The Samling
The Lake District is world renowned for its cinematic beauty, and after five hours in the car, even the driveway leading up to The Samling hotel took my breath away.
Nestled in a stunning Lakeland fellside looking out over Windermere, a patchwork of rolling green fields, wriggling dry stone walls and a smattering of plump sheep all lead up to the picture-perfect whitewashed Gothic-Revival house and its sleek yet sensitive glass-walled extension.
Built in the early 1780s and a hotel since 2002, The Samling (which means ‘a gathering’ in Old Cumbrian) sits amongst 67 acres of unspoilt and utterly romantic countryside - Wordsworth himself once had a romantic dalliance by the hotel’s stream. Roses clamber around stone doorways; paths and bridges pass through cascading ornamental water gardens; wildflower meadows and wild woodlands are bursting with wildlife and plant species; a productive vegetable garden, orchard, beehives and more, plus an array of striking sculptures and some very sweet Shetland ponies. Today, the boutique hotel has just 12 bedrooms and suites, and yet there is so much space…
Review continued here. Published October 2023 on Essential Surrey & SW London
