Nowhere does Christmas quite like the Lodore Falls Hotel – we’re crackers about the festive season and go all out to ensure our guests have a yuletide to remember. We offer three-day Christmas and New Year packages and are booked up months in advance by eager customers who can’t get enough of our extravagant hospitality.

Head chef Mike Ward, who has worked at the Lodore Falls for 33 years, explains: “The hotel is magical at Christmas with trees and fairy lights galore and we host ballet performances, jazz brunches, a pantomime, and have local carol singers. We have 230 covers for our five-course lunch on Christmas Day then on Boxing Day we have a gala buffet, which takes up the whole of the lobby and another one on New Year’s Day.”

Christmas at the Lodore Falls is a ‘traditional style’ with whole dressed ribs of beef, saddles of venison, pheasants, whole salmon, ice bowls full of prawns and bread sculptures, all garnished with aspic and flowers.  Mike also makes elaborate butter sculptures and fat carvings to adorn the tables. The focal point of the reception is a 3ft long gingerbread house made to look exactly like the hotel with a chocolate tiled roof and fairy lights. On New Year’s Day we have a tradition where we give all the kids a rolling pin and let them smash it up and eat it!

Head Chef Mike claims, “Good preparation is the secret to a seamless festive service, the whole team pull together really well. We make all of our chutneys, terrines and Christmas cakes well in advance! I get a tremendous buzz when things go well. It’s an extremely difficult and stressful job but when you know things are going well and the customers are happy and give you great feedback it can be very rewarding.”

For further details on our Christmas and New Year breaks visit: www.lakedistricthotels.net/lodorefalls/christmas-breaks