Losman

Goosemire Cottages, the family owned and run Lake District self catering business, are pleased to launch their January sale.

Everyone is looking for a bargain at this time of year so why should the sales be confined to the high street? Goosemire Cottages are offering discounts on full weeks booked in each of their 46 self catering properties. The discounts range from £30 - £50 depending on the property size.

The number of self catering holidays in the UK has risen quite dramatically in the last 2 years. Various factors have contributed to this for example the poor Euro exchange rate resulting in tourists staying in the UK and the cost savings of self catering compared with a hotel stay. A self catering holiday allows freedom, the ability to cook within the property so saving on restaurant bills and is an excellent type of holiday for families and pet owners.

Goosemire Cottages have available 46 traditional Lake District self catering cottages for discerning visitors (Ranging from 1 to 7 bedrooms, sleeping up to 10). Most are rustic 17th or 18th Century Lakeland cottages or lovely barn conversions, where antiquity and modern comforts have been beautifully combined. The atmosphere and idiosyncrasies of each property are reflected on their website which offers full online booking facilities and information and images on each of their properties.

For more information on the Goosemire Lake District cottages January sale or their last minute booking discounts, visit http://www.goosemirecottages.co.uk/special-offers

What has been great to see in the last few years is the use of the magnificent local produce from Cumbria – the Lake District in the hotels in the county. Cumbria is known for a variety of produce but none more so than lamb. Herdwick and rough fell lamb has a very distinct taste and is extremely high quality. This lamb is now revered within the food industry with many top London restaurants requesting Herdwick and markets such as the famous Borough Market stocking it. Cumbrian rose veal is also being championed by top chefs and restaurants for its quality and it is great to see veal back in favour and on menus.

Cumbria and The Lake District are very lucky to have a diverse range of small and artisan producers from lamb, beef and sausages to chutney’s and real ales. Such produce can be found in abundance and the inhabitants and visitors to the area are very spoilt. There are even hotels that have their own Victorian kitchen garden and farms. Such gardens supply as much fresh fruit and vegetables as possible to their hotels and the farms supply as much meat. Not only do many of Lake District accommodation venues use local produce but they are taking it one step further and supplying themselves. This is a great marketing tool for a hotel and there are guests now having short breaks in the Lake District as much for the food as the scenery. In the south lakes especially, there are a huge number of local producers and suppliers.
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It has been thought in the past that staying in hotels with children is a bad idea because they are not places geared up for children. Parents however, want a bit of luxury and do not always want to camp or go self catering. Times are changing and hoteliers are waking up to the idea that families are a large market hardly targeted. There are some hotels that operate  strict “no children” policy but many hotels who are quite happy having them stay are adapting rooms and creating fun things for children to do to entice families to stay.

The Lake District is the perfect location for children. Endless activities to keep them occupied for example watersports, walking, Go-Ape, a zoo and the Ravenglass-Eskdale railway. It has long been an area popular with families.

An area full of activities and stunning scenery is the area of Keswick and Bassenthwaite. There are many Keswick hotels that offer child friendly rooms with excellent leisure facilities on site. These facilities include heated swimming pools, gyms, tennis courts, putting greens and some even have games rooms with both board games and computer games such as Wii consoles installed. The practical facilities within these hotels come in the form of flexible meal times for children, the use of complimentary high chairs and cots, bed time books and stocks of essential items such as nappies, baby milks and food and dummies.
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Travelling to a different location from where you live is a very popular choice for a hen or stag weekend. A hen or stag night has become more of an event in recent years. For years it was just a night around the local pubs where you live. Now, it is a real chance to have a fantastic and memorable weekend away with your friends and a start to the wedding celebrations.

Tasteless dressing up and gimmicks are becoming a thing of the past. Manchester for example is one such destination where a stag and hen party can be both loads of fun but without being tacky. Manchester is such a large city, it really does have everything. Take a hen party Manchester package and you can experience the amazing shops, go on a special spa focused weekend, have a cocktail master class or get VIP access to top clubs.

Ideally situated in the centre of the United Kingdom Manchester is easily reachable by Air, Rail, Coach and Car. In order to help you plan travel arrangements for your stag and hen party the following pages are a guide to each of these modes of transport giving you that extra peace of mind.

From humble beginnings Manchester has grown considerably to cement not only its position as the 3rd largest city in the UK but also as the unofficial “Capital of the North”. You will find an abundance of things to do and places to see within the city centre itself during the day as well as in the Greater Manchester Urban Area such as the Trafford Shopping Centre. Development is also continuing to bring further growth to what is already a cosmopolitan, and lively place for fun.

Come the evening its “24 hour party people” have over 500 licenced premises in the city centre to choose from that can cope with up to 250,000 visitors at any one time and normally see around 130,000 revellers on a typical weekend night. So you can expect the normal friendly northern welcome. All in all it has everything you will require for that Stag or Hen party that you will never forget! In the day, well the shopping is beyond your wildest dreams but below are some other activities well worth looking into.

Christmas is approaching fast and many people are starting to think about gifts for friends and family. Each year this task gets harder and harder!

Often, the gifts people remember the most are gift experiences not objects. Lake District Hotels Ltd are pleased to offer a solution to the age old gift buying problem in the form of gift vouchers which can be selected for use in any one of their six hotels.
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Recent years have seen a tremendous rise in the number of self catering properties to choose from.  No longer is a self catering holiday spent within a dingy flat. Lake District self catering cottages can be found for 2 persons right up to 16 and from the basic small house to luxury cottages complete with flat screen TV’s, wood burners and luxury interiors with all the modern conveniences of TV’s, DVD players, washing machines, dryers and dish washers.

Self catering holidays benefit the environment too. The carbon footprint of a self catering holiday is significantly less than a hotel based holiday. Many factors contribute to this, the amount of lights, sheets and towels washed and spa and swimming pool facilities. Some self catering property owners and developers are creating a more eco friendly property, for example, installing solar panels, wind turbines and worming and composting facilities.

In areas such as Grasmere and Ambleside there some idyllic self catering properties such as traditional Lakeland houses dating back years. Staying in Grasmere cottages or Ambleside cottages means there are views in every direction.  Located at the heart of The Lake District National, some properties have views of Helvellyn also Silver How, Steel Fell and Helm Crag. Grasmere is an idea base for walking with the foot of Helvellyn just minutes away and located on main A591 road which leads right up to Keswick for the highest concentration of fells in the Lake District.