LodgeSleeps 2
Garden Lodge
Twelve of these on the ground floor — soft oak floors, a roll-top bath, private terrace looking onto the lavender beds. Our most-booked room for a reason.
From £215 / nightReserve →
Cedar Lodge
015394 405 660
★ AA Four-Star · Sunday Times Top 100 · Est. 2008
32 rooms. Two pools.
One forest to walk off the brunch.
A small country spa hotel on the edge of Ambleside — eighteen acres of cedar woodland, an indoor and an outdoor pool, an AA-rosette kitchen, and one of the quieter corners of the Lakes to walk a Sunday morning off in.
32 Rooms & Suites/Indoor & Outdoor Pools/8 Spa Treatments/AA Rosette Kitchen
01 · The Hotel
A quietly run country spa, tucked into the trees above Ambleside.
Cedar Lodge opened in 2008 in a restored Edwardian shooting lodge and has grown gently since. Thirty-two rooms across the main house and a low cedar-clad wing in the gardens, two pools, a treatment spa, and a kitchen that earned its first AA rosette in 2013 and a second in 2021. We’re a family-run hotel — the same names answer the phone and serve the wine.
02 · The Rooms
Four tiers, each unhurried.
Every room has a king-size bed dressed in Belgian linen, an oak writing desk, locally roasted coffee on the tray and full robes for the spa. No two are identically furnished — we restored each one slowly, room by room.
LodgeSleeps 2
Fellside Lodge
Upper-floor rooms with a long view across the valley toward Helvellyn. Slate fireplaces, walk-in showers, and the morning sun straight through the window.
From £245 / nightReserve →
Cedar SuiteSleeps 2
Cedar Suite
Eight suites at the head of the corridor — separate sitting room with a woodburner, copper soaking tub, and a small private balcony over the south garden.
From £325 / nightReserve →
Forest SuiteSleeps 2
Forest Spa Suite
Four suites with their own private outdoor bathing barrel under the cedars. Direct garden door to the spa, robe and slippers waiting. The quietest corner of the hotel.
From £395 / nightReserve →
03 · In The Water
Two pools. One steams.
An eighteen-metre indoor pool with a low cedar ceiling and skylights over the deep end. Outdoors, a heated infinity pool sits on the south terrace — thirty-four degrees year-round, with steam rising into the trees on a cold morning. Both open from 6.30am for residents.
18m
Indoor lap pool
34°C
Outdoor infinity
6.30am
Open daily
Cedar
Steam & sauna
04 · The Treatments
Eight treatments, two therapists.
All treatments take place in the cedar-clad spa wing. Robe and slippers are in your room. Book on arrival or up to thirty days ahead — weekends fill first.
01
Cedar Forest Ritual
£13590 min
Hot-stone back massage with our own cedar & wild-thyme oil, drawn down from the resident herb garden. Signature treatment of the house.
02
Mountain Air Facial
£9560 min
A deep-cleanse and lift for skin tired by long days outside. Marine botanicals, gentle steam, a quiet hour you’ll feel for a week.
03
Lakeland Salt Scrub
£7045 min
Sea-salt and birch-bud exfoliation followed by a warm oil wrap. Originally built for our walking guests — loved by everyone since.
04
Two-Hour Renewal
£195120 min
Full body scrub, a deep-tissue massage and a bespoke facial. A proper afternoon, with tea by the fire afterwards.
05
Couples’ Cedar Room
£245 / two75 min
Side-by-side massage in the cedar-clad treatment suite. A glass of something to finish, on the spa veranda.
06
The Quiet Hour
£8560 min
Aromatherapy back, neck and scalp. Designed for guests with a single hour to spare between a walk and dinner.
07
Maternity Massage
£9560 min
A gentler bespoke treatment by our two specialist therapists. From second trimester onwards.
08
Hands & Feet
£6045 min
Hot paraffin, a slow hand massage and a polish. Lovely at the end of a fell-walking week.
05 · The Kitchen
Two AA rosettes. One short menu.
Head chef Iona Pritchard runs a tight kitchen built around what the valley grows that week. The menu rewrites every Friday — five starters, five mains, four puddings, no more. Hogget from the farm at the foot of the lane, char from Windermere, eggs from a smallholding in Coniston. The wine list is short and properly looked at.
- ◆ Dinner served 6.30 – 9pm, seven nights a week
- ◆ A proper Lakeland breakfast, 7.30 – 10am
- ◆ Sunday lunch on the terrace from 12.30
- ◆ Walkers’ flask & sandwich packed by 9am on request
06 · From the Door
Six walks, boots not required.
You can step out of the spa door, across the south lawn and onto a footpath that runs to Loughrigg without crossing a road. Routes from a forty-minute amble to a proper Lakeland fell day — map and flask at the door.
Fell Walk Lakeside Forest
01
Loughrigg Loop
From the spa door. Two hours up to the fell with a top-of-the-world view back down the valley. We’ll pack a flask before you go.
02
Rydal Water
Forty minutes along the quiet shore to Wordsworth’s old garden. Boots not strictly required. Tea-room at the far end.
03
Helvellyn
For the proper walkers — a full day on the third-highest peak in England. Talk to reception about the weather and the best line up.
04
Ambleside & Boats
Ten minutes by car to the lake itself. Steamers from the pier, second-hand bookshops, and a pub lunch with a view.
05
Forest Bathing
Marked trails through our own eighteen acres of cedar and Scots pine. Quietest at first light, when the deer come down for water.
06
Coniston Old Man
Forty-five minutes’ drive west. A wilder line up than Helvellyn and quieter at the top, especially mid-week.
“
One of those rare country hotels that has the polish of somewhere far grander, but the warmth of a place run by people who actually live there. The outdoor pool at first light, with steam rising into the cedars, is something I’ll be back for.
The Sunday Times Travel · Top 100 Hotels · 2024
07 · Find Us
Come and stay a while.
Two-night minimum at weekends. Dogs welcomed in twelve of our garden rooms. Arrival from 3pm, departure by 11am — late check-out as standard if the spa diary allows.
Where
Cedar Lodge Spa Hotel
Loughrigg Road, Ambleside
Cumbria LA22 9HG
Loughrigg Road, Ambleside
Cumbria LA22 9HG
Phone
015394 405 660
Email
stay@cedarlodgespa.example
Open
Year-round