Appleby Castle

Spending New Year's Eve was a huge step out of the ordinary for us. However, having an overnight babysitter galvanised us into going out out. We decided upon a stay and NYE gala meal and entertainment at Appleby Castle. Our approach to the castle blew us away. The ancient Norman Keep dominating the view. A super friendly check-in and tour to our room. A glorious four poster room with en suite and tapestries. We were allowed to poke around and enjoy the secrets of the castle, which was really fun. The food was incredible, and the piper/ piano accompaniment delightful. The ensuing truly retro disco was fabulous. The surroundings and hosts mean this is a truly special place to visit. It is clear that sharing their historic home is important to them, and my husband particularly enjoyed his trip to the top (102 steps of spiral staircase) of the Norman keep. We can't wait to return.

We spent last night at this wonderful castle hotel and we loved it , we arrived to a lovely warm welcome and check in and chat with Peter who showed us to our room and told us some of the history on the way , our room was gorgeous with a 4 poster bed , tapestry on the walls and crisp clean sheets and fluffy towels all ready for us , we booked in for dinner and i am so glad we did this was a fantastic experience the dining room itself is one of a kind all Set up for formal dining with candles Christmas wreaths on the walls and Peter playing lovely music on the keyboard the attention to detail is spot on and the food WOW compliments to the chef everything was of high quality and delicious, the owner comes around and chats with every diner personally and was serving and clearing plates , what a lovely lady she is and we enjoyed chatting with her she brightened our stay , the food is next level and felt a real treat , we had the best night's sleep ever and the bed was so comfortable with top quality duvet and pillows and so snuggly warm on a cold and stormy night , before we left we looked around the keep and that was really interesting. We would love to return and hopefully will soon , Thank you for your hospitality and a lovely evening to all concerned

We stayed at Appleby Castle in November 2024 for the second time and had an amazing time! The place, furniture, surroundings and whole atmosphere is just beautiful and the building is so incredibly well maintained as it was intended to be instead of being modernised like a lot of places are today. This really works in its favour as an incredibly unique and thoroughly enjoyable experience. We had supper and breakfast in the amazing dining hall and the food was absolutely wonderful. The chef (I think Craig?) was so lovely and helpful, nothing was too much trouble. We also visited the Norman keep which is a fantastically restored attraction absolutely packed with history and amazing views! Having read a lot of the reviews, it‘s important to remember that Appleby is quite different to your average hotel resort - it’s a proper historic castle with so much character and atmosphere - enjoying this history should be the reason why someone books to go here. We’ll be back! :) thank you for a fab night away!

From beginning to end, this place is truly enchanting! The castle exudes charm, and the staff is incredibly welcoming. Dining here is an experience not to be missed; the food is absolutely delicious! Although the castle could use a bit of tender loving care, embracing its character only deepens your affection for this magical spot. You'll fall in love with it! We stayed in the Evidence Room, which featured a beautifully carved four-poster bed. It also had an ensuite bathroom, so we didn't have to wander across the hallway as mentioned in other reviews.

We had a couple of fantastic nights at the castle. The food was lovely. The host and hostess were absolutely brilliant. Thoroughly enjoyed our stay Applebee town is a lovely character place castle and walk a lovely. I would recommend this to anybody beautiful place.

I had booked a night here as a special treat for my wife who loves castles, I had booked early enough to get the Vipont room. On arrival all was quiet, just one person was around to tell us where to park - under the tree out front. In reception the young girl was friendly enough, I said that I had booked dinner for 6pm, oh we haven't got dinner this evening she explained. It would have been nice to have been told before we arrived!! The castle itself is fascinating, has a varied history and we wandered freely. There seemed to be no one else staying there that evening, which I found very odd. Breakfast was offered but declined, 15GBP was a bit steep considering they couldn't make dinner! All in all, we had a pleasant evening, fish and chips in Appleby by the river which was lovely. The castle really does need some TLC, and I don't mean it needs repairing, it is very old, but some human warmth and soul. I am led to believe it is for sale, however the owner needs to put some effort into getting customers through the door to enable this wonderful castle to live up to it's grandeur. So, in summary, is it worth it? Yes if you wish to stay in a castle. Would I stay there again? Not in a million years while the owner doesn't seem to care about it. It is very disappointing that a place with such potential has literally been let go to fend for itself, and I can't help but think unless there is a huge input of cash this will not get any better.