Name: The Riverside
Address: Stramongate Bridge, Kendal, England, United Kingdom, Kendal, Cumbria, GB
Price range: $112–$177 per night
Rating: 8.47

What guests think

At The Riverside, travellers praise the central riverside setting, friendly staff, and handy leisure facilities, while noting dated rooms, occasional cleanliness lapses, and mixed breakfast quality, with some noise and summer warmth due to limited cooling mentioned.

Guests appreciate free on-site parking and dog-friendly policies, plus pleasant river views from many rooms. Parts of the property are being refurbished, and some spaces feel worn. Expect a practical base with useful amenities and a few trade-offs.

Facilities

Cleanliness

Rooms

Service

Location

Dining

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AI-generated summary based on recent guest reviews

Facilities

Leisure facilities are a strong point, with many reviews praising the gym, pool and spa as excellent or recently refurbished; however, the pool is small and can feel busy, and a few noted lukewarm sauna/jacuzzi or missing towels. Free on-site parking and a riverside bar/terrace add convenience.

Related guest reviews

10

Andrew

Nov 11, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

Lovely room overlooking river. Pool/jacuzzi perfect. Friendly helpful staff and free parking.

10

Avril F B

May 4, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Leisure Centre facilities have been recently upgraded. Excellent.

10

Kevin

Aug 11, 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

Lovely hotel with spacious room and comfy beds. Newly renovated gym which is among the best hotel gyms I've seen. Also a nice pool, albeit fairly small. Food in restaurant also very nice

4

James

Apr 13, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

They experience wasnt great. Initially put in a room without a bath. The bathroom condition was poor in the room we were moved in to. Unusual unpleasant odour to the room we stayed in. The spa facilities we average, sauna wasn't very hot and the jacuzzi didn't work. Good that dogs could stay but we wouldn't stay here again.

10

Julie

Dec 4, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

The whole hotel was spotless, the gym and swimming facilities where excellent. The staff was so helpful and we would highly recommend

8

Richard

Sep 19, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

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.

8

Zhan

Aug 10, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Friendly staff, have EV charger at customers parking. Swimming pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi are icing on the cake,love these luxuries after a long day out . Very good location as a base camp for visiting lakes

8

Karl

Dec 15, 2023

·

Stayed 7 nights

Lovely hotel with swimming pool and gym though both tiny. Room had nice view of river. Bar was ok

10

Richard

Jun 27, 2023

·

Stayed 1 night

A great hotel well located on river with balcony seating outdoors to enjoy the weather with food and drink. Would recommend this hotel to anyone and we will be staying here again on our next visit as we really enjoyed our stay in Kendal

10

Paul

Sep 3, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

Great central location, free car parking, warm friendly staff, restaurant food was very good and the Spar/Pool/Gym facilities were excellent.

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Cleanliness

Cleanliness feedback is mixed: several guests found rooms and common areas spotless or very clean, while others reported dusty rooms, cobwebs, stained carpets, mould in bathrooms, and sticky breakfast tables or marked linens. Some areas look tired and could use deeper upkeep.

Related guest reviews

6

Simon

Jan 24, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

The bed sheets had marks on them as well what i can only presume were dog hairs. The towels also had marks on them too. On top of this, when i called down to reception at 21:45 - 15mins before they leave, it took 6 attempts to have someone answer which after a short wait, someone called me back

8

GAVIN

Jul 13, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Good points - free parking, very close to town centre, spacious room, breakfast, pool (didn’t use), staff friendly. Bad points - tv broken, reported to reception but no maintenance on Saturday therefore unable to solve problem, air con would of been great during hot weather, cobwebs on ceiling/walls in room and around hotel, butter on chair and tables sticky during breakfast (better cleaning required). Overall would stop again based on location and free parking but more attention to detail is needed ie cleaning and making sure things work (ie tv) before putting people in rooms

10

Duygu

Oct 19, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

The room was very clean and spacious. TV was working. Location was good. Staff was nice and helpful. Everything in the room was in good condition and we had a really comfy stay.

4

Joseph

Aug 18, 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

The hotel was disappointing. Although the reception staff were always friendly and helpful, the condition of the room and bathroom were below par: stained carpets, mouldy bathroom, tired furniture, cobwebs around window. Breakfast was not of good quality and an expensive add-on. (Also no vegan choices). We didn't spend money or time in the bar. Pool facilities were ok but no clean towels for us when we used it. Finally, we were charged £30 for our small Yorkshire Terrier - with no explanation or warning of that additional fee deducted before checkout. This was an expensive and disappointing stay for us.

8

Huma

Aug 26, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Comfortable rooms and clean bathroom. However the room was dusty and had spider webs all over including the lights. Staff were super friendly and breakfast was spot on. Location was great and free parking was a great perk

10

Scott

Oct 11, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

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

10

Julie

Dec 4, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

The whole hotel was spotless, the gym and swimming facilities where excellent. The staff was so helpful and we would highly recommend

8

Susan

Jun 16, 2024

·

Stayed 1 night

Hotel undergoing some renovation which we hadn't been advised of. Rooms fine. Restaurant for breakfast, what can i say, i had to brush crumbs off my chair before i could sit. Had to wait for some of the cooked foods, needed to remind staff that we were still waiting. Breakfast only ok.

10

Ebony

Aug 27, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Love this hotel! It’s gorgeous our room had a view of the river and it was just so peaceful and the room was really clean and had everything we needed. The lady at reception was so friendly and was so helpful. We will definitely be staying again

10

Andrew

Aug 22, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Very spacious and clean rooms with excellent tea, coffee and hot chocolate, but please, three teabags for a room for two? Leisure facilities were excellent and quiet when we visited. The car park is tight, so larger vehicles beware. Walking distance from town centre.

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Rooms

Rooms are often spacious and comfortable with river views, but many note dated decor or tired fixtures, thin walls and noise from neighbours or outside, and warm temperatures due to no air conditioning. Some beds felt too soft or small.

Related guest reviews

6

C A J

Sep 8, 2024

·

Stayed 1 night

The beds are too small, the mattresses too soft and the room was uncomfortably warm despite the heating being off. Breakfast was decidedly average. The bacon on the breakfast was incredibly hard, when i requested fresh bacon what they brought out was exactly the same. How hard is it to cook bacon??

6

Erica

Jun 20, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

We stayed for one night as a stop over on our way back from Scotland to the South Coast. It was very good for our purposes with a convenient parking space. The disadvantage was the hot weather and trying to sleep with no air conditioning or fridge in the room for a cold drink. The breakfast wasn’t brilliant with lots of uncleared tables and stained cups. Think the dishwasher wasn’t working properly maybe? Staff were friendly and excellent in their roles. It’s just all a bit tired. It smelt of stale food when we arrived. Very hot and smothering inside the building. I would not recommend a visit here in the Summer. It was value for money though and we were fine for one night. Our room had a nice view of the river.

10

Kirk

Aug 18, 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

We loved the way the property- an old tannery- had been converted into a hotel with a lot of unique properties. Unfortunately, it had some challenges for disabled people: going up and down stairs, for example. They had a little chair lift in two places, but the wheelchair had to be carried manually up and down stairs. There was great difficulty for going from our ground floor room to breakfast on 2nd floor. They offered to accommodate by bringing breakfast down to us in the bar area of ground floor, and helping us with the stairs in several ways, but it was still challenging. The rooms were nice and clean and comfortably large, but there was no A/C, and no microwave or fridge, and little space for unpacking clothes. We had a wonderful view out over the river from our room. The bar or dining room, "The Tannery", had a nice selection of options for evening meals, which we used a couple of times, but they seemed to be out of the things that we would have enjoyed most. We loved the ancient feeling of the city, including a beautiful cathedral and an enchanting old castle.

8

Jennifer

Apr 7, 2023

·

Stayed 9 nights

Great room, quite spacious for the UK, updated bathroom. The bed was comfy, plenty of hot water and good pressure in the shower, very decent buffet breakfast. Room 102 has noises at night, probably HVAC sounds, lasting 20 seconds at a time, multiple times a night... I cuold hear it even with earplugs. Didn't hear it in room 105 my first few nights. Gym with lots of equipment, nice sauna and steam rooms, but hot tub not very hot. But still nice to have. Just between the train and bus stations, so perfect for people depending on public transportation. Used it as my base for the Lake District/Cumbria, was very well connected.

8

Keith

Aug 16, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Room was too warm no fan found, noise from outside bar because window had to stay open. Don’t think there was a lot the hotel could do about this in this weather. However pleasant stay and great staff

8

George

Jul 23, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

We were upgraded to a suite which was very spacious. The bed was comfortable and we had everything we needed for a comfortable stay. The gym and pool are very good.

4

Lisa

Sep 14, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

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!!!

8

Jennifer

Jul 29, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

The Riverside Hotel is in a great location! Walking distance of downtown Kendal, close to many cafes, pubs, restaurants, and shopping. The rooms could use some TLC and updating, but it was a surprisingly large room with an excellent view of the river. I would stay here again.

4

Martin

Aug 31, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Uncomfortable stay. I could feel the springs in the bed and it was far too soft. Felt like I was sleeping on the base. Although was very clean but outdated. Breakfast was very basic. Wasn’t to my liking with the hard crispy hash browns and rubbery mushrooms.

8

John

Aug 28, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Good location on the river and room had river view. Room adequate but needed modernising. Dinner in bar was good. However breakfast room was a bit tired. Food was adequate. Availability of swimming pool was a bonus

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Service

Service is widely praised as friendly, welcoming and helpful across reception and housekeeping, with smooth check-in. Occasional issues include slow responses, understaffed restaurant periods, and intrusive pre-check-in emails.

Related guest reviews

6

Simon

Jan 24, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

The bed sheets had marks on them as well what i can only presume were dog hairs. The towels also had marks on them too. On top of this, when i called down to reception at 21:45 - 15mins before they leave, it took 6 attempts to have someone answer which after a short wait, someone called me back

10

Martin

May 11, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Great hotel but restaurant needs more staff as the few staff there were over worked

10

Lorraine

Nov 5, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

Warm, comfortable and clean room. Staff very friendly and efficient. Food very good. Great spa facilities

8

Richard

Sep 19, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

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.

8

Katie

Aug 15, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Stayed here for work mid week. Conveniently located nice bar with terrace overlooking the river. Nice breakfast and staff helpful and welcoming

8

geoffry

Nov 2, 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

Excellent staff and comfortable room...great pool gym etc

6

Thomas

Aug 25, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Middle of the road hotel. Good location on the river - receptionist was helpful and the hotel was alright overall, nothing special though and would say not worth the price. I’m not fussy about a fry up but this was woeful. All food was cheap, poor quality and hot food tasted like it had been under a hot plate for hours (we got down there at 08:45). Also seem to get loads of emails asking for unnecessary “pre check in information” which was quite annoying and likely to gather info to spam people. Workable for 1/2 nights but wouldn’t recommend beyond that.

10

Ebony

Aug 27, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Love this hotel! It’s gorgeous our room had a view of the river and it was just so peaceful and the room was really clean and had everything we needed. The lady at reception was so friendly and was so helpful. We will definitely be staying again

10

Cynthia

Nov 7, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Staff very welcoming and efficient. Lovely room right on the river and very good food.

8

Catherine

Jul 2, 2025

·

Stayed 4 nights

Good location, enjoyed view of river. Staff friendly and helpful, especially reception. Gym and swimming facilities clean, good standard and real bonus which would influence booking. Breakfast good options and cooked food well presented, not greasy scrambled egg perfect. Some options such as tinned fruit, limited bread options a bit disappointing. Overall some parts of the hotel look tired and could do with a revamp ie tables in breakfast room very worn, as were some fittings in bedroom and decoration could do with repaint. However the positives outweigh these areas and overall still good value and would re-book

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Location

Central riverside location within easy walking distance of Kendal's centre, restaurants and shops, with pleasant river views. A convenient base for exploring the Lake District.

Related guest reviews

10

Kelly

Aug 9, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

This hotel is very dog friendly which was a great start. My stay was comfortable and the hotel well located. Would stay here afain.

8

Timothy

Mar 6, 2024

·

Stayed 3 nights

Friendly staff at hotel. Convenient to access Kendal

8

Sam

Aug 26, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Very central location with the added benefit of free car parking

8

Nicholas

Jan 23, 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

Friendly hotel and ideally situated in Kendal.

8

Katie

Aug 15, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Stayed here for work mid week. Conveniently located nice bar with terrace overlooking the river. Nice breakfast and staff helpful and welcoming

8

Zhan

Aug 10, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Friendly staff, have EV charger at customers parking. Swimming pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi are icing on the cake,love these luxuries after a long day out . Very good location as a base camp for visiting lakes

8

Mark

Sep 15, 2024

·

Stayed 1 night

It was central. Could leave the car and walk.

10

Kazufumi

Aug 9, 2024

·

Stayed 2 nights

Very close from the station, nice river view and clean room.

10

Vicki

Aug 14, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Great location Easy parking next to hotel Spacious clean comfortable room overlooking river Super breakfast Highly recommend

8

Jennifer

Jul 29, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

The Riverside Hotel is in a great location! Walking distance of downtown Kendal, close to many cafes, pubs, restaurants, and shopping. The rooms could use some TLC and updating, but it was a surprisingly large room with an excellent view of the river. I would stay here again.

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AI-generated summary based on recent guest reviews

Dining

Dinner and bar meals are generally enjoyed, but breakfast quality is inconsistent - often described as basic, lukewarm or limited, with some good experiences. Some guests found prices high and vegan or gluten-free options limited.

Related guest reviews

6

Stewart

Oct 16, 2024

·

Stayed 2 nights

Hotel is in a good position to the centre of town and restaurants. Free parking at hotel. Pool was fine. Hotel was a bit tired in bits, however the bar area had been recently renovated and was nice. The buffet breakfast was a bit basic and gluten options were poor.

10

Linda

Jul 22, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Loved oir stay and swim area was amazing as was breakfast

4

Joseph

Aug 18, 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

The hotel was disappointing. Although the reception staff were always friendly and helpful, the condition of the room and bathroom were below par: stained carpets, mouldy bathroom, tired furniture, cobwebs around window. Breakfast was not of good quality and an expensive add-on. (Also no vegan choices). We didn't spend money or time in the bar. Pool facilities were ok but no clean towels for us when we used it. Finally, we were charged £30 for our small Yorkshire Terrier - with no explanation or warning of that additional fee deducted before checkout. This was an expensive and disappointing stay for us.

10

Sheryl

May 14, 2023

·

Stayed 1 night

Fantastic overnight stay. Beautifully prepared dinner. I expected a simple continental breakfast for what we paid but it was amazing. Staff and rooms excellent

6

Stephanie

Aug 18, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

It’s a well rated 3 star hotel. Great location and free parking (limited spaces) in a lovely small town, which is ideal for visiting the more popular lakes and attractions. Unfortunately breakfast wasn’t very good, food had obviously been out a long time and not refreshed. Coffee was sadly undrinkable - BUT all staff were lovely and polite and helpful. We had a family room which was a great size. It was quite a hot day and without air conditioning was too warm to sleep well. There was a fan provided but it was too small to have any impact really. Despite the weather the room was clean and had everything you might need. The only downside was the bath drain was quite blocked as shower water took forever to drain and after a few hours of no use was very smelly. So we just ran the water as soon we entered the room to clear it and well the weather was amazing so we couldn’t really complain about that. It’s a good option if you’re looking for a good base to visit the area. Their Tanners bar served decent food (guess different chef from breakfast) and nice atmosphere at reasonable prices.

10

Kellee

Aug 25, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

Great location, lovely outlook from the room, very friendly staff, great breakfast.

6

Thomas

Aug 25, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Middle of the road hotel. Good location on the river - receptionist was helpful and the hotel was alright overall, nothing special though and would say not worth the price. I’m not fussy about a fry up but this was woeful. All food was cheap, poor quality and hot food tasted like it had been under a hot plate for hours (we got down there at 08:45). Also seem to get loads of emails asking for unnecessary “pre check in information” which was quite annoying and likely to gather info to spam people. Workable for 1/2 nights but wouldn’t recommend beyond that.

4

Martin

Aug 31, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Uncomfortable stay. I could feel the springs in the bed and it was far too soft. Felt like I was sleeping on the base. Although was very clean but outdated. Breakfast was very basic. Wasn’t to my liking with the hard crispy hash browns and rubbery mushrooms.

8

John

Aug 28, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Good location on the river and room had river view. Room adequate but needed modernising. Dinner in bar was good. However breakfast room was a bit tired. Food was adequate. Availability of swimming pool was a bonus

8

Alan

Jul 24, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Lovely hotel brilliant location free parking room very good only small thing was price of food main meal price ok but starter and dessert very pricey drinks also pricey will definitely return but will go elsewhere for food unless there was a deal on

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AI-generated summary based on recent guest reviews

Month	Average price
January	$96
February	$101
March	$102
April	$112
May	$120
June	$121
July	$121
August	$123
September	$122
October	$109
November	$100
December	$100

Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
		1	2	3	4	5
6 $131	7	8 $151	9	10 $150	11 $171	12 $170
13 $133	14 $131	15 $143	16 $141	17 $143	18 $152	19 $172
20 $125	21 $121	22 $122	23 $125	24 $124	25 $148	26 $165
27 $114	28	29 $146	30 $146

Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
				1 $148	2 $167	3 $177
4 $135	5 $114	6 $122	7 $135	8 $143	9 $158	10 $175
11 $135	12 $133	13 $134	14 $132	15 $145	16 $155	17 $145
18 $125	19 $114	20 $114	21 $114	22 $116	23 $134	24 $134
25 $112	26 $114	27 $114	28 $114	29 $114	30 $133	31 $137

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Monthly average prices

About this property

Location

Guest reviews

Very good

Who stays here?

What guests think

Property Policies

Check-in instructions

Good to know

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FAQs about The Riverside

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