This is Amazing: Simply Shap! Venue Spotlight; Shap Wells Hotel

What is your venue name, industry rating and where is your venue located?

Best Western Shap Wells Hotel (3*)
Shap
Nr Penrith
Cumbria
CA10 3QU

What facilities does your venue boast?

100 Guest bedroom accommodation

3 Bar Areas

3 Dining rooms – main dining room The Birkbeck Restaurant

Two Lounge areas with fireplaces

7 Conference rooms

Caters for Wedding breakfasts & Evening Receptions from 10 to 350 guests and for civil ceremonies for up to 150 guests

Bathhouse Accommodation Annex that caters for guests with Dogs

30 acres of grounds

Complimentary WIFI throughout hotel

Complimentary Parking for up to 120

Does your hotel cater for weddings? If so, what numbers can you accommodate and what packages do you offer?

Your wedding day is one of the most important events in your life and at Best Western Shap Wells Hotel you will be receiving service of the highest professional quality and will benefit from our long and vast experience of catering for specialised events such as weddings.

You will see that we offer a variety of venues for both Civil Ceremonies and Celebration Parties, with the flexibility, unique to Cumbria, to cater for receptions from 10 to 350 guests, and for Civil Ceremonies for up to 150 guests. We also have the availability of 100 bedrooms for wedding guests.

Inclusive Celebration Packages include the following:

We also have an all inclusive Wedding Packages (£2012 in 2012 £2013 in 2013) and include the

following:

Full Wedding Day Package

Wedding Breakfast for up to 50 guests

Evening Function for up to 80 guests

In our Lodge Howe Room or Birkbeck Suite

What about events, both large and small, what numbers can you accommodate?

We can cater for events and conferences from 2 to 350 and we also have accommodation availability of 100 bedrooms.

Can guests stay over at your venue? What accommodation is on offer?

We have 100 bedrooms at Shap Wells.

Tell us about your food/ menus/ wines...

Best Western Shap Wells Hotel prides itself on creating a special dining experience that will be remembered and will make you want to return to visit us again. The Birkbeck Suite consists of two dining room experiences, the Birkbeck Restaurant and Lonsdale Room. The Birkbeck Restaurant is our principal dining area and will seat up to 300 guests. The room is air-conditioned and enjoys stunning views over the Birkbeck River and surrounding fells. The Lonsdale Room is a more intimate room that allows guests the opportunity to host smaller dining parties that suit their own dining needs, it is also utilised when the Birkbeck is booked for private functions.

Our Head Chef has created an extensive menu in keeping with the hotel surroundings and current season. Dine from our 3 course Table D’hôte menu or choose from our À la Carte menu. Our Carvery lunches are served every Wednesday and Sunday from 12.15pm until 2pm. A comprehensive wine list is accessible to compliment your dining experience. Vegetarian options are available and both dining areas are fully accessible to diners with disabilities.

The Riverside Lounge and Bar is well placed next to the hotel’s principal dining room "the Birkbeck Restaurant" and provides the perfect setting to relax and unwind before and after dining with us. The Riverside Lounge and Bar itself is a stylish art deco room with panoramic views over the Birkbeck and the fells beyond. Our Riverside Lounge and Bar menu offers a range of appetising food to suit all tastes of our guests from light and refreshing snacks to traditional meals. Bar meals are available from 11am to 10pm. Entertainment takes place here most nights of the week throughout the year (subject to availability).

The Salterwath and Fell Bar Lounges are ideal for guests looking for the opportunity to relax and unwind in more intimate setting away from the hotel principal dining and lounge area. These lounge areas offer two intimate rooms that provide soft lighting and library theme which creates a warm and inviting environment and also provides a small ‘snug’ bar atmosphere with adjoining area for guests to relax in front of a warm log fire. The Fell Lounge has a 50” LCD flat screen TV for guests who are avid TV watchers and the hotel also boasts a friendly foyer lounge area with a welcoming log fire in the winter months.

Do you have any leisure facilities on site?

With 30 acres of wooded grounds, surrounded by moorland, Best Western Shap Wells Hotel is an ideal place to relax. There are miles of quiet paths and bridle ways for recreational walking and other similar activities in the area. We offer written guides for small and medium walks within Best Western Shap Wells grounds and outlying areas. Our games room offers free a full-size snooker table, pool table, darts, table tennis and small aerobic gymnasium.

We also cater for individuals or groups of guests who are interested in long or short term breaks that will allow them to enjoy partaking in leisure pursuits that Best Western Shap Wells Hotel grounds and outlying areas provide such as wildlife enthusiasts e.g. Red Squirrels and birdlife, fell climbers, high and low level walkers, train enthusiasts e.g. Virgin mainline trains and from Appleby the Carlisle to Settle line, using us for a base or stop off for classic, vintage, veteran car and motorbike enthusiasts and university students to study the historical (Romano-British) and geological aspects of Cumbria. We have outside our hotel gate a site of special scientific interest and the remains of a Romano-British Iron Age village settlement. We also cater for the guests who wish to at their leisure visit the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales including visiting Scotland as we are a short drive away from the Scottish borders.

What sets your venue apart from others?

Situated in a secluded, wooded valley, high in the Shap Fells and surrounded by mountain streams yet only minutes from the M6 (Junction 39) and the A6. Best Western Shap Wells Hotel is the ideal place from which to explore the Lakes, Dales and the English and Scottish Border Counties.

We are ideally situated for both leisure and business, easily accessible from the M6 motorway making us the perfect location for business events and conferences. The hotel has seven conference rooms that all benefit from having natural daylight.

For leisure guests we are located close to the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and Scottish Borders, surrounded by open and wooded countryside, red deer, red squirrels and other wildlife within the grounds of the hotel and beyond. Whether you are visiting us for a leisurely break, a conference, wedding celebration or simply breaking your journey on route to the North or South we are the perfect destination for you.

Many of our rooms having breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside and fells, offering a true taste of the English countryside, the hotel has retained many of its original features over the years and much time has been taken to retain the true character of the building.

Free WiFi is available throughout the entire hotel including all public areas, conference rooms and guest accommodation. Complimentary parking is available at the front and rear of the hotel.

Anything special that we should know about the venue?

We are the largest family owned hotel in Cumbria. Shap Wells Hotel has been an established hotel for 180 years and was opened for business in 1833. One of the most interesting chapters of the hotels history is occurred during the Second World War, when it became a prisoner of war camp for German Naval and Luftwaffe Officers.

For many years people came to Shap Wells Hotel to bathe in or drink the water of the Spa Well. The waters were in fact, very similar to those of Leamington and Harrogate. The Well is no longer in use, though water may still be obtained from the spring on the river bank by any who may to risk it...

We have a thriving colony of Red Squirrels...and many of our guests love going to watch them feed and play in their own environment within our hotel grounds...