I thought the hotel was smart and perfectly situated. The rooms were lovely and clean and even though the staff were very busy with the Christmas rush, they had all the time in the world for their guests and really went the extra mile. The food was excellent, the girls on reception were lovely and very informative and knew a lot about things to see and do in Carlisle, they also were very helpful and happily spent 20 minutes trying to find us a taxi one night. The bar staff knew what they were doing and was relieved to finally meet a barman with a good knowledge of wines.

All in all, we found our stay excellant value for money, we were quoted their special offers over the phone, and for £45 per person, dinner, bed & breakfast we will definelty be returning.

Eight of us spent last weekend at The Lakes Court Hotel. Isn't it amazing how perceptions differ. We had a fantastic time. The hotel was in a prime location, food was delicious, staff pleasant and efficient, room great. I feel I stayed in a different hotel from the previous reviewer. I thought the pillows were extremely comfortable. We stayed on a special deal £45.00 per person per night for dinner bed and breakfast - terrific value. Would certainly stay again.

We were travelling from Inverness to London, and decided to overnight in Carlisle.
On a recommendation from a tourist information location, we booked the Lakes Court Hotel.
We had asked for a nice, upper class hotel, and were told that the Lakes Court was one of the nicest hotels in Carlisle.
I have to disagree.
It was probably a grand old hotel in it's time, but unfortunately it has been many years since it was in it's prime.
It is now a tired old hotel, sadly in need of renovation and updating.
We arrived on a very hot day in July, to find the hotel has NO air-conditioning.
This was a major disappointment as one of the reasons that we did not stop at one of the numerous B&B's we passed, was because we wanted "real" hotel room comfort, including air-conditioning. Admittedly we did not ask when making the reservation, but wrongly assumed that the £100+ rate at one of the "best hotels in Carlisle" would include air.
When we arrived, at around 6pm, the hotel was understaffed. It seemed to us that there was only the girl at the front desk, and the bartender working. When we asked to see the room, we were told we could look ourselves since no one was available to show us up.
We asked for a fan and ice water to be brought up to the room, and had to wait until the bartender got off work, so he could leave the bar and bring up the items.
To the credit of the staff, they were both very friendly and helpful. I cannot, and will not blame them for circumstances clearly beyond their control.
The halls were dark and dingy. Hotel laundry was piled on the floor in plastic bags, not just in one location, but many bags everywhere. The elevators had broken mirrors. The room was large, but very outdated. Wall paper was old and peeling, bathroom was old. The beds were uncomfortable and the pillows were probably the worse I have ever seen. They were very thin, with no stuffing what so ever. We had to open the windows wide because of the heat, only to have the noise from the pub below keep us awake to all hours of the evening.
The bathroom had no window, however it did have a ventilation shutter the size of a window. When my son opened the shutter to investigate, what was found was nothing short of disgusting. There was a hole in the concrete wall about the size of a dryer vent that went directly outside. The entire area behind the shutter was filthy, I don't mean a layer of dirt, but years and years of never being cleaned. I found this totally unacceptable. This shutter should have been firmly fastened so that a guest could never discover this filth, or better yet the area behind should have been cleaned on a regular basis to an acceptable hygiene level.
To make things worse, my wife was awakened by what she feared was a rat in the bathroom in the middle of the night.
It turned out to be a bird, inside the bathroom. It had flown in the hole and was flapping around behind the shutter!
My advice is save your money and stay at a charming B&B, or stay in one of the more modern hotels in town.
The old Lakes Court Hotel requires a lot of attention and money to be brought back up to standard.

We stayed at the lakescourt hotel for 3 days in june on a very affordable dinner bed and breakfast deal. From the moment we stepped into the hotel i knew we were going to enjoy our selves. The reception staff we very frendly and informative and we were put in a lovely room over looking the old city walls ( so we were informed by reception). We were extremley impressed by the staff and the food which was lovely and varied each night. All in all we had a great time and have already booked for next year. Great hotel, great food an great staff definately recommend it.