Ullswater Heights: 5* Holiday Lodges in Lake District with hot tubs

Ullswater Heights: Luxury Lodges

Although I’ve lived in the UK for more than 20 years, I’ve never visited the Lake District. It’s been on my bucketlist for a while now, and I’ve always wanted to visit the beautiful lakes and landscapes that I’ve heard so much about from friends’ visits. I’ve passed through several times on the way to visit my husband’s relatives in Scotland and always looked longingly at the LAKES exit.

This year Ullswater Heights invited us to check out their brand new lodges (opened in July 2019). The holiday park has luxury lodges and a glamping village near Kessick and is only 6.5 miles from Ullswater Lake. ALL LODGES AND GLAMPING TENTS HAVE HOT TUBS! You can bring a pet too. There’s a Lake House restaurant on site that overlooks their private quarry lake, Chloe Anne’s petting farm and a kids’ playpark. You need a car to make full use the property – the resort is set in an old quarry away from a town/shops – although I could see couples just going there, chilling in the hot tubs, and taking local walks. You can rent via Hoeseasons, or even purchase a holiday home.

Contemporary 6 Lodge

We stayed in a Contemporary 6, a 3-bedroom lodge that sleeps up to 6 people.  The Contemporary 6 packs a powerful punch. It’s just under 1,000 square feet and has an open plan, modern living area with lots of light inside. It’s decorated in neutral hues of grey, tan and blue which makes it seem a lot more spacious that it actually is.

I just loved the compact design of the lodge. It was a great use of space. From the mud room when you walked in to the door that divided the living area with the bedroom area – perfect if you are putting kids to bed (people want to retire early) and you can still occupy the living area without disturbing others.

Ullswater Heights: Modern Kitchen

The kitchen area leads to a dining area in one corner and a sitting area with really stylish and comfy sofas arranged around a fireplace and Smart TV. The kitchen has mostly everything you will need: Coffee press, egg holders, toaster for 4 that has different settings on each side, and a complete set of plastic tumblers and wine /champagne glasses for use outside. On arrival there’s a milkman’s bottle of milk, plus coffee, tea and sugar in small reusable containers (better for environment!).

Contemporary 6: Bedrooms

The Contemporary 6 has one bedroom with double bed with an ensuite shower and a further two rooms each containing two twin beds (which can be made into a double upon request). Everyone gets use of a plush white terry cloth dressing gown and slippers, and each room has a Smart TV (much to eldest delight – she could watch Greys Anatomy from the comfort of her bed). My husband and I shared the double room with the ensuite. There is a family bathroom with a bath tub (a must for families with small children). The bathrooms all have heated towel racks to keep your towels warm (and to help dry them after using the hot tub). We stayed in December and the lodges are very cosy and has very effective heating (but not too hot like cottages can sometimes get – the heating was easily controlled by an easy-to-use thermostat).

The walls are quite thin – eldest kept coming in to tell us to be quiet! It is a holiday park – so you are very near other lodges and families 😄.

Outside deck and hot tub

One of my favourite features was the glass side of the house (sliding doors and windows) that opened out to a large deck with sweeping views over the private quarry lake. Someone obviously put a lot of thought into the design. On the deck there’s a high-quality dining table and chairs perfectly positioned to give you a place to sit back, relax and look out over the lake.

At the side of the deck and there’s a large hot tub! It’s shielded from neighbours with panelling. Ours was heated to 38C and ready and waiting for us. The hot tubs are kept meticulously clean, with a maintenance person coming around daily to check on it (even on Christmas Day!)

What could be improved

My only niggle was that the microwave took a little bit of figuring out. I think someone could make a lot of money if they just created simple appliances that don’t have complicated operating instructions. Push a button and it works, that kind of thing. Eldest looked up the brand and found the operating instructions online and we finally figured it out. Note: Later on we found the instructions!

I’m happy to report though that the dishwasher was very easy to operate, and the oven as well (a lighter and on/off button). The girls immediately got the Smart TVs working with Netflix (there’s a TV in the living room and one in each of the 3 bedrooms). There was a washer and dryer there too – but we didn’t have need to test it out.

Chloe Anne’s Farm

My youngest daughter really liked this. There’s a path to the farm which has sheep, alpacas, goats, ponies, donkeys and pigs. There’s also a small building which was home to some smaller animals like rabbits and guinea pigs, and a gecko and chameleon. Inside was also an aquarium with fish. If you time it right you can be there to help feed the animals. The farm is nicely done and a highlight for animal lovers. I was amused the by alpacas – which seemed to be always outside the barn and checking out who was around. Their heads would turn in unison as we passed, as if they were people watching from a Paris café.

The Lake House

The Lake House is the resort’s bar and restaurant. It’s light, airy and looks over the private quarry lake, and has outdoor seating available (which I imagine would be fantastic in the summer). It’s a gastro pub menu – with wild mushroom and blue stilton bruschetta, pumpkin and parmesan risotto, Cumbrian steak burger and a braised Lakeland lamb shank (my husband’s favourite).

Magical at Christmas

We stayed over the Christmas period and it was truly magical! Each house was given a tree and a Christmas box full of ornaments, lights, Christmas games, festive food items and a bottle of Prosecco!

The Lake House had a holiday schedule of activities, including kids crafts and an appearance by Santa, elves and donkeys from Chloe Anne’s Farm. On Christmas Eve there was live music. They served a reasonably priced Christmas lunch with all the trimmings. It’s a really nice place to spend the holiday season.

The Lake House served Christmas dinner, but we opted to bring our own (I bought the Christmas Dinner bundle from Cook).

Helpful staff

Of course, the best thing about Ullswater Heights is its location, right in the Northern Lakes with easy access to some of the best walks and attractions in the area. The staff at Ullswater Heights were brilliant with their suggestions. I didn’t do much research before this trip and when I asked Melissa at reception about a must-see site nearby, she immediately knew what to suggest and printed out a walk out to the Aira Force waterfalls. I checked later and Aira Force is on the Rough Guide top 15 list of don’t miss things to do.

Overall verdict

We really enjoyed staying at Ullswater Heights. The lodges are well designed, super comfortable and high end. The private hot tub is a real plus, as is the park’s central location. Wifi worked really well. Staff are super friendly and helpful giving advice on what to visit in the area. The homes are close together, and although they do a good job of visually shielding out your neighbour, you might still hear them.

What we did in the Lake District

Check out my post 8 things to do with the family in the Northern Lake District.

IF YOU GO

Ullswater Heights Holiday Home and Lodge Park  Silver Howe Flusco, Newbiggin, Penrith CA11 0JB  +44 01768 800857 https://booking.hoseasons.co.uk/ullswater-heights/holiday-parks/ullswater-heights-ulls

Disclosure: Our stay at Ullswater Heights was provided for the purpose of this review. All options are my own.