Riverside Hotel Kendal

My wife and I stayed just the one night, 31st July on our way up to Scotland. Our family room was spacious and immaculate, overlooking the river. The staff were, without exception, very helpful and friendly. We were particularly impressed with and grateful to Brandon, who, both in the restaurant bar in the evening and at our dog friendly breakfast was a true credit to the hotel. Please give him a pay rise, staff like this are so hard to find in this day and age, don’t let him go! All in all, a great hotel and perfect stopping place for long distance travellers - SIX STARS! Chris and Julia Willey, Taunton

We really wanted to enjoy our stay at The Riverside in Kendal, especially given the warm welcome we received and the beautiful location overlooking the river which was lovely for a stop over after a long drive. The bar area was stylish and comfortable, and the view of the river from our room was genuinely lovely.||Unfortunately, the positives stopped there. The room itself was a real letdown in terms of cleanliness and comfort. There was a suspiciously stained cushion on the bed on arrival, this was punted straight away, if only I could’ve fired it out the window 😩 the shower head was covered in pink slime (which I believe is a type of biofilm—not something you want near your face), and there was a hair on the shower wall that was not the type that came from someone’s head. To top it off, I found a toenail on the carpet, which was honestly stomach-turning. ||Decided to play it safe and avoid having a shower or breakfast. ||The bed was uncomfortable, and what made things worse was the connecting door to the next room, which offered zero sound insulation. Our neighbours were up early, Sunday morning, talking loudly and slamming doors at 8am with no regard for other guests. It felt more like staying in student halls than a hotel and resulted in zero sleep being had. Perfect (not) for continuing our car journey home to Scotland. ||This could be a really great hotel with some proper attention to detail—particularly around cleaning standards and noise insulation. Until then, I wouldn’t recommend it unfortunately.

Perfect place for a short break in the Lake District. We stayed for one night with our dog on our way further north. All the hotel staff were very friendly and welcoming to both us and our pooch and we had a lovely stay. The lobby and bar area are very well presented. The bar area is a particularly well designed space with a great colour scheme, nice and relaxing low level lighting and an excellent atmosphere. Food at the bar was good & staff were lovely and attentive. Breakfast was very nice indeed and staff were again excellent - extremely helpful and very polite. Our room was clean and tidy with a great view over the river. Local hot chocolate in the room was also a very nice touch which was much appreciated!

Stayed here as part of a coach tour. |Location : Lovely spot by the River.|Room: Was not very clean. There were hairs in the shower, something stuck on the wall by the bed. Dust on the skirting boards and on the extractor fan in the bathroom.|Bed: was comfortable but why have a winter quilt on in Summer? |Breakfast: plenty of choice but the "hot" items were luke warm at best.|Evening Meal: As a coach party we had to pick our evening meal the night before (on check in the first day) The starters and desserts were OK but the main course was a big letdown with the same frozen mixed veg every night.

Cannot rate the staff highly enough. We were staying for a couple of nights with a young baby and they were so supportive & kind from the first moment. Lovely little pool was great in the morning, very quiet and perfect to have a bit of chill time. Some of the decor around the hotel was perhaps a little dated, but anywhere you actually sat or stayed were super stylish. Be that the restaurant, your room, bathroom or the spa, absolutely perfect for a short stay near the lake District. I must highlight the staff again. They were outstanding. Nothing was too much trouble and super helpful if ever we needed anything at all.

Clean room|Decor suited age of hotel and the traditional style|Staff very pleasant helpful friendly . Front desk area welcoming . (A good starting point ) beds clean comfortable linnen was of a good standard cotton . Toiletries in bathroom and good choice of complementary hotdrinks in room . Breakfast pretty standard for hotel breakfast grub . Not a massive selection if a continental breakfast is your thing . Parking right next to the hotel location that was helpful. I never used the gym but it did look suitable to meet most keep fit fanatics. Checkout was 11 so another postive point . |Overall the hotel staff are happy to help and also to make sure your stay was pleasant .|Fire alarms did go off (false alarm) but fire regulations appeared to work well .

Check in was nice and easy. Friendly check in staff. Nice room overlooking the river, spacious room. Small bed and quite dirty looking with stains on the carpet, rubbish leftover from previous people and not cleaned properly bathroom (also the shower was awful) The pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi were lovely though maybe introduce a child free hour as there was tons off children jumping in and nobody checking on numbers for safety. Breakfast in the morning has to be one of the worst we've ever had, bacon and hash browns barely cooked. The hotel in places looked like they've been refurbished recently like the changing rooms for the shower and the downstairs bar. Overall OK stay but would not recommend or return.

Nice spacious rooms with a river view. Staff are friendly and helpful. Prices are comparable with Travelodge but better quality and much nearer the town centre. Ample parking. We took a lovely walk up to Kendal Castle from the hotel, the ancestral home of Catherine Parr. It's a ruin now but still worth a visit.

This is the worst hotel I ever came across travelling around the world for the past 15 years. My train got cancelled, I informed them that I would come on the next day, which was already prepayed. What these petty crooks did is took advantage of my train cancellation - charged me the no show fee for the whole period of stay and cancelled my booking. When I arrived the next day they said my reservation is not valid anymore, and I have to pay for the next night again. Even if this policy allows that, the behaviour of the hotel was dishonest and unethical, basically, they behaved like thieves. Avoid by all means! Especially since train cancellations are frequent in the UK. None of the other hotels behaved like that, in most cases I received the full refund. There are many much better hotels in Kendal.

When I walked into my room I didn't want to leave. For a start the hotel itself is beautiful. It's a grand old building sitting right on the banks of the river. My room had the most spectacular views out over the river too. The bed was huge and was like sleeping on clouds ... It was incredibly comfortable and I had the best sleep I've had in ages. The bathroom was rrally nuce although the toilet is a little weird, almost like a children's toilet but hey it does the job. The bath was luxurious too though for some reason I couldn't get cold water to come out as hard as I tried it just flooded out boiling water. That's probably just me not knowing which way to turn the tap though. There is a leisure centre with a gym, swimming pool, sauna, spa and steam room that is open to guests so don't forget your swimmers (like I did). Reception staff were friendly and welcoming. I'd forgotten my toothbrush but they handily had bathroom essentials for purchase. The restaurant is very nice with plenty of options. I only had the chips as I have a lot of food allergies but the chips were delicious. Chunky and crunchy. The only thing I didn't appreciate was house keeping entering the room at 9 am when I was still asleep. They should probably wait until people have checked out, or at least until later in the morning. Overall, I had a great stay and I'd happily return.

Just read that the Kendal Hotel places labels on their guests. A couple dining in their restaurant were designated as "OLD PEOPLE" on the check to alert the staff which table got the bill. Do they also say ugly people, fat people, poor people?????? I don't want to patronize an establishment who has the audacity to do this.