A multi-million-pound refurbishment programme is underway at one of Cumbria’s best known hotels after it was acquired by an exclusive chain.
The Belsfield overlooking Bowness Bay in Bowness-on-Windermere is now part of GGE Limited, which also owns the Lakes Hotel and Spa in Bowness and The Beech Hill Hotel and Spa in Windermere.
The hotel is still operating while work continues and is open on Friday.
The Belsfield is described by Historic England as a Grade II-listed building dating from the early 19th century set in a prominent position overlooking the lake from a hill top.
Built in an Italianate style the whole front faces Windermere and has 13 windows on each floor, is three-storey high with a veranda on the lake front featuring slender iron columns and iron cresting.
A four-storey square tower on northern end of the building has a three-storeyed bay window. Inside the building has plaster ornamented and gilt ceilings, friezes and cornices along with plaster panelled walls and door frames together with painted doors with floral cartouche.
The hotel’s new owners say work has begun on a 1920s-style bar with what’s described as a spectacular redevelopment in the grounds that is the biggest the hotel has seen in over a century.
