Appleby Castle

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 thoroughly enjoyed our two night stay. Its every thing a castle should be - creaky floor boards, doors, long dark corridors, suits of armour and ancient portraits. Our room had the bathroom across the hallway but this was a very minor inconvenience . We ate the first night in the large dining room - food was very good (stuffed mushrooms starter in particular). Breakfast was served in another large dining room - cooked to order. Will definitely return

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.

This short break was booked as an additional stay in a visit to the UK. We are very glad we booked. From immediately arriving everything was excellant, on driving into Appleby Castle it looked amazing, exactly what you expect from arriving at a castle and period home. On checking in we were taken to our room (Clifford room) and it was perfect. A period room that fit perfectly in the setting steeped in history. The views were awesome, the room was awesome with a modern bathroom across the hall. The bed was very comfortable and the house was so quiet. We booked a impromptu breakfast and dinner, very glad we did (so much we immediately booked the next days breakfast) the service was top class, the food was amazing, nothing was to much trouble and very relaxed. The second breakfast we didn't even need to order as he remembered our order. Dinner was a great experiance, meeting the owner and manager, having a drink and chat in the bar then being shown to the dining room, classical music when eating and a fire. Before leaving Peter opened the Norman keep and we had a look around. It was very interesting loved wandering around it. The whole experiance was better than expected, it began to feel like a home before we left and I would love to return during Xmas with snow on the ground. 5 stars is not enough!!!

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.

We booked a 3 night stay in No. 1 cottage at the end of August, arriving on Friday evening at 11pm after a long journey. The hotel was aware of our late arrival. We left on Saturday morning before breakfast. We tried to discuss our concerns with reception, who were less than helpful. We found a total of 2 staff on site, neither of whom were able to discuss a complaint or direct us to anyone else at all, let alone management. We followed their advice to send an email to their reservations address. We are yet to hear back. We had paid in full, in advance. Despite no refund, partial refund, or other compensation or apology, we still think we made the right decision to abandon our stay. Our favourite memories of Appleby castle will always be: The apparent spider sanctuary in the living room. The thrill ride spiral staircase, with more screws missing than present. “Shower slice” a game where you make yourself slippery wet in the shower and then try not to rip yourself open on the badly broken bath fascia as you get out. Sofa jenga - unfortunately we seemed to have arrived after this game had finished, but it seems to involve taking apart the sofa, throwing the component cushions at it and leaving them however they fall (upside down and backwards in this case). And finally, the lovely fire we couldn’t make from the old decking board and huge lump of Christmas tree from the log store. We’ll always regret not being able to poison ourselves with those fumes while we shared our tea in the 2 filthy mugs supplied between the five of us. It wasn’t all bad. We thought we didn’t have enough bedding, but the guy at reception told us it was in a cupboard upstairs. He didn’t tell us the cupboard was locked and the sofa bed was buckled anyway. So we can’t complain about the bedding - we never found it. And sharing the fewer than expected beds brought us closer as a family. We’re still wondering if that’s wine or blood by the sink. Maybe a previous guest had a shower. Anyway, I guess we were lucky to see it through all the spiders.