Family
John and Christine Cunliffe turned Gilpin into an hotel in 1988. The house had been sold after Great Grandma Cunliffe passed away in the late sixties, and by 1987 Gilpin Lodge was a 5 bedroom bed and breakfast up for sale in the Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine. Christine spotted the ad and John was immediately dispatched north from Bath, where they then owned and ran The Hole in the Wall.
Prior to this had been career hoteliers with large international companies, including Trusthouse Forté and Ring & Brymer. After 4 turbulent years in Bath, with international events such as Chernobyl and the Libyan crises, John and Christine were drawn home to the Lakes and with it, a very strong UK market.
Very much a family concern, the hotel is, on all levels, a very personal business. Much originates from John and Christine’s initial philosophies in creating Gilpin, and we are immensely proud of our strong record of repeat business - by which we measure our success. Please see our visitors' guest comments.
John and Christine's son Barney joined Gilpin in 2002 with his wife Zoë, after 10 years in London with international hotel companies. Barney and Zoë have continued John and Chris’s beliefs and aim to meet and get to know every guest. The family strongly believes that service should reflect the guests' style, whether it be formal or informal, attentive or discreet. Guests visit Gilpin for various reasons: anniversaries, birthdays, honeymoons, engagements, discovering new love, relighting long love, rest, de-stress, recovery, farewells. All are exceedingly important milestones and we feel that having an experienced and caring team helps enormously in ensuring these milestones are turned into cherished memories.
John and Christine's younger son, Ben Cunliffe, is also a (non-operational) director of the company. An architect and builder with his own practice in Kendal, Ben has been one of the driving forces behind many of the hotels developments including the garden suites, garden room, bar and terrace and Lake House.
