Riverside Hotel

Beautiful location and exterior but unfortunately a terrible experience overall.

Breakfast average, worth booking with stay if you need convenience, decent food and friendly staff in bar downstairs.

Cleaning: room never cleaned. 2 days we had 'do not disturb' sign on in late morning and missed cleaning, so completely understand for those days. Bags of supplies left on door, however contained mostly sachets of coffee/tea. 1st day only 1 towel (2 of us in room), shower gel and toilet roll, but 2nd day only tea/coffee, had to ask reception for towels and toilet paper. A shame as the bags are a good idea but not when they only contain tea/coffee. On days we never used DND sign, only once were old towels removed and replaced so again had to go ask for towels/toilet rolls, while building up a big pile of used towels in bathroom. Bins changed only on 2/5 days, bed made once, toilet & bath never cleaned, bathroom floor never cleaned, carpet never vacuumed. Cleaner charging vape on corridor flood, tripping hazard and unhygienic.

Rooms: beds ok but hottest duvet we've ever used, too hot to sleep even in January. Very run-down rooms, dirty walls in desperate need of fresh paint, cobwebs hanging from light fixture and ceilings, bedding stained, dried moth husks on mattress under sheets and dead moths left squashed on walls. Didn't feel comfortable touching anything in room (grimy light switches etc.).

Biggest problem: carpet moths. Upon entering room, around 5 moths dotted around, internet search pointed towards carpet moths. Issue seems hotel-wide, dozens of moths over walls and ceilings of corridor, going through upstairs to breakfast area. Worst experience of any stay in countless hotels we have stayed in all over the world. Getting ready for bed and trying to sleep on first night they were flying into our faces, so freaked out we only slept a couple of hours, told reception in the morning. They did not apologise or seem concerned, told us cleaning team would 'spray' the room. Not sure if this ever happened, no change in numbers in corridors, and we were removing any moths we found in our room ourselves. Didn't unpack to try and protect our clothes from eggs, although main source of moths seemed to be corridor. Again told reception when we checked out, asked if manager was aware of the carpet moths, we were told by friendly member of staff that the manager was not aware but that they would pass on a message. However upon reading reviews we noticed a previous traveller had noted and reported carpet moths in August 2025.

It's a shame to give a 1/5 review but no way we can score higher when there were so many moths around, affecting our sleep and posing a risk of being transmitted back to our home. We rarely write reviews but felt it was important to leave our honest review as we would not have booked if we had known. Without moths we would have given overall stay 3/5, no more given how run-down rooms were and no room cleaning during stay. We really enjoyed staying in Kendal, lovely town especially along river, but relieved to checkout. Huge shame to see what could be a beautiful hotel in a brilliant river-side location so neglected, could be a real gem.

Stayed here to meet up with sister and brother in law as Central for both of us to meet up. I felt the room was a bit dated and didnt appreciate a double bed as sister had a king size. A beautiful view from the room and Tanners bar was lovely Pity it was freezing as there is a beautiful patio area facing the river. What let it down for us was the barking dogs next door who barked from 8am till their owners came back from breakfast. Very inconsiderate and spoilt our stay

Smart, warm hotel with very friendly staff. Very clean. Overlooks the River Kent. Has its own car park and is a short walk from the town centre.

Stayed for 2 nights,hotel contacted us to say room was ready from 12.30 fab parked up ,free parking at hotel easy ,speedy check in, reception really friendly and informative,room good size and very clean,warm and cozy, riverside view, breakfast good choice and freshly cooked, lovely friendly staff and lovely riverside view while eating breakfast.Used the gym and sauna good mix of free weights and machines,pool a little small if you like to swim lengths but managed ok .Overall had a great 2 night stay ,good value considering we had breakfast ,car parking and use of gym and spa would definitely rebook

We had another wonderful stay at the Riverside. We have stayed at this hotel a number of times over the last few years and always have a comfortable, enjoyable stay.
The location is great for Kendal centre and proximity to an abundance of walks in the lakes.
The hotel has recently refurbished its bar area and this was a lovely place to grab a drink before heading out to dinner. Thanks to Sandro and Jenn for looking after us and the extra special touches in our suite - flowers and pumpkin decoration for Halloween!
Overall another great stay and we hope to return soon.

Booked the Tanners Bar for my mum's funeral tea. Jenn was so helpful and friendly. Made the experience so much easier. Food was good, they provided nice gluten free options.

The hotel advertises itself as three-star and although this is a fair assessment, it does have some additional benefits that you wouldn't normally expect for a budget to mid-range establishment. The hotel has a swimming pool, spa pool, steam room and sauna in addition to a well-equipped gym which hotel residents have free access to throughout their stay. The hotel is centrally-placed in Kendal with good road access and within walking distance of the town centre. Perhaps the only negative comment I could make is that the hotel is a little tired-looking inside and could certainly benefit from re-decoration and an upgrade of the bathrooms. That said, the hotel was clean, staff were friendly and the breakfast was acceptable. Parking was easy with a car park just a couple of hundred metres from the entrance door and was free for residents. Will certainly be back.

Excellent location, parking onsite, friendly staff and clean rooms, good shower. Meals were good at the hotel.

Parking was very safe and just next door, the hotel was dog friendly - some treats in the room would have been appreciated.

We stayed 4 nights with our dog. Rooms are a little tired but this did not detract from our stay where the staff were all excellent and they couldn’t do enough for you , special mention to Jan in the restaurant. The food was very good and the facilities were also excellent with a newly refurbished gym and an indoor pool. There’s a lovely terrace overlooking the river.
There’s also free covered car parking and the hotel is very central to Kendal and easy access to the Lakes. We have already booked to stay again.

The food choice in the restaurant was very limited.

Pet friendly hotel whose public areas and amenities are very good with a recently refurbished gym and a pool . The rooms are a little dated but All the staff were friendly and helpful and we thought the hotel was good value for money as it’s very centrally located in Kendal and only a of minutes walk from the shopping area . It also has its own covered parking which is included. We will stay again

This hotel is a good base for touring the lakes. Excellent staff go above and beyond to help The food was good and service was excellent. Would certainly recommend this hotel just don’t change the staff

Very nice

Booked this hotel for the Riverside location with a room with a Riverside view. On entering the room it was plain to see that we had a view of the Kendal Exhaust Centre and not the river. I pointed out to the receptionist that we had booked a room with a riverside view and showed them the booking confirmation to confirm this. In not so many words, sorry we are full and there is nothing I can do about this.
Not a problem I thought, we will never be returning, we will be eating breakfast and our evening meals out for the duration of our stay (not spending another penny in this hotel).
We normally stay in Bowness or Ambleside when visiting the Lake District but chose Kendal this time for a change. Sadly a bad decision by us, so it’s back to Bowness or Ambleside next time.

The hotel and staff were brilliant couldn't fault the hole experience really clean and great location the restaurant was lovely and the food was really good

The room was clean and the river view was great. We had no tv for 2 nights because the staff could not locate the remote . We booked dinner before we arrived .x we were celebrating a birthday and the online dinners looked amazing …. In the riverside restaurant . I was told 7 pm was fully booked . We had a choice to book 6pm or 8 pm . We booked 8 pm …. Arrived at riverside restaurant to be told there was a private function ?? We had to go to the tannery .. they had no booking for us !! They gave a menu …. Not much was available and we had to settle for something from a very limited choice . It was not nicely presented …… all in all it was quite disgusting . On hind sight we should have sent it back . The breakfast was fine . I would not stay here again or recommend the hotel to anyone due to the misleading menu online and our disastrous birthday dinner .

Friendly staff, hotel lobby and bar nice. Rooms are a little dated. Been a while since I’ve seen single use shower gels and shampoo in a hotel. Maybe dispensers would be more
Environmentally friendly.

Room was big - one double and one single bed. Very comfortable though the fixtures and fittings were looking a little tired. That said the hotel is getting refurbished so I expect it to improve. Breakfast was buffet style which was reasonably good. Plenty of drinks hot and cold (fruit juice), cereals etc. Only comment was the tables were sticky - I suspect the antibac spray they use was the cause - could do with washing them with soapy water occasionally. Refurbished gym, pool and bar area. Staff were great - especially the housekeeping crew. Well located centrally and a few minutes to the town centre. Would visit again.

The hotel was lovely however not their fault but our neighbours room 407 which was an adjoining room to ours came in very late and had a very loud argument- this then continued at 8am this morning- we were coming for a leisurely break- early dinner with friends and a lie in- sadly we have come home worn out and needing a nap!!!