Big call: the Langdale Valley might just be the nicest bit of the Lake District. Remote enough to feel otherworldly, but human and welcoming in a way that makes any weekend break there a memorable experience. The Langdale Hotel, and its super-special Brimstone bit, is an absolutely ideal base of operations for it.
The Langdale Hotel & Spa is a few different things. A brilliant hotel. A load of very smart self-catering chalets, cottages and lodges. A posh spa. And a kind of super-duper, elite hotel called Brimstone, contained within the same development. The whole thing’s been pulled off extremely well. Much of what you’ll find there is made with locally sourced materials, which - in less capable hands - might sound like a kind of typical bit of meaningless eco-twaddle, but here you can genuinely feel it. Yes it’s slick, yes it’s flash, yes it’s upmarket. But Brimstone, and the surrounding development, do feel of the area, thanks mainly to the effortless integration of locally sourced timber, glass and the all-important black slate.
A fine breakfast is served at Stove, the hotel’s friendly and welcoming restaurant, every morning. Dinner’s a fairly casual affair, and if you feel like mixing things up, the town of Ambleside is only a short taxi ride away (and the excellent food of the Wainwright’s Inn is even closer). It’s the accommodation and the spa that are the real draws here though. With a totally open balcony that looked out over the development’s woodland, a free-standing bath and a ridiculously large comfortable bed, our room was hard to say goodbye to at the end of our stay. Likewise, the spa, which is built on the edge of a large, tranquil pond, was quite the tonic after whole days spent schlepping up and down Pike of Blisco.
Time Out tip
Brimstone’s sizeable spa really is impressive, and you’d be absolutely kicking yourself if you somehow missed it. So do yourself a favour and book yourself a slot well ahead of time.