Do you remember wedding 3, in Four Weddings and a Funeral? That’s the one where Carrie marries the ‘stiff in the skirt’. Wasn’t the location for the reception…. drop dead gorgeous? Armathwaite Hall, in the stunning Lake District, is similar in many ways.

With ever-fancier new hotels springing up in the Lake District, times are tough for the many small establishments with no spa or Michelin star as a draw.   Yet Cedar Manor, within an easy walk of Lake Windermere, has managed to buck the trend, keeping rooms full and winning a constant slew of awards since Caroline and Jonathan Kaye picked up the keys 10 years ago.

It seems The Lakeside Hotel can cure all ills. Just lately I’ve noticed myself growing a little grumpy about hotels. Twenty years on the road as a travel writer have turned the old excitement of walking into a new and different foyer and sleeping in cool clean sheets into a grouchy wariness. Add to that the advent of the designer hotel and these days I’ve found myself snarling my way through the revolving doors. I’ve had my share of sliding off armchairs that looked like Dali’s ”melting” clocks or hitting my head on oversized ’ironic’ chandeliers in cold, unwelcoming dining rooms decorated in the requisite charcoal and grey. And I’m tired of  trying to make myself heard in the cacophonous acoustic of bars with stripped pine floors and formica.