Can 18 million people be wrong?
That's the number of folk each year who visit the Lake District, but — and it pains me to say this, as someone who loves Cumbria and has been many times — I do worry that most of them leave disappointed. A worryingly high percentage of tourists jump on one-day tours from as far afield as London, spending hours on coaches or trains in order to grab a few pictures down by the edge of Lake Windermere, buy a few souvenirs and a cream tea, and then head back down the M6.
It's like — I don't know — flying to Rome, heading directly for the Sistine Chapel, and spending 15 minutes marvelling at one of the Great Works of Mankind before quickly sending a postcard with a novelty Vatican stamp, and then heading back to the airport. Tick-box tourism at its worst.
The unfortunate thing is that the day trippers have given Lake Windermere a reputation as an underwhelming place to visit, with the disappointed hordes leaving lukewarm TripAdvisor reviews after completing their 'Eight Lakes in Half a Day' guided tour. (I wish I was making the 'eight lakes' tour up, but it really does exist. Forget wandering lonely as a cloud, in 2025 a visit to the Lake District only counts if you speed past Grasmere and Ullswater at 60mph en route to the next souvenir shop.)
The point I'm clumsily making here is that Lake Windermere is still a good place to visit. You just have to do it right, and Storrs Hall is about as a good a way to see it as anywhere I've ever come across. Built in the dying years of the 18th century, it owes its existence to Sir John Legard, a wealthy Yorkshire land owner based in Ganton who crossed the Pennines in search of a place to re-create the sort of Swiss waterside villa he and his wife had once lived in on Lake Geneva.
The spot he picked is breathtaking, arguably the best on the lake, jutting out on its own little headland, secluded and unspoilt despite being just a few minutes from Bowness, which is one of the busiest tourist spots in Britain.
The Georgian Society (the PDF link is here) published a fascinating history of Legard and Storrs Hall, but the upshot is that he hired an unknown architect to build the wonderfully grand home you see on these pages. Legard and his wife sadly had no children, and after his death the place ended up in the hands of a wine merchant called David Pike Watts, who ended up welcoming a quite stupendous roster of great artists and writers: Wordsworth and Coleridge both came to stay, as did John Constable, who was a nephew of Watts.
The architectural highlight of Storrs Hall is the dome with its stained glass.
Today you don't have to be a world-famous artist or poet with a global reputation to visit: Storrs Hall has been a hotel since 1890, and since 1997 has been owned by the Hindle family, who have updated the place without taking anything away from its old charm. The bar and bedrooms might have a distinctly modern sheen, but many of the hotel's communal areas have been treated with a very light touch. There are rough edges which you'll choose to see either as faults, or part of the Georgian charm.
Either way, as you enjoy breakfast looking out over the lawns, or take a turn through the woods and round the water's edge to the Temple of Heroes, you'll be enjoying an experience that Legard and his wife would recognise instantly if they were somehow resurrected to drop in. Let's just hope they don't do so on a day trip from London.
The rooms
Storrs Hall feels like a very big house, but it's a modestly-sized hotel: there are 36 rooms, spanning everything from traditional rooms in the main house to the 'Lakeside Hot Tub Suites', which might score lower (okay, zero) for traditional charm, but have great views. And hot tubs, of course.
Pick of these newer options is The Boathouse, which has its own private terrace, private parking and even a private jetty should you wish to come and go by boat. This is a completely self-contained escape, where you can have breakfast in bed delivered from the main hotel, then spend the rest of the day lounging beside the water, enjoying the views.
The Boathouse at Storrs Hall.
Eating and drinking
The Lake Edge Restaurant, open only on Friday and Saturday evenings, is a traditional place to eat in the charming old dining room, with high ceilings, huge windows and great views. (You'll also get breakfast here.) The restaurant serves an £85 fixed price menu of classic dishes sourced from the the local area: the majority of the produce used comes from within 15 miles, while the seafood comes in from Morecambe Bay.
The locally-sourced food is very good indeed.
There's also the Bistro, decorated in more modern, eye-catching hues, more child-friendly, and an easy-going place for everything from bowls of soup or cheese toasties to Cumbrian lamb or a Chateaubriand steak. Beyond mealtimes, Storrs Hall also does afternoon tea, which you can have out in the garden if the weather plays ball.
A 21st century vibe in the Bistro
How they'll keep you busy
The hotel is a base in which to relax, unwind and recharge; the natural playground that is the Lake District is at your feet. That might mean board games in the drawing room, or it might mean heading for the hills. You can walk right out of the front door and up into the surrounding mountains, take a boat tour on the lake, or even indulge in some wild swimming (make sure you check with the staff for safe areas away from boat traffic).
Frankly, you could also quite happily just potter in the grounds, as was the creator's original intention — and don't miss wandering through the grounds to the Temple of Heroes, built right out into the water, where the likes of Nelson are remembered.
What else to do while you're there
Have you heard that you can visit eight lakes in an afternoon? Okay, only joking... the joy of the Lake District is taking your time, indulging your passions. The villages of Ambleside and Bowness heave with tourists (that's not to say that they don't have their charms), but it's incredibly easy to find some space and time of your own, even around Windermere, but in particular at the smaller lakes away from the main roads through the area.
For energetic, outdoorsy types, mountain biking, 4x4 driving, canoeing and canyoning are all things the Storrs Hall team can point you towards. And for true daredevils, something called the 'Via Ferrata Xtreme' will guide you on an utterly terrifying-looking adventure in the Holister Pass. It involves rickety rope bridges, scaling mountains and traversing cliff faces. You have been warned...
Who is it for?
Anyone, and everyone, who thinks the Lake District is worth more than a day trip.
What give it the 'wow' factor
Location, location, location. Legard's aim was to find the most beautiful spot on Windermere. It's hard to argue that he didn't succeed.
The one thing we'd change
I'd love to have had a few more options for pottering and enjoying the hotel — board games in the lounge are great, but it's the kind of place where a really good games room or a putting green would make it even better.
Insider tip
The standard room rates are reasonable, but the hotel often runs offers — particularly in low season — for extra nights, inclusive dinners and so on. And if you've a bigger occasion in mind, Storrs Hall offers 'proposal' packages to help you pop the question in style.
Storrs Hall, Bowness-on-Windermere — standard room rates from £196. See the Storrs Hall website for more details and booking.
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