London - Gilpin Lake House does stately retreat very nicely: drawing room, library, croquet lawn and a 1920s rowing boat moored at the edge of the private lake, Knipe Tarn. Not bad for a former fishing lodge.
Even better, it’s just a skip from the pools and fells of the southern Lake District and surrounded by 100 acres of ferny woodland. Owned by the Cunliffes since 1919 — four years after Beatrix Potter made nearby Hill Top her home — Gilpin is still run by two generations of the family.
The Lake House was converted in 2010 into a boutique hotel with six double rooms, a handful of staff and a family of wild rabbits. It’s tranquil — you can go hours without seeing another soul. But in the evening, guests are chauffeured down the road to the main hotel, Gilpin Lodge, for dinner and cocktails.
The Lodge attracts a stylish clientele including DJ Chris Evans. With its four dining areas, sumptuous lounge and bar, it’s glitzy compared to the Lake House. But the food (cauliflower cheese risotto and giant steaks from the grill) is pure comfort.
Back at the lodge, I continue chasing serenity at the new spa. This Scandi-inspired log cabin on stilts offers a British take on pampering. The ‘Jetty Spa Trail,’ which is for couples and designed to incorporate the woodland surrounds, begins with an aromatherapy session. We sniff our way through various notes and these scents are made into products to take home.
Then it’s off to the indoor pool for a swim and a sweat session in the salt snug (a very briny sauna), followed by a massage-for-two in the spa’s symmetrical treatment room, overlooking the lake.
On a sunny day it’s wonderfully peaceful. Dragonflies hover and lilypads float by. In winter, the therapists stoke the wood-burner and pile on faux fur heated blankets. Once your knots have been loosened, it’s time to pad through the trees to the jetty to drink tea and commune with nature. So soothing is it, finding something to lament becomes a sport. “I’ve spilt Champagne in the Jacuzzi,” I shriek.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have another pair of binoculars by the jetty?” we muse. But the truth is, there is no reason at all to grumble at the Gilpin.
TRAVEL FACTS
The Gilpin Lake House (01539 4 88818, thegilpin.co.uk) offers suites from £485 per room per night including five-course dinner, full English breakfast and VAT, plus complimentary chauffeur to and from Gilpin Hotel for dinner, based on two sharing. The ‘Jetty Spa Trail’ is exclusive to guests staying at Gilpin Lake House and costs £300 (about R5 400) for two people. - Daily Mail