Windermere Accommodation
Windermere is the name for the town which hosts the only national railway line into the English Lake District. It is also the name for the lake closest to it: Windermere. The phrase, ‘Windermere accommodation’, is often used generically to encompass accommodation in Windermere and accommodation in Bowness-on-Windermere. This is because Windermere is a better-known town due to the fact that it shares the name with England’s largest natural lake and also plays host to Windermere Railway Station.
Most people think of Windermere as being synonymous with the Lake District. Thus, when someone begins a search for ‘Lake District breaks’ and searches for ‘Lake District hotels’, more often than not there will also be accompanying searches for ‘hotels in Windermere’ or ‘Windermere accommodation’. Windermere is England’s largest natural lake, and Beatrix Potter, one of the Lake District’s best-loved writers, lived near the lake at Hill Top, Near Sawrey. Her fame is worldwide; and the feature-length blockbuster film, ‘Miss Potter’, screened in 2006, has only increased the popularity of her oft-visited home and its surrounding landscapes.
Windermere town itself is located inland from the lake, about 1.5 miles from the shores of Windermere, and holiday makers staying in Windermere town can often be seen traipsing the main Lake Road or A591 between Windermere town and Bowness-on-Windermere, which sits on the shores of the lake. If all this sounds rather confusing, then let me explain that Windermere town is probably more administrative in character, with its shops, restaurants, banks, post office and other facilities than Bowness-on-Windermere, with its local visitor attractions, and larger complement of restaurants, shops, bank, post office, many other amenities, and lake, of course.
Both Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere are lived in year round: they are not resorts that empty in wintertime. However, guests staying in Windermere accommodation do have to make that 1.5 mile trek to Bowness-on-Windermere if they wish to access trips on the Windermere steamers, visit The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, the Steamboat Museum, the Old Laundry Theatre, or walk The Dales Way footpath towards three viewpoints with far-reaching panoramic vistas of the Lake and its surrounding fells and mountains. The Dales Way is a long distance walking route between Ilkley in the Yorkshire Dales and Bowness-on-Windermere in the Lake District National Park. Blenheim Lodge Bed and Breakfast is next to The Dales Way, a literal minute’s stroll from the front door.
For a fun Lake District break close to Lake Windermere, why not consider accommodation in Bowness-on-Windermere? Bowness-on-Windermere, although an older settlement than Windermere, is more often considered the satellite village to Birthwaite, Windermere,’s old name before its connection to the Kendal and Windermere Railway. In fact, the earliest signs of civilised habitation in Bowness-on-Windermere predate 1415, when the lives of local communities clustered around the parish church during the late medieval period. Birthwaite was, on the other hand, originally a small hamlet, which only started to grow as the newly renamed Windermere with the arrival of the mainline railway in 1847. With the railway line in place, both Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere, being the villages closest to the beautiful retreat of Lake Windermere, started to develop quickly.
The proposal to extend a mainline rail connection to the Lake District was not welcomed by all. In 1810, William Wordsworth, possibly the Lake District’s most famous son, published his Guide to the Lakes in order to inform and guide any potential visitor’s appreciation of the scenic landscapes therein. The Guide was reworked and republished several times, including a definitive fifth edition in 1835, some years before the advent of the railway in Windermere. Wordsworth was a vociferous opponent of the railway line, fearing that it would generate more (unappreciative) visitors to his precious Lake District. The poet, of course, was correct. Easy access to the Lakes brought in wealthy northern Victorian industrialists and other people of means seeking holidays in scenic surroundings, and many built second homes here. Many of these holiday homes have now become popular Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere guest houses offering bed and breakfast accommodation, of which Blenheim Lodge is one.
Most people equate serviced accommodation with hotel accommodation, and this perception carries through to the public’s understanding of the words ‘hotel’ and ‘Windermere’ when searching for Lake District breaks in this popular area. The towns of Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere are often confused as being one entity by visitors who do not know the area. As a result, for many people, the phrase, ‘hotels in Windermere’, will therefore include all manner of serviced accommodation in Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere. In actual fact, Bowness-on-Windermere and Windermere have each their own individual characters and separate town centres.
Bowness-on-Windermere is a central hub on Lake Windermere, due in no small part to Windermere Lake Cruises, which works busily to pick up and drop off passengers in ferries that ply the Lake year round. The attraction of these cruises as well as the pretty bustling town of Bowness-on-Windermere have led to a plethora of hotels in Bowness-on-Windermere, bed and breakfasts in Bowness-on-Windermere, and guest houses in Bowness-on-Windermere. Blenheim Lodge is one such bed and breakfast guest house in Bowness-on-Windermere and offers Lake District bed and breakfast accommodation.
It is important to realise that staying in accommodation in Bowness-on-Windermere is no guarantee that guests will enjoy a view of Lake Windermere from their rooms, or, indeed, any views at all. There are probably no more than a couple handfuls of letting accommodation options in this lakeside town which offer such either lake or countryside views. Blenheim Lodge Guest House is unique in that practically all its rooms are lake-facing and stunning views of Lake Windermere can be enjoyed from ten of its 11 bedrooms. One bedroom enjoys tranquil views of the countryside behind the guest house. For guests who are searching for serviced bed and breakfast guest house accommodation in Bowness-on-Windermere, friendly Blenheim Lodge offers a comfortable and relaxing place to stay that is only a 5-minute walk to the centre of Bowness-on-Windermere, Lake Windermere and the pier, and a minute’s walk to acres of protected National Trust fields and woodlands.
The fact that Blenheim Lodge offers bed and breakfast accommodation in Bowness-on-Windermere, rather than Windermere, is a bonus for guests who wish to be near Lake Windermere. In terms of the differences between Blenheim Lodge and hotels in Windermere or hotels in Bowness-on-Windermere, it is worth noting that Blenheim Lodge is a small establishment offering a personalised service to staying guests, who are encouraged to feel at home in what was once a Victorian gentleman’s wonderful holiday residence. However, what Blenheim Lodge cannot offer are hotel-style rooms, restaurant, bars, in-room meal services, and on-site leisure facilities. For guests who are looking for a quiet getaway and want a homely place in a traditional Lake District bed and breakfast by Lake Windermere, Blenheim Lodge offers an ideal base for a relaxing Lake District break. All the rooms at Blenheim Lodge are unique in style and character, and guests may pick the ones which suit them best.
Blenheim Lodge is often referred to as a hotel in Windermere, despite the fact that it is graded as a guesthouse in Bowness-on-Windermere. However, Blenheim Lodge offers a number of hotel-style facilities, which are enumerated below:
- Bed and breakfast accommodation with private/en-suite facilities, where a hot cooked breakfast and other choices are included in the price of accommodation unlike some hotel packages
- Comfortable guest lounge with Lake views and TV
- Two free fishing permits on a first come first served basis
- Private car park on site
- Help with booking tours, dinner reservations, local activities, taxis, transfers, etc.
- Creating tailor-made holiday packages for guests in respect of vouchers, activity breaks, romantic getaways, and other special occasions
Blenheim Lodge is a Bowness-on-Windermere guest house with a difference. Unlike many of the large guest houses situated on the busy main thoroughfares of Bowness-on-Windermere, Blenheim Lodge is hidden away, perched atop a secluded hillside, and nestles into the pretty fell-side woodlands and fields of adjoining National Trust land. The majority of Bowness-on-Windermere guest houses do not offer any views of Lake Windermere; Blenheim Lodge, however, has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to providing guests with stunning views of its surrounding scenic landscapes, including Lake Windermere and its surrounding fells. As Blenheim Lodge Guest House is actually situated atop one of the side streets of Bowness-on-Windermere, it only takes 5 minutes to walk to the town centre despite its semi-rural location. Guests escaping to Blenheim Lodge will also find themselves leaving behind the noise of traffic, crowds and late night revelers.
If you are looking for a Bowness-on-Windermere bed and breakfast guest house, Blenheim Lodge is remarkably well situated both in terms of making a getaway ‘from it all’ and the attendant quest for peace and quiet to relax from the usual stresses and busyness of daily life. A farm gate only a minute’s stroll from Blenheim Lodge, gives access to pretty walks – including The Dales Way – to three viewpoints that encompass panoramic and 360-dgree views of Lake Windermere and its surrounding mountains and fells. Enjoy the stunning views away from the madding crowds. Meanwhile, the location of this Bowness-on-Windermere guest house offers the refreshing tranquility that comes from being hidden away from the main roads, accompanied by a peaceful stillness for a good night’s sleep, only to awake gently in the morning to the trill of birdsong. It really is the best of both worlds!