Set on high ground overlooking Lake Windermere, the hotel makes the best of its superb views over lake and grounds. Try to make a point of going there when spring turns the gardens into a riot of colour as azaleas take over. Diana Kennedy produces a menu that owes its inspiration to the English tradition at its best, which may account for the regular clientele who keep on coming back for more.

Expect tian of avocado, crab and mixed salad with chive vinaigrette or one of their excellent homemade soups, perhaps tomato, apple and celery. A seared salmon fillet with buttered tagliatelle and prawns or roast loin of lamb with honeyed shallots generally invokes local produce, and a Lancaster lemon tart or raspberry, whisky and caramel syllabub may well arrive as dusk settles over the distant mountains. An agreeable touch is the local Kendal mint cake that comes with the coffee.

There is a very credible wine list.