For many guests, Hazel Bank is the epitome of a small country-house hotel, with 'delicious food, helpful owners and staff, a beautiful setting with magnificent views' and walks from the door. Sitting above Rosthwaite village 'in a quiet part of Borrowdale', it is a 'very special small hotel with a majority of the guests being devoted returnees,' say fans. 'The friendly atmosphere and the layout of the large lounge (where canapés are served before dinner) encourages guests, whether old hands or, like us, newcomers, to chat and compare notes.' Interiors are comfortable with soft carpets, polished wood and vases of flowers, but not too fussy; after all, why compete with those views! Bedrooms have a simple elegance with pretty wallpapers, handsome headboards, top-notch bathrooms. Spoiling touches include sherry and homemade biscuits. Owners Gary and Donna MacRae work together to provide spoiling four-course evening meals. A reader loved the 'meltingly tender Herdwick rump' and a 'light and tangy' apricot frangipane. Breakfast is a feast of local produce including homemade muesli, a full Cumbrian, and 'proper kippers with bones', accompanied by sightings of red squirrels. 'It seemed even better than last year.' (John Barnes, Frances Thomas, and others) .