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Country house hotels (39 posts found)

by Sarah Bridge
added November 21, 2019

If you're looking for luxury hotels in the Cotswolds The Lygon Arms will be high on your wish-list, and in fact it was on mine for ages. This historic hotel has been a main fixture in the beautiful Cotswolds village of Broadway since its days as a ...

by Sarah Bridge
added November 3, 2019

It was only when I heard the receptionist answer the phone at Stapleford Park hotel in Leicestershire that I realised I'd been saying its name all wrong and it was actually pronounced Stappleford, rather than Stapleford - but the friendly staff at th...

by Sarah Bridge
added September 5, 2019

Luxury country house hotels get booked up early for Christmas and with good reason: luxury hotels could be made for Christmas. Think of the best luxury country house hotels for Christmas and instantly you can picture the festive scene: comfy sofas, ...

by Sarah Bridge
added July 9, 2019

Fans of Germaine de Capuccini who are wondering where to get Germaine de Capuccini spa treatments in the UK, will be delighted to hear that award-winning hotel Park House hotel and spa in West Sussex is the latest hotel to offer the skin care special...

by Sarah Bridge
added June 29, 2019

Throughout my own stay at Cliveden House luxury hotel, there was one question which I found almost impossible to answer. Would Cliveden still be as fabulous if it wasn't, well, Cliveden? Would it seem as special if it were just a very nice luxury cou...

by Sarah Bridge
added June 21, 2019

It's where James Bond beat Goldfinger in possibly the most famous golf match in cinema history, where Bridget Jones ditched singleton life for a weekend away with boss Daniel Cleaver and where Teri Hatcher and Pierce Brosnan (as another Bond) danced ...

by Sarah Bridge
added June 19, 2019

You don't often hear the cast of a West End musical warming up when going for a walk in the grounds of a country house, but that's what you're likely to get during a stay at Kilworth House hotel. The unique outdoor theatre in the grounds of this L...

by Sarah Bridge
added March 13, 2019

It shares its name with a famous motor racing circuit but guests at the Brandshatch Place hotel and spa will enjoy a relaxing stay away from the fast lane. As befits a hotel named after a racing circuit, guests to the Brandshatch Pla...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 27, 2019

Brockencote Hall, set in several acres of lush green Worcestershire countryside, turned out to be an almost perfect stay, with the comforts and treats of a luxury country house hotel, from immaculate rooms, impeccable service and great food. Brock...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 27, 2019

It isn't often I embrace a hotel gym so wholeheartedly but there was something about the brand spanking new spa Mallory Court luxury hotel Warwickshire which made it irresistible. As we'd just come from feasting at sister hotel Brockencote Hall in...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 8, 2019

There was far more to Kesgrave Hall than I’d expected. Having just come from its sister hotel, Maison Talbooth, a luxurious, refined, relaxed country house with outdoor pool and 12 beautifully designed rooms, I wasn’t sure whether the 23-room Grade I...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 8, 2019

The key to a memorable hotel stay is a great welcome and such was my arrival at the excellent Maison Talbooth hotel on the Essex/Suffolk border was that within ten minutes I felt utterly at home. The signs were good from the star...

by Sarah Bridge
added November 13, 2018

Luxury hotels could be made for Christmas. Think of the best luxury country house hotels for Christmas and instantly you can picture the festive scene: comfy sofas, roaring fires, beautiful decorations and acres of grounds for the Boxing Day walk (o...

by Sarah Bridge
added May 21, 2018

It goes without saying that anyone doing battle with the traffic on either the M25, A2 or A20 routes is probably in need of some serious relaxation, but they might be surprised to learn that there is an oasis of calm just moments away. Thankfully due...

by Sarah Bridge
added March 4, 2018

Lewtrenchard Manor is one of those classic country house hotels which actually feels like someone's home (a rather impressive stately home, that's true) rather than a hotel. Tucked away in the Dartmoor hills between Tavistock and Okehampton, Lewtrenc...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 12, 2018

The first time I visited Burley Manor Hotel in the New Forest I had absolutely no expectations - not because I thought it was going to be terrible, but because it had never even crossed my radar before. It turned out there was a reason for this: whil...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 9, 2018

If you're going to spend the night in a castle, then it's appropriate to look the part, which is why it felt very fitting arriving at the luxury hotel Bovey Castle in the heart of Dartmoor in a £150,000 Aston Martin DB11. A trio of valets clad...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 29, 2018

It is always nice to be greeted on arriving at a hotel by someone saying enthusiastically: 'You're just in time for lunch!' and even better when you are promptly whisked off to sit in the sun with a large G&T while you dither happily over a mouth...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 16, 2018

It isn't often you plan on spending the night at a rather grand country house hotel and find yourself sleeping in a treehouse on stilts in the middle of a forest. But the treehouses at Chewton Glen, the five-star hotel and spa located deep in the hea...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 15, 2018

Just one night at the Spread Eagle Hotel Midhurst felt like a really long stay - but in a good way. I arrived there on Sunday afternoon, and by the time I left 24 hours later I'd had a 90 minute massage, swam, sauna'd, steamed and lounged in the spa,...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 13, 2018

Walking into a really gorgeous hotel room can be such a bittersweet moment. There is the initial reaction of 'Wow! This is really, really nice....!' and delight that this is actually all yours for the next 20 hours or so. Then there is the sudden rea...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 12, 2018

If the holiday season left you feeling in serious need of a relaxing break with country walks, a first-class spa and restaurant and cosy rooms to hide away in, then Bailiffscourt hotel and spa is the place for you. Tucked away down a little countr...

by Sarah Bridge
added December 15, 2017

To arrive at Langshott Manor hotel is to jump back in time. One moment you are in urban Surrey, passing through towns like Redhill and Horley and driving though a modern housing estate, and then all of a sudden you arrive at a building unlike no othe...

by Sarah Bridge
added December 13, 2017

There's a warm glow which comes when reading a newspaper article called 'Cosiest pubs to stay in this winter' and realising you are heading off to stay in one of those featured that very day. This happened to me recently when about to head off to Th...

by Sarah Bridge
added October 17, 2017

It's been receiving guests for more than 60 years but Park House hotel and spa is only now making the transition from well-kept local secret to firm fixture on the British country house hotel scene. With a new general manager - Mark Yates, formerly o...

by Sarah Bridge
added September 27, 2017

There is always a worry when it comes to revisiting a hotel which you totally adored on the first visit - what if it's not going to be as good as you remembered it? I know people who won't go to the same place twice for that very reason, and others w...

by Sarah Bridge
added September 25, 2017

If you like visiting beautiful English stately homes but hate the queues, the drive, the parking and the general hassle which usually goes with such visits, then Bowood hotel, spa and golf in Wiltshire has the perfect solution: its own fleet of golf ...

by Sarah Bridge
added August 21, 2017

I hadn't meant to embark on an impromptu Champagne cocktail-tasting session just after breakfast, but in keeping with the overall spirit of relaxation and pampering at The Greenway hotel and spa Cheltenham it seemed the right thing to do. It was m...

by Sarah Bridge
added May 27, 2017

If your idea of a perfect summer's day is afternoon tea (or a gin and tonic) on a beautiful lawn in the sunshine, The Manor House luxury hotel in the pretty Cotswolds village of Castle Combe, Wiltshire, is the place to be. There you can immers...

by Sarah Bridge
added April 4, 2017

If the England rugby team need somewhere to recharge their batteries after this year's bruising contest in which they finished a lowly fifth, then they needn't travel very far: their training ground at Pennyhill Park luxury hotel in Surrey is just a ...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 3, 2017

A trip to the Cotswolds is always a treat and if you're in need of some bracing countryside walks, a hearty pub meal and then a nightcap in front of a roaring fire, then The Old Swan and Minster Mill in the pretty Cotswolds village of Minster Lovell ...

by Sarah Bridge
added November 11, 2016

Being named The Sunday Times' Hotel of the Year, which The Painswick was just last year, can be a double-edged sword. On the upside, the phone didn't stop ringing once the news came out, bookings went through the roof and for a newly-opened hotel, i...

by Sarah Bridge
added November 2, 2016

You have to be deeply relaxed to nod off during a massage, so falling completely asleep, not once, but twice, during my treatment at the Lime Wood hotel spa shows how totally unstressed I was. This was quite an achievement considering that on the...

by Sarah Bridge
added May 18, 2016

Just when you think you've stayed in the best hotels in the Cotswolds, along comes Whatley Manor luxury hotel and tops the lot. From the moment the gates opened to reveal a beautiful cobbled courtyard, the entrance garlanded by wisteria and lavender,...

by Sarah Bridge
added December 19, 2015

Within two minutes of arriving at Barnsley House hotel and spa in the Cotswolds I had completely fallen in love with it - and that's before I'd even tried out the private cinema, outdoor hot tub or delicious food. All these things were yet to come, b...

by Sarah Bridge
added October 14, 2015

Bodysgallen Hall hotel North Wales was the starting point for my week exploring Wales and it was a great place to begin. One of the top luxury hotels in Wales, its location just outside Llandudno on the north coast is right at the top of Wales and ye...

by Sarah Bridge
added June 13, 2015

Note: this review of Luton Hoo luxury hotel in Bedfordshire was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now need updating It isn't often you get to share a sink with Hugh Grant but the sign in our bedroom at the five-star Luton Hoo hote...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 7, 2015

[Note: this review of Huntsham Court Devon was first written in 2015 and some details might be out of date] Staying at Huntsham Court, an exclusive use manor house in Devon, provokes a mixture of emotions in me. Two recurring regrets of mine ar...

by Sarah Bridge
added August 28, 2014

It isn't every day I stay in a 17th century Palladian mansion but after just a few hours at the Luckham Park luxury hotel near Bath I was walking around as if I had lived there for years. I would grandly descend the staircase from my room - no, ma...

Country house hotels (39 posts found)

Luxury in the Cotswolds at The Lygon Arms hotel, Broadway

A relaxing stay at Stapleford Park hotel, golf and spa in Leicestershire

The best luxury hotels for Christmas 2019 – my epic festive round-up

Trying out Park House hotel’s new Germaine de Capuccini spa treatments

My stay at Cliveden House luxury hotel (favourite of poets, players and princesses)

Bond, Bridget and me: my stay at Stoke Park luxury hotel

Drama and country house charm during a stay at Kilworth House hotel

Relaxing in the slow lane at Brandshatch Place hotel and spa

A charming luxury stay in Brockencote Hall hotel Worcestershire

A relaxing stay at Mallory Court luxury hotel Warwickshire

Kesgrave Hall hotel Suffolk: a friendly, lively, fun, quirky hotel stay

Maison Talbooth: an almost perfect stay at a lovely Essex country house hotel

A festive round-up of the best luxury country house hotels for Christmas 2018

Rowhill Grange luxury hotel and spa: a relaxing stay in the Kent countryside

Make yourself at home at the grand but friendly Lewtrenchard Manor, Devon

Burley Manor hotel New Forest: relaxing country charm

Bovey Castle: a friendly, historic, luxury Dartmoor hotel stay

The Pig near Bath: a heavenly, foodie, country retreat

Chewton Glen hotel, New Forest – luxury from spa to treehouse

A relaxing stay at the historic Spread Eagle hotel, Midhurst

Time for some serious pampering at Ockenden Manor hotel and spa

A luxurious country escape at Bailiffscourt hotel and spa, West Sussex

Langshott Manor, Surrey: regal luxury in an Elizabethan manor house

The Bell Inn: a cosy New Forest coaching inn perfect for country walks

Park House hotel and spa: a West Sussex secret (but not for much longer)

Whatley Manor review: a Cotswolds gem revisited (with added oxygen)

A classically English estate at Bowood hotel, spa and golf

Greenway hotel and spa, Cheltenham: a luxury hotel with the fizz factor

A picture-perfect Cotswolds stay at The Manor House, Castle Combe

Pennyhill Park – a luxury hotel fit for the England rugby team

A stay at The Old Swan and Minster Mill, a classic Cotswolds country pub

Cosy Cotswolds charm at The Painswick award-winning hotel

A deeply relaxing day at Lime Wood hotel spa in the New Forest

Whatley Manor hotel and spa – one of the best hotels in the Cotswolds

Barnsley House hotel and spa – a wonderfully cosy Cotswolds hideaway

Bodysgallen Hall hotel North Wales: a country house with impressive views

Luton Hoo: a classic country house hotel (with Hollywood glamour)

Huntsham Court Devon: relaxed exclusive use country living

Luckham Park luxury hotel near Bath: my very own Palladian mansion for a night

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