Across England’s green and pleasant land dozens of historic hotels reveal chapters of the nation’s rich and often turbulent history. Over the last century many grand country houses have been saved from ruin and reborn as luxurious hotels. Once these houses were the zealously guarded bastions of the aristocracy, not that every one of these […]
Carved kingfishers and waders, an oil painting of deer flitting through the forest, a Norfolk estuary at sunset. Congham Hall Hotel and Spa, where you hear the birdsong, is a haven, a rural celebration of one of Britain’s most restful counties. Congham Hall Hotel, built in the 1780s, is a whitewashed Georgian mansion complete with […]
The country house party is stylishly back at the foodie estate of Hampton Manor. In the parlour, lavish books and board games sit invitingly on coffee tables. Wellies are ready for country rambles. The croquet lawn awaits. Guests gather for pre-dinner cocktails, gins or wine. After dinner Frazer guides guests through a tour of whiskies. […]
In the true spirit of The Cavendish London you could order The Duchess from The Petrichor Bar: a cocktail of Galliano, Cointreau, orange juice and double cream. Then toast Rosa Lewis, known as the Duchess of Jermyn Street, who worked her way up from humble origins to purchase The Cavendish London in 1902. Back then […]
Roseate House London is a white stucco confection of a 48-room boutique hotel within a five-minute walk of Hyde Park. An invitation to revisit an era when London aspired to become the next Athens or Rome. Dating back to 1842, three Grade 2 listed townhouses with classical columns and balustraded balconies, make up this dignified retreat […]
The Duncombe Arms shows just how far The Great British Pub has travelled. Gourmet pub classics have brought a Michelin Bib Gourmand, two AA rosettes and foodies from afar. This is no longer just a place where only locals drop by for a pint and a bite. Ten rooms in Walnut House, every one, with […]
New Hall is the romantic castle, complete with water lilies floating on the moat, where you have always wanted to stay. There are more coats of arms, griffins, stone fireplaces, Norman French mottoes, crenelated towers, timber beams, cupola topped by a weather vane and mullioned-windows than you can shake a jousting lance at. Rumour has […]
The red-brick and white-sash-windows house, built in 1699, has echoes of both the grandeur of Hampton Court and Sir Christopher Wren’s elegant rebuilding of London after The Great Fire of London. Although owner Thomas Barlow’s views on architecture were influenced by his Grand Tour of Europe, Middlethorpe Hall Hotel and Spa, with its lawns and […]
The 211 acres of Blackheath’s common tell the story of England over the last millennium. The Royal Hundred Hides, traditionally, a hide is enough land to house and feed a family, lead south to Greenwich Park and it’s history. Over the centuries, Blackheath has been a gathering point for both celebrations and revolts: Henry V […]
Two centuries on from its naming as Rookery Hall, the rooks still fly over 38 acres of grounds, waddle across the terrace and perch on the handsome Georgian mansion built back in 1816. Yet, there is an air of the Loire valley to this grand sandstone and grey slate property. When Baron Von Schroeder purchased […]
Homewood, in ten bucolic acres of lawns and soaring trees, brings relaxed but stylish Mediterranean living to the rural village of Freshford: palms, olive trees in deep terracotta planters, Goddess sculptures and modernist art. It’s a sensuous taste of the Côte d’Azur slotted between the rivers Avon and Frome. The Mediterranean theme is apt, given […]
The Swan Hotel is a former sixteenth-century coaching inn that has been extended to become virtually a Lake District resort. Ivy grows on whitewashed walls that overlook the five arches of the narrow 1651 Newby Bridge. Meanwhile the River Leven that sedately flows towards Lake Windermere. After flooding in December 2015, The Swan Hotel rose […]
Country Living Lansdown Grove Hotel is not just a hotel, it’s a radical new concept, a way of living. Sat high on one of Bath’s seven hills, the hotel looks down on a UNESCO World Heritage City and over Somerset’s green hills and valleys. “An escape from the ordinary” is the hotel’s motto. Decor brings […]
Highbullen Hotel sits high on a ridge in North Devon with views across 127 acres of beautiful country towards Exmoor. Built in Victorian Gothic style in 1879, the interior of the house with its tiled floors, elegant carved staircase and grandiose fireplaces plays tribute to the skills of the late-Victorian Arts and Craft movement. The […]
Ambong Pool Villas sits stylishly on one of the 99 (natural) islands that make up the Langkawi archipelago in the Andaman Sea, close to Thailand’s southern border. Open for just two years, this is a family run small rainforest resort set into the contours of a steep hillside where hornbills fly and monkeys clamber. The […]
Bathing in the warm aquamarine Andaman Sea, Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 Malaysian islands just shy of the border with Thailand. White sand beaches backed by dense rain forests provide a base for relaxing holidays. But Langkawi is also a base for adrenaline infused adventures too. The Oriental Village The Oriental Village is an […]
