A popular Borrowdale hotel is under new management after 50 years.
The Royal Oak, in Rosthwaite, was sold last month for £1.275 million – marking the end of an era in which it was owned by two generations of the same family.
Opened originally by Harold and Lucy Bestley in 1971, the 15-bedroom hotel and restaurant, located on the crossroads of the Cumbrian Way and Inn Way along the Coast to Coast route, subsequently passed to their daughter Susan in 1984.
Together with business partner Nuala Dowie, Susan continued to build the hotel’s reputation as one of the most popular in the Lake District, attracting a loyal army of regular guests for the next 30 years.
Now 63, Susan has decided to retire. The Royal Oak was put on the market and last month it was bought for its asking price by Oldham-based hospitality firm Roakdale Ltd.
“It’s been hard to say goodbye because it is the place where I grew up with my brothers and sisters, and where my own family grew up,” Susan said. “And over the years the returning guests have become our friends. It really was a way of life.
“But the time has come to move on, and I’m looking forward to living my retirement to the full. And, to be honest, lockdown last year gave me a practice run – so it won’t come as such a shock.”
Susan briefly left the area to study at university in the early 1980s, but returned to help her parents run the hotel.
“I never thought I’d still be here 30 years later,” she admitted.
Susan, who is moving to Greystoke, says she plans to spend her retirement by getting involved in her amateur theatre group. She will also be popping in to see her mum Lucy, who at 90 is still an active member of the community in Keswick.
“Nuala is still involved with Keswick Mountain Rescue Team, so there’s plenty to keep us busy. It’s just a new and exciting chapter in our lives.”
Dating back to the 1750s the Royal Oak is a former farm and miners’ tavern within close distance to the fells from Scafell Pike and the shores of Derwentwater.
Haydn Spedding, of estate agents Colliers’ said: “Susan and Nuala have very much enjoyed their time at the Royal Oak, especially their interactions with the many staff and guests they’ve grown to know.
“While it is the an end of an era for them, they wholehearted wish the new owner the very best as they take the Royal Oak and its rich heritage into a prosperous future.”
