Reception

Reviews of Shap Wells Hotel

3 out of 5
Shap Wells Hotel
Shap, Cumbria, Penrith, England

Reviews

8.2

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 135 out of 387 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 157 out of 387 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 72 out of 387 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 15 out of 387 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 8 out of 387 reviews" "

8.2/10

Cleanliness

8.4/10

Staff & service

7.8/10

Amenities

7.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.8/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

8/10 Good

Gary

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Not a modern "cookie cutter" hotel, it had squeaky floorboards, very comfortable beds and great staff
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

James

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

MAURICE

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

8/10 Good

Michael

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Trevor

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Wiktor

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
After brilliant 1st vusit disappointing 2nd visit
Having previously stayed whilst on a coach trip and really enjoyed excellent food etc we fully expected the same on this occasion, however were disappointed on arrival during a very cold November afternoon to note that there was no heating on in the hotel making for a very cold entry in the foyer and more importantly in our bedroom. It eventually came on around 4.00 - 4.30 pm. We went downstairs to enjoy a G&T before evening dinner and the gentleman in charge greeted us saying that he had lit a log fire in the foyer lounge which was the only place to sit as the bar lounge and large dining room were not open due to there being few people staying and no coach parties. I immediately noticed that my glass had lipstick marks round the rim so asked for it to be changed. He then returned with my drink. We chose a table in the dining room for our evening meal next to a radiator having felt chilled however both at that time and at breakfast the following morning the radiator was cold and no heating apparent. My meal (vegetarian curry with mango chutney) was missing the mango chutney and my husband’s meal (steak & ale pie with carrots and green beans) was not up to a good standard. The carrots were extremely hard to cut but also of a rubbery consistency and the kidney beans soggy. The pastry too was hard. The area is lovely but the hotel looked ‘tired’ & our bathroom sink had a large crack in the basin. At break’fst 1 serving spoon for 2 types fruit, 1 of muesli &1 yoghurt!
Lovely area around the hotel for seeing wild life
Enjoying heat from fire after cold welcome
Wonderful red squirrels to watch and enjoy
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Lorraine

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Robert

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Out of the way location and local wildlife
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023

8/10 Good

David

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
M6 stopover
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Alan

Liked: Staff & service
Out in the sticks very dog friendly down to earth stopover. Excellent red squirrel sanctuary right next door
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Julie

Travelled with pets, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Always a nice break from long journey and relaxing looking for red squirrels
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

A lovely hotel
The hotel is in the middle of nowhere, but look around the hotel, there are a small forest for a good walk. In the forest there are some red squirrels playing and running on the ground, you can feed them with nuts, they are very cute. We stayed in here for one night, feeling very peaceful and tranquil.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Julie

Travelled with pets, Travelled with partner
Liked: Amenities
Nice to sleep away from motorway and always a treat seeing the red squirrels
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

2/10 Terrible

Christopher

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
room 135. Was damp. Lots of dust. Was function on in hall right above our room. Very loud music until early hours. No sleep at all
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

6/10 Okay

Yasar

Travelled with family
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

6/10 Okay

Anne

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
A bit odd.......
A mix-up over the bill meant that I was initially overcharged by more than £200. It was sorted very quickly, but it took the shine off our stay. Dinner was OK, but they don't serve alcohol to the table. You have to go through to the bar and fetch it yourself. Then when it came to coffee we went through to the bar, but they had to fetch it from the restaurant. Everyone was friendly and helpful, but somehow it all came across as slapdash. On the positive side, it's a lovely setting, quiet, and comfortable.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Patrick

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A hidden gem. Great value.
I travelled to Scotland from Luton for a four day trip. I chose Shap Wells as a convenient stopover on my return journey from Wick. It was dark when I finally arrived and the approach is a single track road over cattle grids and moorland. I really felt a little apprehensive but my goodness what a revelation. A historic hotel almost 200 years old with wonderful surroundings. If you are ever this way I urge you to visit and experience it for yourself. Unfortunately I can't add photos for some reason but the furnishings the decor and the staff are amazing. And a delicious cooked breakfast that wanted for nothing. What value! By booking with Hotels.com I got £50 off the rack rate.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Barry

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The house and interior decor is beautiful. A really nice place to stay. Staff were efficient, friendly and helpful. Grounds were beautiful. The room , a standard twin , was small but fully functional. Only stayed for breakfast which was good. A varied choice and a lovely dining room.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Paul

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Allan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
The hotel staff couldn’t do enough for you. The meals were very good. Room was huge. Red Sqirrels were running about the place 5 mins from hotel. Peaceful and quiet.
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Allan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent Staff
Excellent Friendly Helpful Staff, Tasty meals. Lovely large room, Very peaceful & Relaxing.Red Squirrels only 5 mins away. can’t fault the place at all.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

6/10 Okay

janice

Disliked: Staff & service
The female receptionist that welcomed us was very unfriendly and had a miserable face first impressions count and this wasn’t good ! Every time we saw her she was the same has put us off staying there we very nearly left before we had finished checking in , only for the fact it was late we were tired and my partner has COPD The rest of the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Frank

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Character and charm and good food- all very pleasant, will go again. Two satisfied customers
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

8/10 Good

Thomas

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

6/10 Okay

Joanne

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

MRS M A

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Frank

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel in excellent location
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

8/10 Good

Thomas

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Room I had was very small, the bathroom especially, you couldn’t fully open the door to get in! Otherwise service and breakfast was great.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Yat Lun

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

8/10 Good

Veronica

Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2023

4/10 Poor

David

Disliked: Room comfort
Why was the heating on full blast on hottest night. Why was the heating on the hottest night bedrooms we have been told they’re trying to get so hot water to the rooms which I’d had the day. They said keep the heating on to get the hot water up but it’s stifling in there. Couldn’t bear it almost went and slept on down stairs sofa with what a sheet very poor what an absolute joke. Think staff could have done more in this situation.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Trudi D

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

8/10 Good

Stuart

Travelled with family, Travelled with pets
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Unexpectedly huge period property with helpful friendly staff. Has a gym and games room with full sized snooker table, pool table and table tennis. Room was rather warm, could have done with a fan or aircon.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

William

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hidden Gem
Excellent location, friendly staff, red squirrels, good food, nice old world Hotel with modern facility’s. First class.
Stayed 1 night in May 2023

8/10 Good

Jacqueline

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Stay
Really lovely place to stay, comfortable and quiet and lovely breakfast. Was great to be able to take my dog with us, the only negative would be that for breakfast we were separated due to having the dog but still had to walk backwards and forwards to the buffet area carrying our food through Reception which was awkward, a smaller buffet could perhaps be provided in dog area?
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023

8/10 Good

Dorothy

Liked: Staff & service
Stayed 1 night in May 2023

8/10 Good

Gordon

Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

William

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hotel in a lovely setting. Public rooms very good. Fair to say that rooms in need of a re--furb. Staff friendly. Great to see the red squirrels.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

8/10 Good

Michelle

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We loved where the hotel was located, beautiful grounds.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2023

8/10 Good

Gary

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Good location down a beaten road between the A6 and M6. Very friendly welcome at reception and in the bar. Faded-grandeur in the reception which became a relaxing evening lounge with plenty of choice from the bar. Room was compact but very warm and with strong over-he-bath shower.I don't know why my room was called 'garden view' when all I saw was a concrete backyard quadrangle. Breakfast was excellent: lots of hot options and some cereals & fruit to set you up for the day.It was good value when included in the room rate, or even at £12.50. Dinner was more expensive with 4 options from a set menu. And while well presented and tasty it was a little on the small side after a day's walking or riding, so we ate before returning to the hotel on the second night.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023

6/10 Okay

Andrew

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service
The driveway could do with an upgrade. Perhaps either light up the sign on the A66 or make it reflective as in the dark and mist it is easy to drive past without seeing it, as I did, twice!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Paul

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great hotel 20 mins from Penrith/kendal
Quite a traditional old Cumbrian/Scottish Highlands type of hotel. It's convenient to the M6 but in the middle of nowhere. Ideal base for walkers or to explore the lakes. All the staff were friendly and really helpful. Our room was a decent size with a huge double bed and and a single. It was clean and nicely decorated. The bathroom and shower were also great. Breakfast was cooked to order and all tasted great, there was also a small we selection of cereals. There was free WiFi which was good enough to watch movies or play games on your tablet. Which was just as well as the TT v only had a couple of channels. We only stayed 1 night so easy an issue for us.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

8/10 Good

Raymond

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
nice secluded location and friendly staff
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

Anthony R

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Cleaners please knock!
Lovely comfortable room, old but clean hotel with a lovely charm and beautiful surroundings. We had gone to enjoy a peaceful rare child free night away so we were disappointed by with the amount of noise coming from the next room, the people staying in there were up just before 5am and began banging around, shouting and generally being inconsiderate to other guests, this was not helped by the huge gap under our door which let extra noise in. The second complaint would be that clearers do not knock before entering, myself and my partner were getting dressed when one entered at just after 9am without warning (checkout is 11am) - i literally had to open the wardrobe door and stand behind it as i heard the door open or she'd have seen all I had!
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

Vicky

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel great decoration in keeping with the date and style building good old-fashioned service nothing is to much trouble and great food.
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2022

8/10 Good

D J

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Worth staying just for the eccentricities
This is a delightfully eccentric hotel that we used to use for Phil Soc events (Lancaster University) in the 70s and a lot is similar. These days it seems to be set up for coach parties and the restaurant reflects that but the food was good for the price. It was a little cold - I had a hot water bottle fortunately but had to refill it twice during the night ...
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2022