The second annual Top 50 Boutique Hotel Awards were held yesterday at Lillibroke Manor in Berkshire, celebrating the very best hotels in the UK. Created by William Reed, the list is nominated and judged by industry experts, hoteliers, travel writers and influencers. We are delighted that The Samling was included in the fabulous list, cementing its reputation as one of the finest hotels in the UK.
50 Top Boutique Hotels - The Samling
The Samling has 12 rooms and one of the UK’s finest restaurants and wine cellars. It is privately owned, and located on the banks of Lake Windermere, nestled into the hillside in 65 acres of rolling meadowlands, kitchen gardens and ancient woodlands. The hotel itself is made of little cottages and farm buildings around the main house, where the glass fronted restaurants gives unbeatable views across the water.
Housed in an impressive new glass fronted space, The Samling’s restaurant is led by Chef Robby Jenks. Here guests can enjoy a modern menu inspired by the breath-taking lakeside panorama with seasonal, locally produced ingredients, with the kitchen garden producing many of the menu’s key ingredients. Robby’s aim is to produce a captivating dining that will delights guests, complimented by an extensive wine list of over 600 bottles. The Chef’s Table is an exhilarating dining experience, positioned directly opposite the kitchen to allow guests to become part of the kitchen experience whilst enjoying a beautifully crafted menu, specially designed for the table and paired with the extensive wine list The Samling prides itself on. The tasting menu is £115 pp
The grounds of the Saming hold a beautifully varied mix of old deciduous woodland, fellside, traditional hay meadows, extensive vegetable gardens and beehives, and a highly unique ornamental garden featuring ingenious water features and interlocking cascading ponds carved from the hillside’s bedrock. These channel the local springs under and around the hotel and down to the lake. The woodland is a haven to wildlife and plant species, including swathes of English Bluebells, birds, and surprisingly exotic looking moths. The variety of the wildlife has a concentrated interest in the rest of the garden – particularly the vegetable gardens, and sometimes they win, enjoying the best efforts of the gardeners demonstrating an adventurous taste for more exotic micro greens than they find in the woods. The ornamental gardens and water feature are particularly intriguing. They have a listed Georgian stone Summer House that looks along the length of lake Windermere, and don’t know the exact age of the intricately devised water systems – as they run under the buildings common sense dictates they were built as part of the plan. The old fashioned hay meadows provided happy grazing for the hotel bees, housed in hives on the edge of the old orchards, where the deer leave their young to shelter in the long grass last Summer.
The interiors of The Samling reflect the lakeside location, with soothing dove greys, blues and greens of nature. Hypnos mattress and deep filled pillows ensure guests enjoy a good night’s sleep, waking refreshed and ready to explore the UNESCO World Heritage sites nearby. The Samling has 12 bedrooms, suites and cottages, each named after a Lake District location and individually designed. Windermere, for example, is a two-floor cottage set to the side of the main house, with a large sitting room, upstairs sleeping area, freestanding copper bath and a private terrace overlooking the water. Another is Coniston, a Junior Suite in the main house, has a double-height vaulted ceiling and exceptional views across the lakes. For families, there are interconnecting rooms available.
They launched their luxury camping – two Prospector tents with private chef, butler and the most breath-taking views across the lakes – after lockdown, and the tents will reopen next spring.