we ate at the Dove and Olive Bistro,which is part of the Wordsworth hotel and is primarily for non residents.It has its own bar area to which you are taken for pre-dinner drinks before your meal.
The hostess and waiter were very professional and looked after us from the moment we arrived.
The menu was not very complicated,but catered for everyone.Our meal was delicious and the homemade soup was to die for!.Everything was made from fresh with local produce.
I would recommend the Bistro highly for anyone staying in Grasmere,and the prices were very reasonable for such a tourist area.
We will definitely be going again when we go back in October.
Please try it,you will not be disappointed!.
JenP
Quite simply, the Wordsworth Hotel was the most disappointing hotel experience ever.
We’ve stayed in Grasmere lots of times, at various different hotels, B&Bs or rental cottages but we’d always fancied trying the Wordsworth. The occasion was my Dad’s 80th birthday.
The worst thing was the service, but the rooms weren’t much better.
At dinner, it took hours to get everyone served - it was like something from Gordon’s Kitchen Nightmares. The food wasn’t that great - over-fancy and way overpriced. We’d expected good, wholesome Cumbrian fare. My mother ordered steak and her face was something to behold when three tiny pieces of meat in a fancy sauce arrived. It would have been funny if it hadn’t been a very special family event getting ruined. And if the whole thing hadn’t been costing an arm and a leg. They couldn’t even manage to serve breakfast promptly and efficiently. We had to ask for everything at least 3 times: tea, toast and so on.
The rooms were really dingy and in need of a good lick of paint. We had blood-stained wallpaper in ours. My sister and her boyfriend had a shower that didn’t work and - worse still - a toilet that didn’t flush. There were no tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms.
The pool was grubby too. It had that uncared for feel about it. There were two unwanted, shabby old sofas in one corner. The Jacuzzi was stone cold despite us and other guests complaining to the management. In the gym, the rowing machine didn’t work either.
We did complain several times whilst there - as did other guests. In fact, I sat in reception for ten minutes and witnessed three different sets of guests complaining about various things. My mother wrote to the hotel in September, immediately after our stay. My mother has phoned the Wordsworth several times to ask why they have not had the courtesy to reply. It’s now over two months later and we haven’t heard a word.
I really wouldn’t recommend this hotel. There are some lovely hotels in Grasmere, many cheaper than this one but with a much higher standard of accommodation, food and service.
