conservatory serves light meals, afternoon tea and drinks throughout the day. John Ruskin's brasserie offers what is described as contemporary dining, with a three-course dinner at £33. The Lakeview restaurant, with two AA rosettes, serves a six-course gourmet menu at £45. Sufficient to whet your appetite is the appetiser I enjoyed - sauté of langoustine and lobster with confit ginger, tomato, herbs and Chablis butter sauce. With so many reasons to stay put, the problem is in pulling yourself away to sample the surrounding countryside and sights. Nearby are Beatrix Potter's Hill Top home, and the charming village of Cartmel with its priory and rural racecourse. And, of course, Holker Hall, which has been the home of the Cavendish family since 1756. It has 23 acres of formal and woodland gardens as well as its parkland and fallow deer. Inside the house, we return to our sheep theme. This comes in the shape of a silver cup for sheep exhibited at the Buenos Aires sheep fair of 1910 by Lord Richard Cavendish. They get everywhere - the sheep that is and not necessarily the Cavendishes. ---------------------------------------------------------
Travelfacts
Nightly bed-and-breakfast rates for rooms at the Lakeside Hotel are premium from £195; lakeview £245; deluxe £265; suites from £295 and family rooms from £280.
Children's rates when sharing any kind of room with a parent are 0-two no charge, three-10 years £20 per night and 11-16 years £30 per night. Family room rates include up to three children and bed and breakfast.
The hotel also offers weekend breaks. The Weekend Plus - any Friday, Saturday or Sunday (two nights, excluding Bank Holidays) - is from £235 per person, inclusive of two nights in a Premium Courtyard room, full breakfast, plus dinner on Friday or Sunday evening in the Lakeview Restaurant or John Ruskin's Brasserie.
--------------------------------------------------------- Journal Reader Offer: Readers can enjoy a short break at Lakeside, including breakfast and use of the Health and Leisure Spa, from £82 per person per night. For a complimentary upgrade to a Country House Lakeview room telephone (015395) 30001 and quote "Journal offer". Rates are based on two sharing a double courtyard room for a minimum of three nights, subject to availability until October 31. Further information on www.LakesideHotel.co.uk | 
