Review: Lakeside Hotel & Spa, Lake Windermere

I recently went to the beautiful Lake district with family and had a fantastic time, so I thought I would review the hotel we stayed at which is the Lakeside hotel & Spa here on my blog! We have been going to the Lake District for short weekend breaks for a while now, we try to go once a year and we always stay at the same hotel it is superb!

History: The hotel is set on the southern shores of Lake Windermere and it was originally a 17th Century Coaching Inn. In 1979 the stable block was converted into additional bedrooms, so that many of the hotel’s accommodation overlooks the Lake.

On Arrival: You park your car outside reception and they will park your car for you and collect your luggage to take to your room which a member of staff will show you to.

Bedrooms: The hotel has 75 bedrooms with lake or garden views. The bedrooms are inviting, cosy and traditional but with some contemporary design features. We stayed in the Graithwaite suite which is a double room on the ground floor, each room has an en-suite. There are lovely seating areas near the windows so you can enjoy your cup of tea with a wonderful view. As we were on the ground floor the doors open out to your own patio area. They provide bottles of water, tea, coffee and biscuits in each room. The beds are very comfy and there are plenty of pillows and cushions. The only thing that wasn’t so great was the Wi-Fi in my room as it didn’t work all the time.

Bathrooms: The bathrooms have great mirrors with good lighting, large sinks with marble counter tops and either a walk in shower or bath. We were provided with luxurious Aveda and Gilchrist and Soames products. The face towels, hand towels and bath towels were so fluffy and soft and you are also provided with bathrobes and slippers.

Spa: In the Spa area there is a pool, steam room, sauna, jacuzzi, a well equipped gym, a lounge area and some treatment rooms. The Changing rooms have soft towels, lockers to put your belongings in, hair-dryers and lovely showers with Molten Brown shampoo and shower gel. Lakeside is the only Aveda destination spa in England and they sell a wide range of Aveda products too. I had a facial treatment while I was there and it was perfect, the treatment room was very serene, there were candles lit and relaxing music playing in the background. Firstly they ask you to choose which scented oil you prefer, I chose the lavender one. They start off the treatment with a foot cleanse and scrub and then give you time to get ready for your facial. The facial was fantastic my skin felt so smooth and soft afterwards and it did help reduce some acne spots. They also give you a soothing head massage to help you fully unwind.

The Conservatory: Here you can have lunch, afternoon tea and drinks. There is a delightful view of the lake and the conservatory is very light and airy. I had a tomato, buffalo mozzerella and pesto panini for lunch and it was served with salad and hand-cut chips it was so tasty. 

The Library: Round the corner from the conservatory is a small library room with comfy sofas and pretty stained glass windows. It’s very peaceful in there and they had some lovely floral arrangements on the tables.

John Ruskin’s Brasserie & Bar: This restaurant is more informal and the service was excellent! Breakfast is also served here and in the Lakeview restaurant. The food was full of flavour and there was lots to choose from for breakfast and dinner. I loved the dark chocolate soufflé dessert so much I had it twice!

Lakeview restaurant: This restaurant is more of a fine dining experience, each table is candlelit and is set to perfection! We were disappointed that they were no longer serving the 7 course meal but every meal we had was exquisite so that definitely made up for it. Their cheese soufflé was to die for, as you can tell I do love a good soufflé and this one was heavenly! Their wine list was very extensive with more than 200 wines from all over the world. They also have some very expensive and exquisite wines.

Overall, I love this hotel and hope to visit again soon! I love the Lake District it’s a great place to escape and to forget about all your worries. I hope you enjoyed this review and if you are going to the Lake District definitely check out the Lakeside Hotel!

 

Review: June Birchbox ♥

I absolutely loved this month’s Birchbox especially the box design, it is so pretty! This month Birchbox collaborated with French Sole to bring us these beautifully designed boxes and we were faced with a decision to make on which one we wanted. Here are some photos of the one I chose:

In this months box there were 7 items in total –

• COWSHED blissful body lotion – Out of all the products this month this was my favourite. I had heard of this brand before but never tried any of their products so it was a nice surprise to receive this one. This lotion smells amazing! It reminded me of sweets at first but once you rub it in the essential oil scents emerge of Ylang Ylang, Moroccan rose and lavender. The texture of the lotion is really lovely it absorbs into the skin quickly and doesn’t leave a greasy or sticky residue.

• Cynthia Rowley lip stain – I love the design of the tube it’s really cool but that’s all I liked about this one. The texture of this product is quite odd for a lip stain as it’s quite thick and I find that the colour doesn’t last as long as some lip stains I have tried. It isn’t an awful product just needs a few tweaks!

• Penhaligon’s Iris Prima Eau de Parfum – This fragrance was inspired by a night at the English national ballet. I think this one is a love or hate kind of perfume and I do like this one. It has quite a deep floral scent and is also musky, it isn’t as feminine as I expected it to be I feel like a certain scent in this perfume overpowers the others perhaps it’s the sandalwood. I think it works well as an evening fragrance though.

• HIP ultra shine shampoo – I do love the peppermint and eucalyptus scent of this shampoo it’s really lovely and fresh and leaves your hair feeling squeaky clean. However I didn’t find that it made my hair look any brighter than usual and this was what the product promises. Overall I would use the shampoo again anyway as I loved the scent and how it makes your hair feel.

• STYLONDON metallic tattoos – These look so pretty, I haven’t had a chance to use these yet but I am very excited to as I have seen them around on Instagram and they look really cool. These are a great alternative to a permanent tattoo as you can wear them once and try another pattern next time, no commitments necessary!

• Premae Mild Pro Dermabrasion – I love this scrub it’s really creamy and it contains olive granules which smooth the skin and leave it feeling really soft too. This is a great product to use a couple of times a week! You can use it as a body or face scrub, I have been using it on my face as it’s nice and gentle. This scrub is not too abrasive like some face scrubs out there.

• French sole shoe bag – I love that we got to choose the design of our box and shoe bag that we received this month so obviously I was very happy with mine, if I’m being picky it could have been a tad larger but other than that I have no negative things to say about this one it’s great!

Thanks for reading

♥