Skitby House in Carlisle

The food is great. Service is friendly. The place looks good. So why 3 stars? It’s great if you can get booked. There is no online booking I can find. This time I phoned on Monday to book for Saturday. No answer - answer phone. I left all details but no one got back to me. Phoned Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and no one answered. No point in leaving message when it’s not answered. Not the first time this has happened. On several occasions I have got through there were functions on! Eventually you say “what’s the point?”

Me and my husband got married at Skitby on Friday 23rd August 2024. From our first viewing and meeting with Katherine, we knew this was the place for us! Everything went so smoothly throughout the planning process and on our big day. The staff at Skitby go over and beyond, especially Katherine who was so helpful with everything, we are so grateful we got to spend our wedding day at such a gorgeous venue. The food was amazing (huge portions!) and alcohol reasonably priced, all our guests commented on this too! Nothing was too much hassle and we cannot fault a thing! We 100% recommend to anyone 💙💙 Love Rhiannon & Luke Surtees!

Very good experience both times I have been. the food is beautifully cooked and served with a large portion of mixed vegetables well cooked. The starters are a bit small but the main courses are large. Service is good and very friendly. The prices were very reasonable indeed. Well worth a visit.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Skitby House in Carlisle, and it was a truly remarkable experience. The historic estate exudes an air of elegance and sophistication, combined with modern amenities that catered to every need. The attentive and professional staff ensured that every aspect of my visit was seamless and enjoyable. The picturesque surroundings and well-maintained grounds added to the overall appeal of the property. I would highly recommend Skitby House to anyone seeking a refined and memorable stay in Carlisle.

Attended a wedding here. Food, staff, location, service and premises were all excellent. Chris went way above and beyond what could be expected of the owner, helping out guests and making the whole experience outstanding.

Skitby gave us the absolute perfect setting for our son and daughter-in-law's wedding on Monday 3rd June. Chris, Catherine and their team did us proud and you really got the feeling they were enjoying us being there with them. From start to finish they were accommodating and flexible to our needs, nothing was too much trouble from food and drink to specific timings amongst other things. The decor in the building's rooms is utterly breathtaking providing the perfect backdrop for beautiful photos to capture our son's special day. The food buffet provided for our meal was delicious and nothing was 'ordinary' about the food selection choices. We thankyou from the bottom of our hearts for creating the 'perfect' day for us all to enjoy.

Skitby gave us the absolute perfect setting for our son and daughter-in-law's wedding on Monday 3rd June. Chris, Catherine and their team did us proud and you really got the feeling they were enjoying us being there with them. From start to finish they were accommodating and flexible to our needs, nothing was too much trouble from food and drink to specific timings amongst other things. The decor in the building's rooms is utterly breathtaking providing the perfect backdrop for beautiful photos to capture our son's special day. The food buffet provided for our meal was delicious and nothing was 'ordinary' about the food selection choices. We thankyou from the bottom of our hearts for creating the 'perfect' day for us all to enjoy.

We came for Sunday Lunch today and we were not disappointed. We had a superb meal which we could not fault. Roast beef and Pork Loin. Katherine who served us is a very warm and competent person who certainly knows how to make you feel welcome. Definitely the best Sunday lunch we have had in a very long time. We will definitely be back. Elaine & Tony

Having had a previously good experience, we decided to go back. There is no online booking so I phoned several times. Each time I got an answer phone. Eventually I left a message with details of the booking I wanted to make. No call back. The next day I emailed them. No reply again. This is no way to do business.

Fantastic venue for a wedding, lovely decor, brilliant friendly staff and great food.

My sister got married here yesterday. The food was amazing and the staff were phenomenal. We couldn't have asked for a better day.

Had afternoon tea for Mother’s Day and it was the nicest afternoon tea! Staff were all amazing as always very polite and attentive and will do anything for their customers. Lovely atmosphere and a beautiful place. Thank you to Chris and his team we had a lovely afternoon 🥰❤️

A couple of missteps by the venue chef and staff made celebrating my Mum's birthday disappointing. Rather than comment, here's a list of what they could improve. 1. Lighting - I had to use my iPhone light to read the menus. When asked if the spot lights above the table could be turned on, we were told they didn't work. 2. Music - looped tape from 90's we heard on third rotation. Too loud and choice of pop music not conducive to an evening meal 3. Service - 20 minutes after being seated before waitress approached table to take drinks orders. Not a busy night only 8 other people dining. 4. Food - When I returned Shredded duck in spring onion tian served with Popodom not wonton strips. The waitress defended the food suggesting I didn't know what a cian was. It forced me to tell her the fooed was disgusting presented like a tin of wet cat food, an unidentifiable chopped meat served cold in a sauce of indeterminate flavor before she took it away and took the item off our bill. 5. Food - My father in law ordered Sea bass and was after placing the order that he would be getting Bream. The waitress told him this was a white fish and just the same as sea bass. He's too polite to fight back, but was heard to say it made him want to throw up. This may be a good place for a wedding, but for whatever reason, the team behind Skitby have given up caring, and that's a great shame.

Steak was very good, Beer wasn't too bad either 🙂

Absolutely incredible service, food and atmosphere

Went to the Christmas demo day, great fun with really relaxed atmosphere, food was gorgeous and staff always helpful and friendly.

There isnt enough stars to leave a genuine feed back...its higher rated Excellent food !! Excellent hosting "Catherine" Excellent staff!! Excellent chef !! Been coming for the past ten years and NEVER EVER !! been disappointed And not to mention how good the shop is ...

Lovely place , very atmospheric

Great venue for my friends wedding, friendly staff really helped make the day

Came here for a wedding, lovely intimate venue decorated beautfiully.

Had my daughters wedding here it was Fantastic very chilled, great food,fantastic staff.would definaty recommend.

Fantastic place, I've been several times, never had anything less than a good meal

Food was amazing once it came! Took 40 mins for our first course to come, but that could have been due to us being a large group. As well as this the service was lacking to begin with, with members of the party sitting with empty glasses for a good while. When the food did come it was spot on however, and I don't think there was a single complaint. Service as well got better as the place became quitter so was most likely due to the volume of people in at once. Portion sizes were very large, and the design of the place is stunning. I would recommend to go!

Lovely lunchtime treat and the best sticky toffee pudding.

Had the absolute pleasure of hosting my own styled shoot here, also had the opportunity to capture some memories for a wedding also! Katherine is literally the best of the best nothing is too much for her, she doesn't stop! 100% recommend 👌🏻

Gorgeous venue, friendly staff, a little out of the way, but worth the drive.

Excellent service & Sunday roast.

Absolutely brilliant evening at skitby for daughters birthday. Couldn't have been more helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. Food wonderful. Can't recommend skitby House enough. Thank you once again to everyone who made it such a special evening.

Had the pleasure of your takeaway Sunday lunch at Green Acres Caravan Park. Delivered hot and tasty, really good portions of beef, roasties, new potatoes and veg. Sticky toffee pudding was light, served with lashings of toffee sauce and custard. Definitely recommended!

Beautiful place, fantastic staff and amazing food, perfect XxX

Meeting with supper, very enjoyable

Excellent country restaurant for a quality Sunday Lunch, very friendly staff and nice atmosphere.

Had a fun filled African themed party!

Great New Year Eve party. Food great. The staff very helpful and pleasant. Music , a duo, pitched at just the right level so you could still have a conversation. Ambience spot on. As a party we have been there a few times and it is consistently good. Well done all!

Can't fault skitby at all clean good food nicely decorated and faultless staff

Haven't had food - went to check out wedding venue

This review is from an entertainer perspective. The staff at Skitby are caring and friendly and they are keen to ensure all is good. (Unsure why venue staff often ask, "are you able to speak on your microphone?" Surely it's within the job description of a mobile DJ to announce the first dance and encourage dancing etc?) Anyhow, once the satnav did its job, we noticed upon arrival the venue was clean, with plenty of space for dancing. To the left there is a smaller seating area which is jointly used for the evening food. This is a good wedding venue, with a lovely atmosphere even for smaller wedding parties. My only concern is why in November do they leave the front door open? We felt the cold wind smelling of cigarettes many times. (Sorry, on this occasion we didn't have time to visit the buffet.)

Good venue and excellent staff.

Absolutely enjoyed everything , food was amazing and staff

My son held his wedding here, from the ceremony to the evening disco. Cannot fault the venue. Great ambience, beautiful decor, food was superb and the service and organisation was flawless. Thanks to all the staff for a fabulous day.

Had a lovely afternoon tea for my 60th.

This turned out to be the perfect wedding venue. Our daughter had frequent zoom based updates throught her booking experience and everything ran perfectly on the day. Catherine the host managed the whole event flawlessly. The food was amazing and made the whole day a beautiful experience. A big thank you from all who attended.

Have been twice for an anniversary party and a wedding. Both times the staff were excellent, very good about my gluten free needs. So helpful as I was on crutches. Would definitely recommend 👌

Nice venue,clean and hygienic.Friendly staff.Car parking adequate.👍

Wedding occasion...just perfect. Kind staff and beautiful place. Food amazing and tailored to requirements. I loved it all. Perfect space for dancing!

Was at a wedding on Saturday just gone and it was brilliant, great staff and food, quick bar, plenty of selection of drinks. Lost (More like drunkenly misplaced) my wallet on the night and was either found by staff or someone else who handed it in to the bar and they kept it safe for me to collect. Thanks for the night and for finding my wallet!

Super miejsce aby zjeść dobry posiłek a prz tym się zrelaksować .

Spent a lovely evening here at a wedding. All the staff worked really hard all night to make it a magical evening. Prices at the bar are really good not over priced like some places.

After looking at loads of wedding venues and hearing such good things about Skitby we enquired about having a viewing and the wonderful Katherine got back to us and booked us in. We then visited for a meal and that was the decider. Katherine was amazing from start to finish, she helped us with decor ideas, meal and drinks options and worked with us to make everything just perfect on the day. Katherine was always on hand to answer our questions (especially a million questions from a nervous groom on the morning of the wedding!) and guide us through the process. Nothing was too much trouble and everything went so smoothly on the big day, all of the team were lovely and helpful. Skitby is an absolutely beautiful venue, inside and out, and so versatile with its different areas; accommodating an intimate ceremony, relaxed wedding breakfast and a great dance floor and different spaces for mingling. Plenty of spots for great photos as well. The food was amazing, the canapés, the wedding breakfast, the buffet, the meals we’ve had there beforehand, always 11/10. We loved every second of our experience with Skitby, highly recommend.

Fantastic venue for any occasion. Superb staff and excellent food.

Amazing venue ! staff very friendly . nothing too much trouble .would thoughly recommend

Excellent venue, full of character with wonderful staff.

We attended a family wedding. The venue is stunning, staff all great and the food was gorgeous.

Had a wedding reception there recently, beautiful place, great food, very good service and cheap bar. Would definitely consider it for future parties..

Friend had her wedding here nice really beautiful and boho venue. I would recommend . only issue no baby changing area

Fantastic venue and lovely staff

Had a nice lunch for a mum and baby event. Staff were friendly, decent sized car park. I really liked the building and the decor.

We were celebrating my daughter's 40th birthday and this was organised by her brother as a surprise for the family.

Nice place great for anyone who wants to hold events- the bar seems to lack any wide range of ciders etc but overall nice clean place:)

Service was excellent - really lovely staff! Unfortunately the food was very bland and the decor was a bit strange. Do not recommend for vegetarians.

Gorgeous venue at which we attended a naming ceremony but you can see how the building also lends itself to other functions like weddings. It's not the largest place but that adds to the charm especially if you wanted something like a nice intimate wedding. The decor is gorgeous with exposed beams and stone floors but it is still modern enough not to look dated. Staff were courteous, polite, efficient and well turned out. The only thing that could be better but again this cannot be helped was the car park as it wasn't very big but again I suppose it was large enough for the size of the venue but some guests may need to park elsewhere.

Lovely rustic spot, lovely staff and great food. *Update* March '22. - it still lovely, still got lovely staff and superb food (afternoon tea is awesome)

The best food first class staff and services

Best wedding venue ever..staff were so helpful...the place was decorated like winter wonderland..food excellent..can't recommend enough

Very nice place had a lovely night celebrating friends wedding

WOW WOW WOW....THANKYOU to all at Skitby House for the amazing service, friendship, fantastic staff, chefs and all who were involved with the Hogarth ( Sott &Brookes ) Wedding Sat 20/11/21 Everything was 5* plus, and we can't thank you all enough. It is just the most magical, fabulous venue ever especially by starlight.❣ Thankyou again love from all of us xxxx

Really good wedding venue. Great layout & deco. Food really good well prepared & presented. Staff friendly & very helpful

Went to a wedding. Excellent venue

A lovely venue for a wedding,food was delicious and the staff were brilliant

Lovely Take away sunday dinner. Would have been better if they had delivered it. Lovely restaurant

I got married at Skitby House yesterday. It was absolutely fantastic!! The venue is stunning and Katherine and the team have been amazing from start to finish. I honestly cannot recommend Skitby enough. Just absolutely perfect!!

Fabulous venue - cannot wait to get married here 5 weeks today! 🤗💍

We booked in for Sunday lunch, although I was a little apprehensive givent he current climate, when we got to Skitby I felt immediately at ease. The lady greeted us and asked us to use the sanitiser, which we did, we were shown to our table and seated. The tables were more than 2 metres apart, which felt to me as if they really cared how their guests felt during the time spent there, and not trying to cram as many tables in as possible. The food was excellent and the staff very friendly and polite. I was asked whilst paying if I felt safe enough during my meal, this was such a nice thing to ask, and yes I did feel safe. We had a voucher from pre lockdown which they honoured. First time at Skitby House and will definately be back - such a lovely setting to have dinner or lunch. Thank You for making our Sunday relaxed and enjoyable in these hard times.

Got in here last minute for a restricted baby shower. Sunday lunch is reknown for being good and did not disappoint once again! Chef is doing a bloody good job! Beautifully decorated and catered to everything we needed to make our day special for our friend in these uncertain times. Can’t wait to be back :)

Attended a wedding at Skitby everything was great from the venue to the service received from the staff. VERY GOOD.

This is a beautifully decorated place, very comfortable and delicious food which is very reasonably priced. Not to be missed. Outside seating , lovely quiet area and large car parkThere is comfortable seating to use in the lounge area both before your meal and afterwards.

Wonderful staff really made us feel welcome, awesome food.

Murder mystery night never been to end before good fun and all to raise money for charity beautiful setting

First time here at a Rotary Event, fabulous food and service.

Skitby House is a fabulous wedding venue.

I enjoyed my mail but others in my group didn't find their meals enjoyable.

Just got back from having a meal here the food was very nice, but the service was very slow considering there was only one other couple in. After our main meal the table was cleared but we weren't asked if we would like dessert they seemed more interested in serving a few more couples that had arrived, after waiting some time and being ignored by the staff we decided to pay and leave. On paying for the meal we weren't even asked if everything was OK. Staff could do with some training.

Had a fantastic New Years party, this was the first time i had visited Skitby House and will definitely make a return in the near future. The quality of food for a New Years Eve function was tremendous, hot and very tasty, yes there was a slight delay between courses but considering the amount of people being served you all done well. The music by Room101 was excellent and kept the dance floor occupied until the end. The staff and management should be proud of the service you delivered on a very busy evening of the year and i will pass on to others those who would be looking for venues in the future. I look forward to returning and once again enjoy quality food and service at a slightly quieter ambiance........but that was News Years Eve, and a great night was had by our group of 8....keep up the good work.

Fantastic New Years Eve event. Great food , staff and band. Will book for next year.

Food was very good, but sadly the staff were very inexperienced and lacked any form of supervision and direction. If service had been better I would have rated them higher

I enjoyed the meal and was very pleased with what I ordered. The decor both inside and out was lovely. I only have one complaint and that is the staff seemed inexperienced but overall were pleasant

Nice looking restaurant with very nice food

Attended a christmas party last night at Skitby House.After having visited previously for a meal with friends and enjoying the experience so much, the bar was set quite high.The bar staff and waiting staff were excellent and coped well with the amount of people attending. There were a lot of people for the size of the venue, space was tight, the food was nice but portion sizes on the small side, well presented though.The entertainment on the night was disco music and a band called Room 101. Yhe band were very good but the music was so loud people were complaining of sore ears, not good at all !!A good night was had but could have been excellent with a few minor details and the music turning down.

Amazing venue with beautiful food and excellent staff.

We recently had our Golden Wedding celebration at Skitby House, and we and our guests were very pleased with the care taken to make sure our day was special. Kathryn was a perfect organiser, and the food from mulled wine and canapes on arrival, to the choice of puddings, was excellent. Coeliacs were well catered for. The venue itself was delightfully decorated. All in all my wife and I ehjoyed the whole event. Top marks !

Great food well recommend it friendly staff will be back

Love it just relocated here from Yorkshire . Now my local yeah

What an amazing place stunning inside and then the meal was beautiful everything was cooked with care and tasted fantastic. staff were so friendly would reccomend anybody to go there i will be returning for sure ☆☆☆☆☆

Excellent service and friendly staff👍

To Katherine and the staff, we can not thank you all enough for making our wedding day so special. Right from the start when we first went down to view Skitby House to leaving at the end of the night , Katherine and her staff were amazing. Katherine is both professional and knowledgeable. She can read her clients well as to their styles and needs. Any suggestions she makes are made with the intention of making your day the best it can possibly be. Arranging and communicating with her is easy and stress free. Keeping our secrets and surprises that both Claire and I had (and believe me we had a few!) and helping out to make sure when our surprises happened it all went well. The staff at Skitby House were all professional, attentive and friendly towards us and our guests making them feel at home. On the day, 21st September 2019, they truly pushed the boat out, serving drinks and beautiful food. Going around all our guests making sure they where all ok. I loved it when we made the train and had to tag people into ours and I tagged a few of the staff and they all said 'we can't as we are working' but yet with my cheeky smile and telling them it's my day so join in they all did helping me win the longest train haha. Our DJ, Simon Vogt (All Star Disco), also had a surprise of his own for us and when the glitter bomb went off it lifted the atmosphere to a whole new level. As Katherine came out to sweep it all up (health and safety and all that jazz), Claire took the brush off her (reluctantly she let it go) and I got one from the staff and everyone clapped and watched as we danced and tried to sweep the floor the roof was lifted with the cheers and laughter. Katherines face was a picture. I so hope Gavin Jacob Power (our Photographer) got!The grounds around Skitby House are just perfect and picturesque for getting the photos for memories and for just getting 5 minutes time out. The building is beautiful and very pretty both inside and out. We highly recommend this as a venue for all occasions.P.S. Check out there Sunday lunches, mid week menu and teas! Their service and food is of the exact same high standard!Fabulous!!

We dined here on a Sunday evening to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The meal was excellent and the service was very friendly and attentive without being over familiar. On top of all this, it was excellent value for money. I can understand why they recommend booking a table rather than just turning up; whilst it was not especially busy when we visited, the restaurant isn't particularly big, so I could imagine it filling up fairly quickly on a busy evening. I certainly expect to go back to Skitby House, but next time we might well go on a Friday or Saturday to try the full menu.

Lovely afternoon. Celebratory lunch for family birthday. Beautiful food, pleasant atmosphere.

Fantastic venue with great staff and lovely food!

Lovely wedding there yesterhighly recommend

Lovely Afternoon Tea with friends the other Sunday. Beautiful, fresh sandwiches, great selection of cakes and scones. Good service. All washed down with a great choice of teas (and a glass of Prosecco).