A LUXURY Lake District hotel has held onto its prestigious Michelin star for the second year.

The Samling Hotel, nestled on the shores of Windermere, retained its top restaurant ranking in the 2015 Michelin guide - making it the only hotel to have one in Cumbria.

Head chef Ian Swainson, 32, said: “I am thrilled that we have retained a Michelin Star and been included in an elite group of global restaurants.

"The whole team at the hotel has been fantastic throughout the whole year and this award is testament to their hard work.

"Next year should be even more exciting for us.”

The hotel, which has also retained its similarly esteemed 3 AA Rosettes, joins Simon Rogan's Cartmel restaurant L'Enclume in the acclaimed guide.

Over the past 12 months The Samling has seen significant investment including the addition of a new growing operation run by vegetable guru Ken Holland and a new development kitchen.

The development kitchen, headed by development chef Scott Lancaster, is a room designated to creating, testing and perfecting new dishes.

Marketing director Sam Hall said: "We don't know any other one star Michelin restaurants that have a purpose built facility like this.

"It allows you to use state of the art technology and to get away from the bustle of the kitchen and service."

The hotel has also won numerous food accolades during the last 12 months including taking the title for the 'Best Boutique Dining Hotel in the World' at the Boutique Hotel Awards and being named in the top ten UK hotel restaurants by the Guardian.

General Manager Alasdair Elwick said “This year has been a superb one for the hotel.

"The addition of both a kitchen garden and a development kitchen should make 2015 even better.

"We want to continually progress our cuisine and create an even better customer experience.”

But Mr Hall said despite their success they are not resting on their laurels.

"We're pretty consistent in what we do and we maintain the staff," he added. "We got to that level last year and retained it.

"For us though, we want to push on and our aim is to get better and better - we don't want to stand still but keep improving."