THREE tourism businesses are likely to lure more visitors to a hidden corner of Cumbria after setting new standards in offering quality accommodation for guests.

A hotel, a farm and a B&B all within a short distance of each other in the Millom area of Cumbria have been awarded prestigious four star ratings from VisitBritain; the national tourism office.

Wayside Hotel at Whitbeck near Bootle; Bank House Farm at Hallthwaites near The Green; and Newstead House at Silecroft near Millom, have all been independently inspected by VisitBritain and found to achieve an “excellent standard throughout.”

Stars are awarded to indicate cleanliness, ambience, hospitality, service and food. The more stars, the higher the level of quality. As an added bonus, inspectors also gave special gold and silver awards to the businesses for exceptional service and hospitality.

All three businesses are members of Cumbria Tourism which has been doing special work with accommodation businesses in the area as part of its long-term campaign to help the county’s tourism industry drive-up the quality of accommodation offered to visitors.

Richard Greenwood, Director of Development for Cumbria Tourism, said: “To have three businesses within a very short distance of each other all achieving this four star standard outside of the Lake District National Park is very significant. The evidence clearly shows that investing in quality and good service is worthwhile for businesses like these. Guests are happier and more likely to make a repeat visit and businesses with three or more stars also tend to be more profitable and successful than those which aren’t independently graded or don’t invest in their offer.”

Alyson Rhind runs the idyllic Newstead House B&B situated between the lower slopes of Black Combe and the beaches of Silecroft. The business won four stars and a special gold award after scoring 100 per cent from the inspector for its hospitality. Mrs Rhind was also complimented on her use of local produce which helps sustain other local businesses and gives guests a real flavour of the area.

Mrs Rhind said: “When visitors come to stay in Cumbria their expectations are very high and it has never been more important to make a long lasting good impression. Businesses really have to get it right at every level.”

8.  CROWN AND MITRE Penrith

“We’ve gone on holiday by mistake,” says Withnail in Withnail and I, as the destitute actor and his sidekick, Marwood, fail to get into the swing of things in the Lakeland villages of Shap and Bampton. If you stay at the Crown and Mitre, in Bampton Grange, close to where much of the 1987 classic was filmed, you won’t feel the same. Because instead of spending your time stranded in a draughty stone cottage with a randy uncle, you’ll be holed up in a warming inn with eight rooms and plenty of beer and victuals.

Feel free to recite Withnail’s “I want the finest wines available to humanity …” speech at the bar, they’ve not heard it before. From £70; 01931 713225, crown-and-mitre.co.uk . Special offer: £200 for two nights, including dinner and breakfast, until the end of March.

9. THE GEORGE & DRAGON Clifton, near Penrith

This 18th-century coaching inn is being taken to task by its new managers, who’ve brought in local slate and stone craftsmen to keep a traditional feel to the modernisation. And tradition is something there’s plenty of here, as the George & Dragon belongs to the Lowther family – the largest landowners in the Lake District, and in situ since 1283.

All the food is sourced from their estate, with seasonal game regularly on the specials board. Eight of the 10 new bedrooms will be opening on March 1, but in the meantime there’s plenty of room in the restaurant, where the Duke of Edinburgh was a recent dinner guest. From £85; 01768 865381, georgeanddragonclifton.co.uk

10. WILLOWFORD FARM Gilsland

A 100-acre organic farm sat plumb on Hadrian’s Wall, Willowford gets you about as close to a bit of history as you can imagine. Strictly speaking, it’s just above the Lake District, not far from Carlisle, but who’s counting when the area has one of the longest stretches of the wall still visible, not to mention a Roman fort down the road?

Once you’ve done all that, you can hang out with the cows, lambs, chickens, cats, sheepdog and bees (if you’re brave). Just don’t tell them which room you’ve got – a recent expansion saw the old milking parlour, cart house, pig hole and grain store turned into guest accommodation. Poor loves might get homesick. From £75; 016977 47962, willowford.co.uk

Paul Croughton, Sunday Times, 22/02/09

You used to go for views and Kendal mint cake. Now there’s luxury accommodation and gourmet food, too.

Not all that long ago, a break in the Lake District meant days spent gasping at the romantic wonder of nature in all its prom-night beauty – daffodils, sunsets, mountains, lakes – then nights in a rather basic B&B or some parochial hotel where an old bore monopolised the fire with tales of his latest battle with Scafell Pike while a bloke in a cable-knit jumper pulled weedy beer into tankards.

Fortunately, things change. Lakeland has embraced its position as England’s New Zealand and pulled its knee-high, natural-fibre walking socks up accordingly.

A bunch of posh B&Bs, boutique guesthouses and restaurants with (very nice) rooms have opened recently, providing sustenance and accommodation on a par with anywhere else in the country. Here are some of our favourites, all with new reasons to stay in 2009.

Unless stated, all prices are per night for an ensuite room, B&B

1.  NO 43 Arnside

Yes, they’ve forgotten to come up with a snappy name for this Victorian town house, which opened as a boutique guesthouse last year, but if you had knockout views over the Kent estuary to the Lakeland Fells, you’d be distracted too. The village of Arnside is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is unusually calm, even for Cumbria – and No 43’s five individually turned-out rooms, with clean, simple lines, do nothing to jar you from your reverie.

Our favourite is room two, with a double-ended bath under a large feature window where you can spot birds – bathing or otherwise – out on the estuary. There’s a new terrace out the front for kicking back, but if you’ve still got the energy for a night out, they’ll leave a midnight-feast tray in your room for your return. From £110, or three nights for £231; 01524 762761, no43.org.uk

2.  THE SUN INN Kirkby Lonsdale