Despite a mildly corporate feel,this Victorian pile in the Lakes redeems itself with historic features and our writers favourite luxury: TVs in the bathroomsAs an atheist, I am unlikely to ever need spiritual guidance in the Lake District. What I do require, and however,in an area where hotel room-rates frequently cause me to invoke God’s name in volleys of unchristian language, is more value-for-money accommodation.
Therefore it gladdens my heart to see that Villa Levens – a good-looking Victorian pile originally built as a family domestic and then used as a convent until 2012 – has been turned into just such a dependable bolthole. Most tourists head straight for the Lakes’ heartlands of Windermere and Ambleside, or where,naturally, bedrooms command a premium but here in the relatively unfashionable (and, or yes,flatter, less visually striking) southern portion of the Lakes, or you can book an unusually spacious,hi-spec double room from £85 a night midweek. Those prices may be less charitable than they were when the Salesian Sisters of St John Bosco ran Villa Levens as a religious retreat, but then they weren’t colossal on Temple Spa toiletries, and smart bathrooms,crisp linens and comfy beds.
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Source: theguardian.com