It’s a long, winding, lovely lakeside drive from Pooley Bridge to Sharrow Bay. Usually. In recent weeks it has been more of a challenge. A torture even. The grande old dame of country hotels has taken a battering from the weather.

Like so many others, she was a victim of Storm Desmond and was flooded out.

The hotel was closed for 13 days, losing thousands of pounds in takings.

It is feared that the cost of lost bookings in the months to come could add up to £600,000.

On a dank, dark January morning, the journey to Sharrow Bay along the shore of Ullswater is a car crawl through deep and wide puddles.

The cabin roof of a small white motor boat pokes above the murky waters of the lake which looks bigger, deeper, colder and much more unwelcoming than usual.

Amazingly, the hotel car park is full, though it’s no accident that four out of five vehicles are four wheel drives.

The only hints of sunshine and light among the gloom are the smiles of Oliver Smith, managing director of the hotel, and Nick Romano, operations director for the company which owns Sharrow Bay.

Nick has travelled up from Somerset to check on how the hotel is doing.

Remarkably well is the answer.

Step inside and you wouldn’t know there had been much more than a mild drizzle outside.

Only the availability of wellies and umbrellas give an idea of the conditions.

The 17 bedrooms were fully booked last night, though the future looks more patchy.

The smiles vanish as Nick says: “The message going out nationally is that Cumbria is shut, but it is not.

“The message that Cumbria is still open has to get out there.

“We and other hotels and B&Bs are catalysts to bring people in.

“People are already making holiday bookings now and are deciding to go elsewhere.

“We could lose between £500,000 and £600,000 in bookings over the next six months.

“If we can’t attract people it is going to make things hard for all our suppliers. It will be a hard year for everyone.”

The hotel is looking to Cumbria Tourism to launch a new national campaign.

“We would hope to see a positive campaign and a plan for the next six months,” says Mr Romano.

“There does not seem to be enough momentum to get the county up and running.”

It has taken a major effort, but the hotel is again fully up and running, even if the gardens and grounds still need some TLC.

The waters of Ullswater have crept a little closer to the hotel as a result of the storm.

Crept is probably the wrong word.

Huge rocks have been smashed out of the way, trees ripped out by their roots, concrete lifted out and earth chewed away.

Upto five metres of grassy area has been eaten out.

The century old boathouse has been smashed, the new boat jetty is completely submerged.

Elsewhere, old walls have crumbled and greenhouses need attention.

Repairing the havoc caused by Storm Desmond across the county means that builders are in short supply, so improvements to the actual hotel have had to be put on hold.

More than £1m was spent last year on renovating bedrooms, creating five new en-suite bathrooms, a refurbished sitting room and the introduction of open fires.

The plan was to remodel the restaurant and multi-award winning kitchens early this year.

The restaurant will be bigger, with access to a terrace and the kitchen will include a large viewing window for diners so diners can watch the kitchen brigade at work.

But work on those schemes won’t now start until October, partly because of the havoc wreaked on the hotel and partly because most builders are busy repairing damage caused to flooded homes across Cumbria.

Oliver is keen to get the message out that all is now back to normal, but it is not simple.

He says the iconic hotel, which set the mould for country house hotels and achieved legendary status under Francis Coulson and his partner Brian Sack, is on its way back up.

But like other businesses in Cumbria, it needs a little help.

The news that Pooley Bridge is to get a temporary bridge built soon is a massive boost for the hotel and the area.

But more has to be done before the temporary crossing is in place.

The manager says: “We are delighted that the temporary bridge has been given the go-ahead, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to have it ready by Easter.

“It would be very disappointing if it was not.

“The traffic diversions around Eamont and Pooley bridges needs to be better.

“We need better signs from Brougham and from the Shap direction off Junction 39 of the motorway.

“It is critical that we get this right now but we also need to get the bridge work done and tell the world that Cumbria is open.

“The window of opportunity is closing before it affects business even more.”

Ian Stephens, managing director of Cumbria Tourism says: “Cumbria Tourism is continuing to survey visitor dependent businesses affected by the recent floods.

“The results of this survey are crucial to help us make the case for government funding support to help businesses with their recovery.

“We are also working closely with businesses and the local authorities to get positive messages to the travel media, VisitEngland and VisitBritain to stress that we are open and looking forward to welcoming visitors in 2016.”

Oliver and his young family moved up to Cumbria just 18 months ago and bought a house in Clifton last spring.

The 34-year-old father of two was manager of the luxury hotel at Amberley Castle in West Sussex and has no regrets about moving up from the warmer, drier south.

“We love it up here. It is the best thing we have done,” he grins.

“Sharrow Bay is on its way back up again.

“We have new staff and have carried out renovations, but it is the same, warm Sharrow Bay family feel.”