Castle Inn Hotel in Isle of Wight

Excellent Sunday lunch. As a walking party of four with a dog, we were made very welcome in the main restaurant. Staff were responsive, kind and even brought a bowl of water and a treat to our table for our dog. The food was excellent. Between us had the roast beef, roast turkey and gammon Sunday lunch. The roast potatoes were lovely and crispy and the vegetables plentiful, varied and cooked to perfection. The desserts were fabulous. One of the best tiramisu deserts I have had and my friends highly recommend the sticky toffee pudding and chocolate brownie trifle. Ignore the low star reviews. This is a lovely place for dinner/lunch.

Good facilities but the sauna has been closed for a quite few months now. Speaking to some members they were saying they are not re-newing their membership because of the sauna closure. Staff said it needs repairs but no work has been done on it for months... rumours going round that they knocked it off to save money. Very disaapointing considering its a very good sauna when its actually on. Really hope they knock it back on.

I've been to this place before, for Sunday lunch with my daughter, and enjoyed it but heard it was under new management so decided I'd give it a whirl. I was pleased with the food felt it offered good value, and the menu seemed to be balanced. I had steak, and I couldn't fault it. Overall a very easy and pleasant dining experience.

I'm reviewing the leisure club only and nit the rest of the hotel. Let's start by entering the changeroom, where you are presented by a suite of lockers, most with no keys or bands. If you're lucky enough to find a working locker, lets get changed and head to the gym. Upon entering I thought I had headed back in time, such was the age and decrepitness of the equipment. Perhaps it could be turned into a museum and invite some guests from the era the equipment is from, such as Lizzie from TV AM and Mr Motivator, for a more authentic feel? After working out on the rusty squeaking equipment, it's time for a swim. No complaints there, the pool is quite good. Swim over, time for a sauna. Sorry, but it's closed for no apparent reason other than to install a tepidarium. Thanks, new owners for consulting your members on this, the sauna was brand new and really good. Never mind, next to the sauna is the jacuzzi, which is quite good when the chlorine dosing is correct and your eyes aren't stinging, or when the fake tan brigade haven't been in. I'm still not hot enough, so it's time to go in the steam room. Excellent steam room and adjacent shower. Time to go and get showered and changed. Upon entering the changing room, both showers are in use. Not a problem, I'll wait. Unfortunately I now feel I'm back in the steam room, as there is zero extraction or anything resembling ventilation. In fact, I've seem more airflow in a heaterless Austin Maxi, leaving the British Leyland production line in the 1970s. I finally enter the showers, whereupon I almost scald myself, due to the failing thermostatic controls. The only thing leisurely about castle inn leisure is the pace of updating and maintaining the place

Party of 13, pre ordered the food the night before. Eleven roast dinners and 2 katsu curries. I can honestly say that every single meal was practically inedible. Nothing tasted fresh. Roast potatoes were cold and tasted stale. Veg was so hard it couldn’t be cut. Roast beef was like shoe leather. Chicken breast was inedible, heated in a microwave!! Complaint was made to staff about the quality of all food but they weren’t interested and no discount was offered. The restaurant was empty as we were the only people there so it’s not as if they were extremely busy! Don’t waste your money in this place !!!

Party of 13 who had to pre-book our menu choices for Sunday lunch on 23rd June. Not one person was happy with their meal. One meal was booked for turkey, server just brought out meal and said its chicken not turkey. No other options given. The chicken was inedible. The beef roast dinner was chewy and tough. Vegetables were cold and needed a saw to cut them! No interest in trying to salvage the situation from the waitress, just said sorry! Very little patrons in restaurant, this could have been managed better. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY IN THIS PLACE!

Could not fault the service, but was not too impressed with the menu, or food in the bar. Being a Best Western hotel, i thought the menu could have been much larger, not a great deal to choose from. I had the burger, and the wife had their version of mac and cheese. There was a nice ambience to the bar area, despite only a handful of folk in.

Went to castle inn last night for dinner as we were nearby. Haven’t been for a while. Got married there 6 years ago. Was disappointed by the food last night. My husband had fish and chips and I had a chicken Caesar salad. The fish was soggy, not sure where it’s sourced from, but didn’t taste particularly fresh. The chicken Caesar salad was really disappointing. It was chopped up non discrip green, very small pieces of of cubed chicken, some stale croutons and that was it. I asked for the dressing separately, so that’s fine. For such a simple dish to make, it was very underwhelming. They aren’t the only place I’ve found who struggle to make this simple dish, but maybe just google it if you are putting it on a menu and don’t know what it is or how to make one. The girls serving tables were lovely, very polite and pleasant to deal with. Wear a jumper if you’re going, I don’t think the heating is on in the main parts of the restaurant, it was cold! There is a fire but unless you’re sat right next to it, not really enough.

Had read the reviews and wasn't keen, nearly didn't eat here. I'm so glad we did. The menu wasn't extensive, however our food was delicious. My steak was cook to absolute perfection and the stilton sauce that accompanied was amazing. Home cooked chips were yummy and my husband's veg bean burger was tasty. Sorry we didn't take pictures.

The menu is very limited for a 4* hotel. No pasta, Italian etc. not a lot of choice. The starters we chose were awful and the dessert went back without charge.

I do not usually write reviews but I was really disappointed today. The staff were friendly enough but that was the only positive. We found a table and we were given menus, however no-one came back to take our order so I had to find someone at the bar (no big deal). My daughter's kids meal and my husbands steak were fine, pretty average, cannot complain about those. My meal however was not enjoyable at all. I ordered the pie of the day which was ham hock. I think the gravy in the pie was beef, which did not go well with ham at all! It just really tasted bad. To the point where I wasn't even sure if the meat was bad?? I never usually make comments however I decided I was going to let the staff know when they came back over to check on us, however no one ever came back to the table to ask. The other major problem was the flies! There were so many flies around the table. It was a good job I had stopped eating as we needed someone to keep batting the flies away! I know this can't always be helped especially being in the countryside, however they really need to do something about them, it really spoiled the experience. I had promised my daughter a dessert so we waited for a member of staff to come to clear our plates, however no one ever came back. One staff member just walked passed our table twice and didn't clear it. In the end we decided we didn't want to waste any more money here and we went to a local tea rooms up the road for dessert. I would sadly not return.

Dog friendly, tasty food and friendly servers! An impromptu stop for food and a couple of drinks. Eliot, Stu and Jen (and of course the chef but he didn’t have a name badge :)) made sure our visit was enjoyable.

Firstly, top marks to the young man from Newcastle who is front of house. Very professional and arguably wasted in this place. We were warmly greeted (Saturday lunch and the place was empty) and this chap was excellent. We ordered the salt & pepper squid with a citrus mayonnaise, very tasty, just not enough of it, a couple more pieces would have justified the price. I'll be very surprised if that mayo wasn't made in-house and with the squid looking and tasting like it was hand prepared, I'm convinced there is a Chef in there and not an advanced ping food operative. I ordered the Steak and Caramelised Onion baguette, having asked what cut the steak was and told it was Sirloin. The baguette arrived with lashings of sliced roast Sirloin that had been warmed through. Reheated slices of roast Sirloin is not my interpretation of a steak baguette. I said I will pay for it but wish to order something else instead. The young chap took it away and my cheese and pickle sandwich was delivered shortly later on the same plate that was used for the reheated sliced beef in a cheap looking baguette. The cheese resembled the factory grated product that one gets in bookers or the supermarket. It tasted okay but the quality against the price is a little short in terms of value for money We have to support these guys post lockdown but the management also needs to come to the table. It's about being fair, you may have gotten away with an average but for that baggute experience.

We visited on the off chance of a table for 2 and 2 dogs. We were treated very well and got a table on the patio. Roast beef and roast pork were very tasty and we stopped for desert as we felt so relaxed and welcome even with the dogs

Visited today for lunch and it was lovely. I personally had the buttermilk chicken burgers which was lovely. We went with 2 children and 5 adults and all had a lovely meal including Sunday roast. Nice environment with friendly helpful staff. Our waiter today Gemma ensured we were well looked after and the children were given colouring material whilst waiting for the food. Definitely will come back soon. Perhaps pop in after having a walk up one of the fells.

Firstly apart from my brother not getting extra gravy and my pie being full of gristle all else was generally fine. The wine was expensive for what it was and the breakfast was ordinairy. Supermarket small chipolatas didn't really cut it for 16 quid. We love our sausages and there is so much artisanal food around it is such a shame not to use it. So why 4 stars? Well the staff group is really so very friendly obliging and competent. Also the food was very well cooked and well presented. It was after all pub grub for the most part. We enjoyed the atmosphere (apart from chav couple playing youtube videos very loudly whole everyone else struggled to talk). We would have no hesitation in recommending the Tavern during future stays despite its drawbacks. We had fun. It has a great atmosphere. What more do you need apart from decent sausages and pie-fillings.

Harsh reviews for a place understaffed below. Feel sorry for the businesses in and around the Lake District who are struggling for staff. Anyway, we booked Sunday lunch and it was lovely. Quick service and delicious food. Belly pork was tender. Beef was lovely and they didn’t hold back on the quantity of meat either! The team there are stretched so we didn’t mind waiting but there was no need to worry. A lovely little place to stop for food. I’m sure the reviews will go up and up once the staffing problems improve!

They need more staff! The bar seemed to be left for long periods unattended, so if we needed more drinks we had to wait until someone appeared. We had wanted to book for dinner but they said they were only serving to hotel guests. Maybe a blessing in disguise. High prices for drinks too

We had dinner at the castle inn last night, service was ok to start with. When dinner arrived, the chips looked like yesterday’s left overs and the mash potato was dreadful, lumpy, stodgy and flavourless. We all ate around it, and when plates were collected the waitress asked how our meals were. My reply was ‘awful’. To which She replied ‘oh’. That was it, no apology, no speak of it again. £10 would have been to much for my meal but £20 was an absolute disgrace. I will not be returning. I also had to ask for the bill 3 times, and eventually having to walk up to the reception to pay for it.

Food was ok but nothing special, would have been nicer to have a bigger selection of meals available

Good basic food. Lots of specials everyday. Best fish and chips. Good service from friendly and helpful staff.

Fuimos un martes y comimos bien. La familia y yo estábamos absolutamente llenos de buena comida. Todos se fueron con la barriga llena y sonrisas en los rostros. Tanto es así que reservamos de nuevo para la noche siguiente. Casi se las arreglaron para meternos dentro. El miércoles estaban absolutamente desorientados, pero a pesar de esto no pudieron hacer lo suficiente por nosotros. Algo de comida muy sabrosa. Bien hecho chicos, deberían estar muy orgullosos de ustedes mismos.

Vale la pena intentarlo. . El personal era encantador, servicial y amable. La comida era excelente, buen menú y ofertas especiales.

Stayed here for the night on 25th July the room was dirty blood stain on shower curtain An infestation of tiny flys on bathroom sealing and the smell of poorly cleaned up vomit the staff was rude and once arrival home the have us an extra £300 when I rang to ask to explain I simply got that they was to busy to talk to us

After a long day working on an event in Ambleside, my colleague and I decided to drop into the hotel for some food, as we had not eaten all day, and we were on the way home. We ordered nachos, chips and onion rings. The nibbles were quite reasonable but some mains were £14 per meal, which seemed quite expensive for a bar meal. It didn’t take long for the food to come, and it was ok but nothing special. The nachos had been blasted for so long in the microwave that all the cheese had scorched, and you couldn’t pick the nachos up. The onion rings were ok but quite greasy. The traditional chips looked amazing but sadly were not cooked fully and tasted like stodgy raw potatoes.It was maybe a bad night for the kitchen, but we won’t be rushing back.

Stayed at the hotel with a groupon voucher having visited the Lakes Distillery. 2 course dinner was included and we were pleasantly surprised by the meals which were all home cooked and tasty.

Nice atmosphere and comfortable. Good ale and food. Slightly pricey but you get a good sized meal so value for money. Toilets were spotless. Good scenery on the outside area.

Como era mi cumpleaños, íbamos a cenar hacia Keswick. Pasamos este lugar encantador y decidimos en el camino, así que decidimos echar un vistazo. Resultó muy bueno. Tuvimos una comida encantadora, grandes porciones. Servido por un personal encantador. Al principio estábamos preocupados ya que no éramos residentes en el hotel, pero no hay de qué preocuparse. Nos sentimos muy cómodos en estos agradables alrededores. Volveríamos algún tiempo.

Pensé que los precios eran un poco caros, pero la comida era muy buena. La hamburguesa y papas fritas eran sabrosas y grandes porciones. El ambiente interior era bastante acogedor y el personal era muy educado y amable. Acogiendo con beneplácito, incluso como no residentes al hotel. En general, una buena experiencia aquí.

A small selection of food choices which were homemade. I had the burger which was huge with homemade chips. Extremely well presented and filling. Staff are really friendly.

We stayed here so had lunch & dinner here on the first day...The food was pretty good, best table is next to the fire. Although mega understaffed, stood at the bar for over 5 minutes until being served as one man was initially trying to run room service and bar service. There were handymen working on a wall next to the table stating how dirty the wallpaper was and how many jobs they had to do; not ideal to hear right before check in. Staff were trying their best with the service. Very annoying children who were out of control running around, rolling on the floor and screaming on both visits; not our scene or what we expect. But the food was good! Photos attached.

Encantadora ubicación, la comida está bien.Nos detuvimos en La Taberna en el Crown para almorzar, pasando.La sopa que se anunciaba era zanahoria y cilantro, pero cuando se entregaba era una verdura de otoño que parecía un cuenco de agua con algunas verduras flotando. Gusto sobre lo mismo. La camarera se disculpó y dijo que el chef lo había cambiado sin que ella lo supiera. El sándwich de pollo, tocino y tomate con lechuga era delicioso, pero no tenía tocino. Baguette de carne estaba bueno.Caro por lo que era.

Tuve una encantadora estancia de 3 noches. La comida en el restaurante era buena y el servicio siempre con una sonrisa. Habitación cómoda, muy limpia. Las instalaciones de ocio son buenas, la piscina era cálida y muy limpia, aunque no tenía jacuzzi. trabajando. La sauna y la sala de vapor son buenas. El hotel estaba tranquilo, no estaba seguro de cómo sería una boda allí. Cerca de Keswick y Cockermouth. Viajamos a Carlisle a 25 minutos en coche.

A pesar de parecer decente desde el exterior, el interior es anticuado y necesita un poco de cariño. Fuimos a tomar el té (el lado de la taberna) y aunque el personal era muy servicial y amable, la comida deja mucho que desear. Demasiado caro, no de una calidad particularmente buena y las opciones limitadas nos hicieron sentir un poco cortos, cambiados. Es una ubicación brillante y podría ser mucho mejor. Escuchamos que había una gran fiesta en el otro restaurante al mismo tiempo, lo que podría explicar algo de esto, pero en realidad no es una buena excusa. Mucho mejor a lugares para ir, así que mantente alejado si puedes.

Me and my partner are staying at the castle inn hotel for a couple of nights and the meal is included in the first evening. So we were informed by the hotel that our meal will be in the tavern, and at first we were both sceptical. We came down to the tavern and we were greeted by a very friendly female member of staff at the bar. She handed us the menu and told us we could sit wherever we like and said she would be over to see us in a minute. She came over very quickly to take our drinks order then said she would give us more time to decide on our meal order, and said we could have starters and a main or main and dessert. We opted for main and dessert and she came back over a few minutes later. We ordered the sirloin steak and steak and ale pie. I had the steak and it was cooked perfectly, just how I like it, and it was full of taste. The chips were hands down the best chips I've ever had (triple cooked chips). My partner said the steak and ale pie was brilliant but she couldn't finish it as she had way too much. I then had the sticky toffee pudding which was really nice and my partner kept it simple and had ice cream. I honestly don't understand the poor reviews that I've seen for this place as my experience has been very good, but I guess we all experience things differently.

Having stayed on a camp site nearby, we dropped in for dinner with a dog and young toddler without a booking.

Both ordered the sirloin steaks with chips which were lovely, then followed these with one sticky toffee pudding with ice cream and one cheese and biscuit platter. Good choice on the menu and the service was brilliant.

Ordered a BLT and a chicken ranch sandwich. BLT was predominantly tomato in mayonnaise (already mixed!), possibly a tub of sandwich filler?! Chicken sarnie, ranch nowhere to be seen and wafer thin chicken! Pile of manly lettuce on each plate - pointless.

Lovely pleasant staff plenty of drinks choices would like to see a pub menu I.e pie chips n peas etc at night not the hotel restaurant menu Afternoon tea was a little disappointing too having a choice of sandwiches, would be a start

We arrived today from Yorkshire staying at the castle inn hotel. No complaints!

Are at the Tavern last night. Such a good choice on the menu - has 3 courses each and all were lovely. Thank you for a lovely evening!

Burger not the best a bit tasteless for the price. Happy with the staff frendley and service. Surroundings nice enough.

Muy decepcionado en este lugar. Nos detuvimos para tomar una copa y comer algo en el camino de regreso a nuestro alojamiento de vacaciones, ya que se veía muy bien desde el exterior, pero desde el momento en que entramos supimos que no comeríamos allí. El área del bar se parece a un antiguo mostrador de recepción del hotel con solo una selección de dos mesas sucias con sillas de tina sucia para sentarse o dos mesas altas. El resto del bar está vacío aparte de las sillas altas para niños. Los baños son monótonos y necesitan una reforma. En general, todo el lugar emite un aire de cansancio y no es lo que uno imagina como una 'taberna'. Solo merece 3 estrellas debido a la vista desde la ventana y el personal agradable de guardia.

Mi esposa y nos registramos en el hotel en la tarde del 1 de marzo para una estadía de una noche reservada por mi esposa como un regalo especial para mi 65 o cumpleaños. Nos dijeron en la recepción que el Castle Inn estaba abierto todo el día para comer. Decidimos comer temprano y entramos a las 5. ¡30 que nos digan que no estaban sirviendo comida hasta las 6 pm! Aparentemente solo había dos cocineros y estaban preparando comida. Decidimos esperar y pedimos nuestra comida, plato principal de pescado y papas fritas para mí y mi esposa tenía bistec, con papas fritas tradicionales y una salsa azul. Mientras que la comida llegó no mucho después de que el bistec de mi esposa era difícil y tenía la salsa equivocada y nos quejamos al personal que se disculpó. No fue culpa y el servicio fue bueno. Algún tiempo después llegó un nuevo bistec por sí mismo entregado por el gerente de servicio. Para cuando el resto llegó la comida de reemplazo de mi esposa, el bistec estaba frío. Nos quejamos al encargado de servicio que nos ofreció un postre (que ya estaba incluido con la comida) o bebidas complementarias a modo de compensación. ¡Mi esposa no bebe alcohol! La actitud indiferente de los gerentes de servicio era molesta y todo lo que podía decir era que lamentaba que no estuviéramos contentos con la comida y que no pudiéramos hacer nada más para ayudarnos. Para empeorar las cosas, mi esposa había pedido queso y galletas para el postre y, cuando llegó, ¡las galletas estaban viejas! En general, la comida terrible, el servicio al cliente terrible. Aunque se comercializa como un hotel Best Western, en realidad es de propiedad privada. Mi esposa se quejó en la recepción del hotel cuando nos marchamos a la mañana siguiente, pero tampoco fueron muy serviciales. A nuestro regreso a casa, mi esposa habló con un "gerente" que aparentemente estaba "a un paso" de los propietarios, y

We stayed at the hotel and had a three course dinner included in our stay. Whilst it was typically pub grub, the staff were polite, effecient and welcoming. Food was nicely presented and perfectly fine. Good value.

We had drinks, afternoon tea and a bar meal here. Everything was lovely, the afternoon tea was yummy and plenty to choose from. The meal was excellent and the members of staff were friendly and nothing was too much trouble.

Llamamos para una cena mientras estábamos de vacaciones ya que estábamos cerca. Fue muy lindo, un lugar realmente agradable.

Paramos para almorzar aquí. The Tavern carece de ambiente. Sin embargo, aunque los sándwiches estaban en el lado caro (7,50 incluyendo patatas fritas y una ensalada pequeña) fueron excelentes, teníamos tres tipos diferentes y todos eran de primera clase, buen pan, generosamente cortados y rellenos y con ingredientes de buena calidad. El servicio fue agradable y eficiente.

Es una pena. Es un hotel tan hermoso, pero nos hemos desanimado cada vez que volvemos. Los alrededores son la razón de 2 estrellas en lugar de una.

Como pasado de un trato de escapatorias secretas con el Best Western hotel Bassenthwiate tuvimos una noche en la taberna adjunta al hotel en lugar de en el restaurante del hotel. El primer plato, gambas machacadas cajún, estaban deliciosos y recién preparado. Sin embargo, mi esposa y yo fuimos por el confit de pato para un plato principal. El resultado fue una pierna de pato exagerada y no confitada de pato, como se describe. Las patatas lyonnaise y las zanahorias chantonay obviamente quedaron del almuerzo del domingo y las zanahorias en particular estaban arrugadas y prácticamente incomestibles. No hace falta decir que comimos fuera para nuestras próximas dos comidas de la tarde.

We had lunch there today £7.50 for a sandwich and £5.50 for soup. Sandwich was ok but overpriced. Soup was tinned tomato served with v small bits of bread - uninspiring and I felt ripped off. Lady who served us was nice and very efficient.

Visité aquí para refrescarse después de caminar 8 millas al sol. El jardín del local se veía muy bien, pero para los huéspedes del hotel (creo). El asiento exterior para los huéspedes del bar estaba en el aparcamiento junto a la carretera principal. No hubo indicios de que pudiéramos usar el jardín. El personal era distante y parecía bastante miserable en un día soleado tan precioso (probablemente porque estaban atrapados en el interior) Todo el ambiente del lugar daba una impresión de cansancio. Lo siento pero no lo recomendaría.

We loved this place, the food was very good but the staff were excellent. Service was prompt and efficient, ,accommodating and the selection of dishes very good indeed.

One big stay lovely room clean and comfortable. Food in bar very filling. Lovely local beers that they allowed us to try before we buy.

The food was ok ,especially the red Thai curry, that was v good, with a good selection of drinks, staff very friendly although looked a bit short handed ,but a pleasant visit.

I have just visited the castle inn for a much needed catch up with my family. There were 10 of us in today so we booked in advance. My cousin very kindly made he booking.

Stayed over for business, there is a good choice on the menu and a daily special board, I had the Pan Fried Salmon and Flat Iron Steak during my stay, both very good.

Nice place for decent pub food. Halloumi sticks for starter were pretty tasty and steak pie was looking good too until the peas were tasted. I'm not sure what was wrong with them but I'd hazard a guess that beef dripping had been involved somewhere. Peas are peas and have no need of trying to be clever with them. Shame they spoiled an otherwise decent pub meal. My partner had a dish she really enjoyed but felt her kale had similar treatment. Either a mix up with butter in the kitchen or a strange deliberate choice to sex up some veg. I do wish I'd queried it at the time. Decent pub food but mind the peas.

Staying elsewhere in Keswick but stopped by for a meal on the off chance.

We visited on a Friday evening having just driven past looking for somewhere for dinner. It wasn't too busy so we didn't have to wait for a table. I was with my Mum who ordered an orange juice. Having been asked if she wanted a pint of a half we were somewhat surprised when the waitress brought out a half pint glass with a small mixer bottle of orange juice. This was 125ml and filled barely a third of the glass!!

Felt really sorry for the staff who were running around like mad. Basically I would say the place was understaffed. We waited ages for the food, when it came it was nice but we were also on the verge of being past eating. Took us simply ages to get served our meals. Would not go again.

Came recently to the Castle Inn for lunch with friends. Unfortunately there are no vegan options but the chips were good!!

My wife and I spent a long weekend at the Castle Inn hotel and we really enjoyed ourselves. Really helpful staff, good food with a good size pool, steam room and Sauna,

Después de un día ajetreado en una boda en el cercano Hall nos Armathwaite cayó en el Castle Inn para la cena y un poco de paz y tranquilidad, lo cual era perfecto para nosotros. Buena cerveza a mano con sabrosa comida de bar (mejillones,...

Llamado al bar a por una taza de té mientras estábamos esperando para acceder a nuestras vacaciones. El barman parecía acosadas pensamos que era porque él estaba en su propia vida. Así que volvimos más tarde para una comida con amigos. . . . Cerveza...

La comida era estupenda. Paté de arranque era casero. Principal merluza estaba perfectamente preparada. El servicio era excelente. Podría ser un poco más de variedad y sólo por esa razón que no he dado a este lugar una calificación de cinco.

We dropped in to the Castle Inn for swift pint and to watch the Six Nations. The bar area itself is pretty nice put unfortunately they only had a very limited number of beers in. In fairness it is better suited to a sit down meal but still, a disappointing choice of beers.

After a stormy night travelling to Bassenthwaite we arrived at the Castle inn Tavern which was fairly quiet at the time but very warm and welcoming. Food and drink ordered we were served quickly with some very acceptable drinks followed by the shared starter we ordered. Allowing a small gap from finishing the starters to the main course arriving all of the food was excellent. Recommended without hesitation !!

Local to me I have been before for the two course £6.95 deal.First time excellent this time not so good.Soup was vegetable it was hot tasty nicely served with a fresh bread roll.The main was a burger and chips.The burger was either microwaved or had been precooked and reheated very average indeed the bun it came and the chips were fine.The service was fine perhaps they should get the waitress to cook the food!!.Did not have the heart to complain for change out of £7.My old Boss dead and gone now likened eating to filling a van with Diesal, if you don't fill it it wont go he used to say.well that was about as good as my meal was my tank was full and it kept me going till night.

Called in for an evening meal a few days ago. Very noisy bar area, but restaurant quite civilised. Pleasant barman and decent service. I had some delicious sounding meat pie and my wife had fish and chips. We both looked at each other after a few mouthfuls and raised eyebrows with grimaces were evident. Quite how chips and peas can be rendered totally tasteless is a mystery to me, but even worse was the cardboard like puff pastry and a pie containing lots of dry meat with flavourless gravy. I can only surmise that the chips are frozen and the pie is not made on the premises. Either that or the chef never bothers to taste anything. My wife's meal was similarly poor. The prices are average,but the quality poor. There are many eateries within a short drive with good to excellent food so this place really needs to do something drastic.

Called in on a Tuesday evening just for a quick meal.As you go in the main entrance there is nothing welcoming and you cannot see a reception desk or any staff. We followed the signs to the bar area. This s a bit disjointed with a big area then a dogleg turn through a smaller area and through to the bar at the back. With the layout customers cannot see the bar nor can the bar staff see the customers.The decor is dull/bland with a red check carpet, black leather chairs and dark wood tables. Corporate decor, nothing modern and bright or even Lakeland twee.Bar service slow as staff under training and as there is only one till this held up everything.Food, steak pie just ok, gammon egg and chips, small gammon but reasonable quality, egg on the cold side. Although staff delivered the food no one came round to ask if more drinks were required.There were only a handful of customers in the bar and I could not see anyone in the restaurant. Before landing at the Castle we had tried two other venues that were full to bursting and we could not get a table. This possibly tells you more than my review and should tell the management that they need to up their game in every area.

We have visited here for 10 years always good value however last visit for afternoon tea 2 weeks ago very poor value half the amount you use to get and nothing special. Today we had pensioners lunch castle burger half size use to be and chips were poor use to be hand made now par baked. Would rather you put price up then be disappointed with inferior food. No wonder we were the only ones there. Hope you improve or we will not be back.

After a long days walk I popped in with the wife, food looked expensive however don't mind if I get value. I did not. Asked for the lamb, told sorry we are out, went for the burger. How I wished I had not. The burger came on a plate with a few chips and nothing else. The burger was absolutely tasteless, I complained and the waiter muttered his surprise and left. The two burgers cost £25 for the two, if this had been one of those a restaurants where you pay what you consider is a fair price I would have offered a fiver for the two and 4 quid of that would have been for the supermarket oven chips. I get the impression that places like this don't really care about customers they are happy to offer poor meals in the knowledge another batch of tourists will arrive. You are better going to the Sun Inn where the food is good and the welcome as warm as their log fire.

This is a Best Western Hotel with Pub attached. It is tidy but characterless with poor lighting and dull decor.The menu is uninspired even the specials are taken from Frankie and Benny's.Three of us went for the Castle burger at £13.50 . We recieved a low quality thick burger with a sausage meat consistancy with chips cooked from frozen nothing else on the plate.A fish and chips were voted average but at £14 poor value.My advice dont eat here unless they are doing a 2 for 1 deal.

Noticed this deal promoted inside the hotel some time ago as a midweek deal at lunchtime.Visited today we had garlic mushrooms to start followed by liver and onions with mash and peas.Nice portion lovely taste all served by nice pleasant helpful staff.Would highly recommend you give it a try.

Just nipped in for a light meal.Very nice. Good selection on the menu. Very tasty and well presented. Staff attentive and quick service. Very happy with my visit.

We had a meal in the bar section rather than the main restaurant, a window table where we had some view of the lake. We eventually settled on the Sunday roast but it was not obvious that this was an option. Most place that sure a Sunday roast usually have big sign outside - trumpeting and inviting. If fact there are few sign outside the hotel indicating the ( very good ) eating options. However I can definitely recommend the roast option on the menu. All well cooked and with a generous Helping of various vegetables.a vert tempting range of starters also.Staff at the table very helpful but can't say the same of the staff at the bar who were not particularly welcoming and did not seem bothered to explain the dining option available to us.

Myself and my husband decided to visit the castle inn for a bar meal, after being told we need to walk around to the side entrance to the bar there was a member of staff an older guy with glasses on behind the bar polishing glasses the time is just after 12 midday on monday 31st November.He saw us outside but kept hiding from us still polishing the glasses. We couldn't believe it he clearly saw us and knew we wanted to be let in.We are local living just 7miles away we definitely won't be paying you a visit in the near future and we strongly recommend you have a word with the member of staff in question about how to treat paying customers.

Called in for a drink on way back to our nearby caravan, £4 a pint of lager and almost £6 for a glass of vinegar, sorry I meant white wine, was contemplating eating there but afraid to look at bar menu after drink prices, I wouldn't mind if it was a great place, but we were sat at the side of the road opposite a bus stop, and that was their beer garden !!!

We had Sunday lunch there. The starters were the best part. My beef was ok but the turkey was tasteless - they used the same gravy for both!! The vegetables were cooked well.

The food is very good and not expensive, portions are a good size. The staff have always been very friendly and helpful on every occasion we have been. The inn is very comfortable and very clean

Fine place for lunchtime food. Comfortable bar and friendly service in lovely location at the top of Bassenthwaite lake. Reasonably priced menu.

Nicer than average pub food at reasonable prices. Short walk from Armathwaite Hall!Will use again if in the area.

We passed this place en route to the Lake District Wildlife Park, so chose to eat our evening meal here on the way home. Just to reiterate another reviewer's post, one of our group uses a wheelchair, so the steps into the restaurant are tricky to negotiate; but once at the table, we all enjoyed the ambience. The bar lady and waiter were attentative and professional. Can highly recommend the salmon which was cooked to perfection and didn't have the horrible scaly skin attched to it. Each mouthful was a riot of differing flavours, I cleared my plate. The steak pies and chicken casear salad were delicious too. We couldn't leave without eating pudding so had the lemon tarte which was brilliant; my only complaint is it should've been 60% bigger!! The quinelle of clotted cream complimented it nicely. There were 2 other flavours of ice cream on offer apart from the usual vanilla, strawberry and chocolate: pistachio and expresso which were divine. A really lovely dining experience, if you ignore the judging looks from the snooty diners and the best meal I've had in Cumbria, and I've been here one week.

We ate here yesterday 3 of us had the burger and1 had the belly pork the food was great the burger hit the spot after a day walking. The setting is spectacular and we. Sat in the garden first for a drink to enjoy the sun and view. The cost is reasonable as well.

Enjoyed the food, great menu, the service was excellent and would definitely return if we came back to the area. Good value for money and nice ambience.

We visited this Hotel as part of our week in the Lakes, on entering it looked clean and presentable, we ordered meals and drinks. Two ribeye steaks and a Thai green curry from the specials board. The food eventually arrived, and looked reasonable, although the two rib eye's had two 4" donuts on them which were supposed to be Onion rings, as we bit into them, they were cold and oused fat into our mouths, the taste was disgusting. We called over the waiter when he eventually appeared, he apologised went off to bring some more. The manager arrived and apologised however the damage was done and we couldn't get the taste of the cold fat/batter out of our mouths. The stake was also tough. No body came over again to see if we or our meal was OK, most of the accomplishments were left..When I went to pay, I complained to the bar staff who served us and he told us we should have complained, i pointed out we had, to both the waiter and manager. The manger overheard and came over to see what the problem was, I pointed out our disappointment with the meal, explaining why it was not correct. He listened to my complaint and to be fair to him, he reduced the bill by one meal.Which I saw as a fair compromise.However I feel that serving food, too this poor standard lets the whole image of Best Western down, I know they can serve much better quality food elsewhere, so why not here!!!! 29/10/14

What a lovely hotel in a splendid setting.Looked excellent value for OAP special at£7 for 2 courses.However my cod fillet was more like a gougon!Food was actually very good as were the staff.My wife's liver was rated spot on.So you should try this hotel and hope the chef knows his fillet from his gougon.

After pre-booking our Sunday lunch, we were bitterly disappointment when we discovered that the restaurant was inaccessible to one of our party due to the 5 steps. Having found a seat in the bar and ordered the Sunday lunch that we had pre- booked, a 30 minute wait ensued, one meal arrived (which was not as described, i.e. minus sauce) we were told that the veg weren't ready for the others. Whilst one of the party began to eat alone, the others waited a further 10 minutes, only to find that their meals arrived without the sauce described on the menu. After speaking to the very polite staff, the sauce arrived. Pudding was good and arrived together (a bonus). We were given the first meal free and complementary drinks as an apology, but it will be a long time before our next visit. When so much is wrong it spoils the whole meal. (Locals with visitor).

We really enjoyed the food here however, the vegetarian with us, requested a Greek Salad ...which came with chicken !!! When we highlighted this, they did replace it with a non-meat salad. Also the 'Fish, Chips & Mushy Peas' arrived with Garden Peas and NOT Mushy Peas ! It would have been nice if we were told about this, when we placed our order ! This aside, the quality of food was good.

We stayed at this hotel over the Easter break and we were delighted that the friendliness and helpfulness we experienced on the phone when we made the booking was continued when we arrived at the hotel. The staff could not do enough to help us which made us feel very relaxed and welcome after a horrible journey on the motorway. One small point is that the internet reception was rather variable so that we gave up in the end, however, as we were there for a break so we did not mind too much.We had booked a package which included breakfast and dinner and we have often found that dinner can be rather 'average'. Not here though!! Dinner was of a high quality and the service was professional and attentive. We would certainly stay at this hotel again and I would recommend this hotel without reservation.

Always enjoy supper at the Castle Inn - great fajitas and quick service, prices about average, would recommend a visit.

We were very much looking forward to an anniversary meal here during our week away. Menu looked fab if a little on the expensive side but I don't mind paying for quality and the bar looked comfortable and spacious and staff friendly.All I can say is the bar menu was way over priced and the food disappointing. Rocket salad was wilted, mushroom starter swimming in oil, Lamb shank in Rosemary jus nearly blew my head off, rather than the complimentary whiff of the herb, the whole plate stank of the stuff and overwhelmed the less than completely tender meat and lumpy mash potato. Beer battered onion rings however had only the smallest amount of onion and the steak appeared to be suffering from the same oily death as the mushroom starter. Has to be said the steak was well cooked and tasty though. Other niggles were incorrect cutlery in the form of side knife and sweet forks rather than main knife and forks. The waiter cleared our starters and asked if we would like to see the dessert menu???? Noticed other guests asking for cutlery and bits of their order which was missing too.I am so sorry that it cost me nearly £60 for two starters, two main coursed and a couple of drinks for such a wasted night out, we didn't even bother to stay for pudding as it was such a let down.Only semi consolation was they were so useless they forgot to add my large glass of Pino to the bill. Oh well, champers and the rest of the night in front of the TV it is then!Sorry Castle, your staff very very pleasant but need far more training!

We recently used the Castle Inn Hotel for a conference which lasted 4 days. From our initial contact to the final day the staff couldn't have been more helpful. There are plenty of different conference rooms to choose from for all your needs, the food was excellent and varied, the staff were attentive and nothing was a problem. Some of our conference guests stayed overnight, everyone spoke highly of the accommodation and the service. They even accommodated one members of staff's dog in their dog friendly room and included a late checkout. Although the Wi-Fi isn't the best for conference facilities, they have assured us they are looking into this. I think is depended on how many people were using the faciliites at one time. We would highly recommend the Castle Inn to hold conferences/functions, there is a good mixture of facilities, plenty of space and very helpful staff, including a high quality of food all at a reasonable price and a good location for people travelling from around Cumbria and further afield. Thank you to the reception staff, especially Allison who was very helpful, and a big thank you to Sarah, Paul, Anna and the rest of the staff at the Castle Inn, they really are a credit to the hotel!

There were 10 of us on a family celebration and we all enjoyed the meal immensely. The staff were attentive, particularly one of the male staff, who had a great way with the kids!

We visited with friends for New Years Eve 2013/14 and had a thoroughly great evening from the traditional Scottish Piper through to the magician and fantastic 5 course gala dinner with some of the most tasty beef my friends and I had ever tasted. The only down side was the DJ who was a poor choice and didn't engage people to dance or enjoy the evening.The other point to note for the General Manager is the reception staff did not want to book us into the Gala dinner unless we stayed at the hotel and this could have lost them a 5 person booking on the evening if it hadn't been for the excellent Dining Manager on the evening.

21 members of our family including baby twins and a 3 year old dined at the Castle Inn Hotel, we enjoyed wonderful food from a very varied menu in a lovely private dining room. We had a 3 course meal, the food was superb and the service was excellent, the staff were very attentive and pleasant, Highly recommended

Handily located on the A591. Good menu with "specials board" staff very pleasanty and obliging. Food well prepared and nicely served.