Revealed: 100 Best Places to Stay in the UK for 2024

This year has proved a bumper one for amazing hotels with none more dazzling than Gleneagles, which tops our annual guide to the best places to stay in the UK. This award is the icing on a very big birthday cake for the grand old lady of Perth and Kinross as she will celebrate her centenary in June. When Gleneagles opened, it was hailed as the Riviera of the Highlands and set a new standard for country house hotels across Europe. We think it’s remarkable that, 100 years on, this legendary 232-room hotel is still on top form and raising the bar for the hospitality scene. We were particularly impressed with how the estate weaves its heritage playfully through a stay, from the bars to the bedrooms, and yet the overall experience feels fresh, relevant and typified by exceptional service.

Every year our experts, many of whom have been writing for the guide for more than a decade, visit hundreds of properties the length and breadth of the UK. We are constantly on the lookout for interesting openings and news of established hotels reinventing themselves. We chat to industry stalwarts about what’s caught their eye recently and track charismatic hotel staff and memorable chefs as they progress up the career ladder to launch their own projects. Of course we also rely on friends and readers to give invaluable “word-of-mouth” recommendations — we always scour the reader comments.

Every guesthouse, restaurant with rooms and hotel in this guide has been personally road-tested by at least one of our journalists. Some criteria are easy to evaluate: interiors — be they minimalist or traditional — have to be up to scratch, facilities must live up to the marketing promises and, while the food doesn’t have to win Michelin stars, it does have to be delicious.

We celebrate places that make an effort to be sustainable and support their local communities. It is also important to us that everyone feels welcome, so we like to shine a light on places that demonstrate a thoughtful approach to inclusivity. Our checklist includes having well-lit entrances with ramps and accessible toilets near reception as well as under-pillow vibrating fire alarms for the hearing impaired and clear signage for those who are partially sighted. We are constantly surprised by how many hoteliers think a step or lip into an accessible bathroom is acceptable — these rooms should have level en suites, with features such as grab rails and emergency pull cords.

• More of the UK’s best hotels for 2024^[1]

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Other judging considerations are more intangible but equally crucial, such as does the hotel have personality and, whatever the room rate, does it represent value for money? Assessing such nuanced points is where our years of experience comes into play and, after plenty of lively debate among the editorial team, we will eventually whittle down the contenders. We think our final 100 all have something that marks them out as a rare treat.

You’ll find everything from characterful pubs to sophisticated city addresses, and from busy beach resorts to remote romantic retreats. There are places for trendy young things, well-travelled older couples, families and groups of friends. We’ve grouped them into categories including countryside, beach and foodie hotels, to pubs with rooms and great stays for kids — you can scroll the full list below. Choose which suits your style, pack your bags and enjoy the UK’s very best bolt holes.

Use our handy search tool to find the best British hotels by criteria including price, family-friendliness and accessibility.^[2]

Win a stay at some of our top hotels with Times+. Enter now^[3]

• Gleneagles, Perth and Kinross — Hotel of the year, Scotland hotel of the year• Estelle Manor, Oxfordshire — Central hotel of the year• Langdale Chase, Cumbria — North hotel of the year and countryside hotel of the year• Slieve Donard, Co Down — Beach hotel of the year• Fowey Hall, Cornwall — Family-friendly hotel of the year• Bike & Boot, Derbyshire — Cheap and chic hotel of the year• Gin Trap Inn, Norfolk — Pubs with rooms hotel of the year• Bath Arms, Wiltshire — Southwest hotel of the year• The Rectory, Wiltshire — Boutique hotel of the year• Boys Hall, Kent — Southeast hotel of the year• The Rabbit, Co Antrim — Northern Ireland hotel of the year• Farlam Hall, Cumbria — Foodie hotel of the year• Broadwick Soho — London hotel of the year and city hotel of the year• The Suffolk — East hotel of the year• Babington House, Somerset — Romantic hotel of the year• Penally Abbey, Pembrokeshire — Welsh hotel of the year

1. Gleneagles, Perth and Kinross

JAMES MERRELL

Overall winner and Scotland hotel of the year

When this 232-room grey-stone pile opened in the Roaring Twenties it was hailed as the “eighth wonder of the world” and it continues to dazzle to this day. It is not so much a conventional hotel as a chameleon in a kilt, as it manages to be not just a Scottish baronial mansion for luxury loafing but also a world-famous golf course, a wellness retreat, an epicurean experience, a romantic interlude, a family adventure, an all-action shooting and fishing base and even a trainspotter’s delight with its own railway station. The lobby shimmers in mossy tones, contemporary art graces the walls and service is friendly and always efficient. In the nicest possible sense, the staff are always encouraging you to take it outside where the Ochil Hills put the “ahhh” into R&R.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[4]Details B&B doubles from £350, mains from £19; gleneagles.com

• Why we picked Gleneagles^[5]

2. Estelle Manor, Oxfordshire

Central hotel of the year

NEWThis grade II listed estate, nine miles from Oxford, is a showstopper throughout. Class and quality shimmer from every corner of the Jacobean mansion’s exquisite public rooms, which look on to a terrace and enticing heated outdoor pool. The elaborate bedrooms — wood-panelling, four-posters, heavily brocaded fabrics — have views over more than 3,000 acres of ambrosial countryside where pursuits range from tree walks to axe-throwing. Dinner might be sophisticated Chinese fine-dining or rowdy the-gang’s-all-here sharing plates in the kitchen garden. Its vast new spa is the not-really-necessary icing on a lavish cake. There’s also a beautifully equipped kids club for the over-threes.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[6]Details B&B doubles from £550, mains from £20; estellemanor.com

3. Langdale Chase, Cumbria

North hotel of the year and countryside hotel of the year

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NEWThis classy revival of a gothic pile right on Windermere’s waterfront opened at the end of 2023 and is exactly what the local tourist scene has been so desperately lacking. Its grand interiors, complete with minstrels’ galleries, elaborately carved oak panelling and stained glass manage to be opulent and yet winningly informal. The bar is as sexy as any city big-hitter, there’s a cinema with daily screenings and complimentary popcorn and bedrooms that are layered with thoughtful touches including binoculars for closer inspection of life on the lake (most rooms have lake views). The redevelopment of its historic garden and the opening of a spa is next on the agenda.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[7]Details B&B doubles from £290, mains from £19.50; langdalechase.co.uk

4. The Peacock at Rowsley, Derbyshire

IAN DAISLEY

Only by the dolorous chime of the grandfather in the hallway can you tell that centuries are passing at the Peacock. Built in 1652 for the steward of nearby Haddon Hall, this Peak District institution has been a hotel for 190 years and still looks the same — a skew-whiff stone manor collapsing picturesquely on a village corner. The interiors are antique too, and all 15 bedrooms are different, if only by dint of their tipsy floors and hidden corners. The food is fancy, served in three slightly spartan dining rooms from £63 a pop, while the sotto voce service treads a lovely line between formal and friendly. And the wild trout are a draw: Messrs Mortimer and Whitehouse pitched up here for an episode of Gone Fishing.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[8]Details B&B doubles from £235, two-course dinner from £63; thepeacockatrowsley.com

5. Heckfield Place, Hampshire

Jane Austen lived nearby and, with apologies to the author, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a grand estate in possession of an elegant country house hotel must be in want of a spa. Finally, a no-expense-spared “wellbeing space” has been added to this Georgian mansion near Hook. It already had 45 stealth-wealth bedrooms, a dazzling collection of 20th-century British art, 438 acres of gardens and farmland and Michelin-starred dining by celebrated chef Skye Gyngell, but the introduction of treatments using Wildsmith Skin — Heckfield’s award-winning botanical beauty brand — makes perfect sense.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[9]Details B&B doubles from £550, mains from £26; heckfieldplace.com

6. Queens Head, Cumbria

The Michelin-starred Askham Hall may be the star attraction on the Lake District’s northeastern edge, but just up the road in the same village its sister property offers the same quick access to under-visited valleys and lofty moorland walks — along with lower room rates and a relaxed, elbows-on-the-table atmosphere. Yes, the bedrooms are sprinkled with heirlooms from the land-owning Lowther family, but you can also sup a pint beside a cracking fire in the bar, and gaze out onto tractors parked by the village shop. Despite its preternatural good looks, Askham is still a working community. This is your ringside seat.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[10]Details B&B doubles from £160; queensheadaskham.co.uk

7. Bowood Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, Wiltshire

MARK BOLTON

You enter Bowood Estate by way of the magnificent “Golden Gates”, designed in 1841 by the same architect behind the Palace of Westminster, Sir Charles Barry. A tree-lined avenue leads the rest of the way and, if you look closely, you may spot herds of deer in the surrounding parkland designed by Capability Brown. The hotel itself, near Chippenham, was purpose-built, so the exterior is not quite as charming as the other historic buildings on the estate. Inside, however, are plenty of cosy nooks with working fireplaces and simple, elegant rooms with views on to the golf course in front. There is also a decent-sized spa with wonderful treatments and a hot tub and sauna.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[11]Details B&B doubles from £166, mains from £27; bowood.org

8. Cromlix, Stirling

A drop shot (OK, three miles) from Andy Murray’s childhood home in Dunblane, this 15-bedroom country house hotel hit the headlines when the tennis star bought it in 2013. Murray brought in Inverlochy Castle Management International (ICMI), in whose safe hands the former Victorian manse became a quiet, traditional escape for quiet, traditional guests. That all changed in January. Out went ICMI, in came Murray’s wife, Kim Sears. With the interior designer Suzanne Garuda — she also did up the Murrays’ Surrey home — Sears has set to work replacing tired tweed and tartan with crushed velvet and statement wallpapers. A relaid electric blue snooker table is typical of the new colour-popping look. On the walls, Victorian watercolours have gone. In their place hang bright, bold Damien Hirsts and David Shrigleys from the Murrays’ collection; there are eye-catching modern works on loan from the Royal Scottish Academy. Murray reportedly finds Sears’s taste bizarre, but the hotel needed some love. With fresh flowers from its gardens cheering up every mantelpiece, a quietly funky playlist where before no music played, and child-friendly touches throughout, Sears has breathed new — and very welcome — life into the old place.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[12]Details B&B doubles from £310, mains from £25.50; cromlix.com

9. The Greenway Hotel & Spa, Gloucestershire

You might not guess from the tan stone frontage and modern reception area that this Cotswolds manor house on Little Shurdington Estate dates back to the 16th century. It’s been a hotel since 1947 and was a family home for 200 years. A £1.2 million refurbishment in 2023 enlarged the rooms and gave them a thorough refresh, though plenty of Elizabethan-era details remain. The lovely views over the surrounding Cotswold hills (from the rear of the hotel) remain reassuringly the same. The relaxed restaurant serves seasonal specials and there’s a spa with a restful indoor pool. It’s set in eight acres, and guests are encouraged to wander the grounds, helping themselves to fruit from the pear and apple orchard.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[13]Details B&B doubles from £245, mains from £24; thegreenwayhotelandspa.com

10. Fife Arms, Aberdeenshire

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This renovated Victorian coaching inn at the centre of bustling wee Braemar is perhaps the world’s most unusual art hotel. The dissonance of 16,000 modern, astonishing, humorous, and sometimes mad artworks interwoven into a pantomime Victoriana setting in the Highlands is its quirky calling card. Multi-millionaire art collector owners Iwan and Manuela Wirth and luxe interior designer Russell Sage created the look. You’ll see a winged stuffed stag, a Picasso, a Lucien Freud, and Richard Jackson’s neon antler chandelier — and that’s just for starters. The food in the main Clunie restaurant is firmly rooted in the location. Outdoor experiences abound, arranged by dapper tartan-clad ghillies.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[14]Details B&B doubles from £434, mains from £28; thefifearms.com

11. The Newt, Somerset

Nothing goes together better than billionaire hoteliers and country bolt holes, as this extraordinary passion project outside Bruton demonstrates. Telecoms magnate Koos Bekker and Karen Roos have created a money-no-object playground that packs plenty of punch into its 1,000 acres. There are two hotels, one loaded with Georgian glamour (Hadspen), the other laced with hipster chic (the Farmyard), and an array of dazzling experiences, from landscaped gardens that out-bloom Kew and a working cider press, to credit-card-damaging shops and interactive museums. And there’s still room for wild woodlands, rolling valleys and a showstopping recreation of the Roman villa that stood here during the 4th century. You’d need a week to explore it all.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[15]Details B&B doubles at Hadspen House from £625; B&B doubles at the Farmyard from £475 (min two-night stay), mains from £18; thenewtinsomerset.com

12. Cowley Manor Experimental, Cotswolds

Hotel-watchers could be forgiven for thinking that the “country house hotel gone funky” was a recent phenomenon. In fact, Cowley Manor was at it back when it opened in 2002 and Peter Frankopan and Jessica Sainsbury (now Frankopan) of the Curious Group of Hotels brought snazzy colours and design pizzazz to the Italianate Cotswolds mansion and its 55 acres. But in 2023 they sold up to Experimental, the group known for its cocktail bars and party hotels in the Balearics, Paris and London, which has introduced its own aesthetics via a £3.5 million refurb from the designer Dorothée Meilichzon, who approves every last glass and teaspoon. She’s gone for more grown-up, calmer colours, lots of boxy shapes, scalloped edges and glossy lacquer — funk to funky. Chequerboard motifs nod to Through the Looking-Glass — Lewis Carroll lived nearby and his Wonderland is supposedly inspired by the impressive landscaped grounds. Sure enough, scurrying rabbits are a common sight. Experimental has given the hotel a foodier, drinkier focus, bringing in signature cocktails and Brunswick House’s Jackson Boxer as chef-consultant. Staff were kept on through the pandemic and sale, so service is much smoother than you’ll find in many places these days.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[16]Details B&B doubles from £250, mains from £16; cowleymanorexperimental.com

13. Matfen Hall, Northumberland

Fifteen miles west of Newcastle upon Tyne, two miles to the wrong side of Hadrian’s Wall and a mile from the mysterious Stob Stone (before which the kings of the Yetholm gypsies were crowned) stands Matfen Hall, the extravagant former seat of Sir Edward Blackett. Conceived with no sense of restraint by Sir Edward himself — a keen amateur architect — this Victorian grand design included a Game of Thrones-style Great Hall with a staircase built for sword fights and a cathedral-scale stained glass window that floods the space with cinematic light. Under Sir Edward, log fires warmed the hall and Caravaggio, Rubens and Van Dyck decorated the walls — but then came the nursing home years. Now, though, after a £15 million refurb by its owner Sir David Harrison, the chairman of Newcastle-based financial services group True Potential and a keen amateur hotelier, Matfen’s log fires and former grandeur have returned.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[17]Details B&B doubles from £239, mains from £18; matfenhall.com

14. Slieve Donard, Co Down

Beach hotel of the year

A few years ago the draw to Slieve Donard was its backdrop — the gloomy splendour of the Irish Sea and the snow-dusted Mourne Mountains that inspired CS Lewis’s Narnia. Now, after a full-scale refurb, it is also about what’s been happening inside as all of the 180 rooms have been transformed into sultry sage-green hideaways. The show-stealer? It’s a toss-up between JJ Farrall’s, the swanky, chandelier-lit restaurant that transports you from Newcastle to 1920s New York, or the two-storey spa’s sea-facing pool where you can watch the waves curl and crash as you soak.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[18]Details B&B doubles from £165, mains from £18; marineandlawn.com

15. Harbour Beach Club & Hotel, Devon

This is Salcombe, the sweet spot for Devon’s sailing fraternity, so expect Dry Robes and deck shoes in all directions. It’s properly busy in peak season so stay at this 50-room boutique retreat instead, a short walk from town’s mid-summer madness and dip into it only when necessary. You’ll probably be content to stay put and soak up magical South Sands beach, which unfurls in front of the hotel, trying the hotel’s free OK-yar activities such as beachfront yoga and paddleboarding. Be back at base by dusk though to appreciate the sunset, complimentary G&T in hand.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[19]Details B&B doubles from £259, mains from £18; harbourhotels.co.uk

16. No 17 Promenade, Argyll and Bute

Oban, on Scotland’s west coast, lacked a chic hotel until No 26 by the Sea opened in 2020; now it has two. No 17 the Promenade, also owned by local entrepreneur Paul Sloan, arrived in 2022. It offers 19 boutique rooms — with upmarket touches including vintage furniture and bold panelling — in a Victorian seafront building. The biggest draws, though, are the views of the bay (from some of the rooms) and the Seaview Lounge and terrace. The informal Italian restaurant, Porcini, manages to bring your eyes back to the plate with its terrific pasta.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[20]Details B&B doubles from £186, mains from £14; no17thepromenade.com

17. Polurrian on the Lizard, Cornwall

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It’s not just its clifftop perch, on the edge of Mullion, that makes the Polurrian such a treat. Nor the way it soaks up its sea views through giant windows in the Vista Lounge. It’s the fact that it offers all this ocean drama at a noticeably lower price than the big-name hotels on Cornwall’s north coast — as well as imaginative, well-cooked and colourful food. In other words, it’s perfectly-positioned for these straitened times, and buzzes with cliff-walking, beach-combing and cocktail-sipping guests. Book ahead, especially for summer.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[21]Details B&B doubles from £139, mains from £19; polurrianhotel.com

18. The Blakeney, Norfolk

The sea seems very far from Norfolk’s finest seaside hotel. You can hear the surf booming on Blakeney Point at night and if you are in one of the antique-filled, north-facing rooms you can look across Morston Marsh to see distant ships heading to the Port of King’s Lynn, but it’s a long walk from here to the beach. There’s magic in that salt marsh, and the Blakeney’s proximity allows some of the enchantment to seep in. Emma Stannard, the owner, has filled what was her dad’s hotel with art and antiques from Norfolk’s auction houses, the bird prints in every room reflecting the teeming wildlife in the creeks and tidal pools. Muddy boots are de rigueur in Blakeney’s daylight hours, but some effort towards elegance should be made after sundown. This is when cocktails in the bar overlooking the quay lead into candlelit table d’hôte dinners in the next-door dining room. Some effort should also be made to explore the Blakeney’s hidden corners, discovering sitting rooms with blazing fires. Top prize, though, is the Look Out Lounge on the first floor, where a wall of glass overlooks the marsh. If you are not back from your hike and holed up in here with afternoon tea in time for sunset, you’ve completely missed the Blakeney point.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[22]Details B&B doubles from £189, three-course dinner from £45; blakeney-hotel.co.uk

19. The Gallivant, East Sussex

This outpost of New York Hamptons cool, owned by Harry Cragoe and set beside Camber Sands beach, gets better by the year. Having made the hotel adult-only in 2019, the Gallivant’s once restrained decor now pulls off the neat trick of bringing a sense of fun to the glamour (love the framed vintage swimsuits). The mid-century-styled lounge is now a sophisticated space with cosy corners for books and backgammon. An elegant bar begs for cocktails and there is fine, unfussy food in the restaurant. In recent years they have upped the feelgood factor with free morning yoga sessions, a lovely rustic spa and regular workshops. Put it all together and you have somewhere to rejuvenate, perhaps even reassess your life goals. Luckily, it’s closer than New York.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[23]Details B&B doubles from £215, mains from £24; thegallivant.co.uk

20. The New Inn, Cornwall

You might get a hankering for tinned sardines and ginger beer on Tresco, because this enchanting island shimmers with Enid Blyton nostalgia. Once you arrive at the island’s main social hub, this charming 19th-century inn, you’ll probably upgrade to a crab sandwich and a bottle of Wiston Estate sparkling wine. Interiors celebrate the sea with moody marine colours, sailing memorabilia and a bar lined with broodingly dark timber upcycled from a shipwreck. There’s a suntrap terrace for long lunches and a conservatory-style restaurant for romantic dinners. Bedrooms come with classy touches such as Fermoie-fabric bedheads, homemade biscuits and views of boats bobbing in the harbour.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[24]Details B&B doubles from £210, mains from £22; tresco.co.uk

21. The Nici, Dorset

Bournemouth’s hotels were more Zimmer than zing until this boutique beauty burst on to the scene in the summer of 2022. It brings addictive, Miami-inspired energy to the West Cliff seafront, thanks to perky art deco, palm-printed decor in ice-cream sundae shades. In 2023, it added a spa and cool indoor pool to the mix, ideal for when the weather prevents you lounging in a cabana by its Insta-catnip, 30m outdoor pool. The Nici’s 88 rooms are as personality packed as the public spaces, while a new poolside restaurant, opening in 2024, will ensure that summer dining is also Miami nice.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[25]Details B&B doubles from £230, mains from £16; thenici.com

22. Port Hotel, East Sussex

The matt-black painted exterior sets the tone at this design-led boutique spot on the seafront in Eastbourne. It’s not like the other old-fashioned Victorian townhouses and hotels it neighbours, because inside it’s a Scandi dream with a muted colour scheme, pale wood furniture and lots of natural light. The reception has a cosy marble fireplace, monochrome objets d’art, chess and backgammon sets and cream Rico lounge chairs and sofas. A rotating collection of framed prints (sometimes local artists, sometimes tied to a nearby exhibition) give a real sense of place. Stylish rooms are split between sea and town views — bar the few family-friendly and dog-friendly options on the lower-ground floor.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[26]Details Room-only doubles from £95, Sunday roast from £19.50; porthotel.co.uk

23. Albion Aberteifi, Ceredigion

Aberteifi in Welsh, Cardigan in English — either way, this small town in west Wales, a mile or so inland from the coast, has a big maritime history. In homage, the Albion hotel (named after the ship that sailed from here to the New World in 1819) occupies a listed 18th-century warehouse on the town’s riverbank, offering 12 adult-only rooms and a cocktail bar. Embracing its roots, the hotel rocks an industrial vibe — steel, glass, stone, limewash and bounteous quantities of recycled wood, much of it sourced and refashioned at nearby Fforest Farm, the upmarket, back-to-nature glamping outfit of which the Albion is a recent offshoot.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[27]Details B&B doubles from £165; albionaberteifi.co.uk

24. Fowey Hall, Cornwall

Best family-friendly hotel

Much-loved as one of the UK’s top family-friendly hotels, Fowey Hall — named after the Cornish coastal town that cascades beneath it — is the de facto flagship property of the Luxury Family Hotels group. An elegant Queen Anne Revival mansion that inspired Toad Hall in The Wind in the Willows, Fowey Hall had a multimillion-pound facelift in April 2023 that almost doubled its capacity to 60 rooms and added a heated outdoor pool and breezy interconnecting suites. An Ofsted-registered kids’ club (for which children get one free session a day) and portable baby monitors mean that adults can enjoy their stay as much as the children.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[28]Details B&B doubles from £225, mains from £20; luxuryfamilyhotels.co.uk

25. Wildhive Callow Hall, Derbyshire

It may be the home of Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, but Derbyshire remains unexplored territory for many. The exciting new hotel group Wildhive sets out to create properties rooted in nature in lesser-known locations, and it helps that Callow Hall, near Ashbourne, has imposing Victorian gothic architecture and 35 acres of Derbyshire’s lushest dales. After a £7 million renovation, its grade II listed interiors were unveiled in 2021. They are a cleverly curated kaleidoscope of colour, pattern and texture overseen by the designer Isabella Worsley, who learnt her trade from the tastemaker Kit Kemp. Its sitting rooms are cosied up by dogs enjoying the heat from the open fires, mullioned windows and plump vases of fresh garden flowers. They have their grander moments, though, including the private dining room with ethereal hand-printed wallpaper by Melissa White. Families can borrow boots and hike the trails, while couples might linger in its dinky spa or go antique-hunting in Ashbourne.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[29]Details Room-only doubles from £214, mains from £22; wildhive.uk

26. The Fish Hotel, Worcestershire

At the top of Fish Hill above the chocolate-box village of Broadway is the 500-acre Farncombe Estate. Within its grasp are much-loved properties Dormy House, Foxhill Manor and the Fish — which is more a fun collection of treehouses, shepherds’ huts and stables than a hotel. The Fish is the most family-friendly of the trio, priding itself on its laid-back nature (guests feel more than comfortable kicking off their muddy wellies in the boot room and walking barefoot to the green sofa-stuffed lounge for drinks), its superb restaurant, Hook, and gobsmacking views over the Cotswolds. It’s a fun place to stay for a few nights — kids will love the signature wooden treehouses, with rope bridges, telescopes and outdoor tubs — and there’s plenty to keep the whole family (including the dog) entertained, with outdoor pursuits such as archery and clay-pigeon shooting. While it caters superbly for families, it’s better suited to adventurous older children and teens than toddlers.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[30]Details B&B doubles from £225, mains from £21; thefishhotel.co.uk

27. The Grove, Hertfordshire

Long established as one of Hertfordshire’s most family-friendly hotels (it cannily bills itself as the capital’s country retreat), the Grove sits amid 300 acres of parkland that used to belong to the Earl of Clarendon. Its 215 stylish, breezy rooms and suites are housed in the 18th-century manor house and the (less characterful) West Wing, added in 2003, but it’s the nonstop activities guests really come for: outdoor trails (and bikes with which to explore them), fun activities for babies to teens, and a programme that includes everything from yoga retreats to walks with birds of prey led by smiley staff. Then there’s the endless, TikTok-famous buffet in the Glasshouse. If you’re a parent of a child under 12, this is the most fun you and they can have within the M25.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[31]Details Room-only doubles from £370, mains from £19; thegrove.co.uk

28. Another Place, Cumbria

This Lake District hotel radiates out in all directions from its pretty, 18th-century core — with kids’ clubs at the back, shepherd’s huts in the front garden and a slate annexe to one side, while the glass-walled pool and all-day Living Space restaurant bind the two main buildings together. Inside, the decor is playful and posh. Oversized sofas slouch against a backdrop of 21st-century colour — sage, teal, mustard and russet — while shapely bentwood chairs scrape across restaurant floorboards. The library in particular is a treat, decorated with a constellation of lamps and a look-at-me wall of mismatched mirrors. But what’s most striking about the place is your fellow guests. Half of them are dressed in neoprene, en route to their next big Ullswater experience.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[32]Details B&B doubles from £190; mains from £18; another.place

29. Port Lympne, Kent

A swathe of the Masai Mara (almost) cuts through the plains of Kent at Port Lympne, near Hythe. Set up by John Aspinall, the casino owner, the 600-acre reserve near Hythe is home to hundreds of endangered animals, from lowland gorillas to red pandas. So it’s coffee with a chorus of the jungle here. Scattered around is an eclectic range of digs, from pods, cabins and treehouses to rough-luxe wood-panelled lodges with outdoor baths and full picture windows overlooking lion enclosures. Most rooms come with a golf buggy in which to tootle around the reserve and all breaks include a one-hour safari. Several cafés and restaurants keep even tricky young eaters happy.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[33]Details Room-only doubles from £139, mains from £18; aspinallfoundation.org

30. The Barnsdale, Rutland

NEWEmbraced by rolling countryside a mile outside Oakham, this Georgian former hunting lodge has received a £2 million shot of contemporary rustic chic to become the Signet Collection’s third boutique hotel. Within walls of creamy local limestone, fireplaces and stone flags mingle with rich bold colours, upscaled furniture and antiques as well as original artworks. With 45 tasteful rooms lining the wings of a serene garden courtyard, a brasserie that sources fine local produce and relaxed but efficient service, the Barnsdale makes an intimate base for exploring a seriously pretty area, including nearby Rutland Water, copious stone villages and striking stately homes.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[34]Details B&B doubles from £113, mains from £19; barnsdalerutland.com

31. The Mole Resort, Devon

NEWArchery, axe-throwing, pickleball, pétanque… come to the Mole prepared to play. Built around a country house (formerly the Highbullen Hotel), its 39 rooms and 15 lodges are sprinkled across a 125-acre estate. The resort is less about sipping champagne by the pool (though there are two of them) and more about a retro US campus feel, with huge grounds, a main house and group activities on hand — not unlike the summer camp in Dirty Dancing. It’s down-to-earth and dog-friendly, but with luxury touches, such as high-end eco-lodges with hot tubs, a spa and a fine-dining restaurant. Sustainability credentials are good too. A biomass plant heats the indoor pool, reducing reliance on oil, and recycling is carefully managed, with separate bins provided in lodges. Lighting is kept to a minimum to avoid disturbing wildlife, and all cooking oil is converted into biofuel.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[35]Details Room-only doubles from £120, mains from £12.50; themoleresort.co.uk

32. The Village at Beaverbrook, Surrey

NEWSome posh country house hotels seem to rank children just below an unexploded bomb in terms of welcome. This place is a happy exception. Sitting on a 400-acre estate between Leatherhead and Dorking, it is a jolly reimagining of a Victorian village in dreamy woodland, with 21 bedrooms spread through a quadrant of cottages. Food stays on-message: Mrs Beeton’s Restaurant is inspired by the famous Victorian cook. Guests also have buggies for the five-minute pootle to the impressive restaurants and facilities of its sister property, the House, once the home of Lord Beaverbrook, the former proprietor of the Daily Express.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[36]Details B&B doubles from £600, mains from £16; beaverbrook.co.uk

33. Bike & Boot, Derbyshire

Cheap and chic hotel of the year

NEWPizzas! Cocktails! Grills! The shouty tangerine flags flying along the highway outside Bike & Boot tell their own story. Despite its ethos as a base camp for hikers and cyclists, here is a hotel offering something deliberately different from the creaking old inns and cottage B&Bs that tend to define the Peak District. An angular three-storey new-build set in the bucolic Hope Valley, it’s a long-awaited sister to the first Bike & Boot, which opened on Scarborough seafront in 2020, and imports the same buzzy, youthful vibe. The lobby has OS-map wallpaper and a bike-helmet chandelier, check-in is wi-fi-enabled, and the pulse of the place is Bareca, an open-plan brasserie bookended by glass, which serves up steaks and sundaes in the glow of its long, colourful bar.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[37]Details Room-only doubles from £99, mains from £12; bikeandboot.com

34. Ashlack Hall, Cumbria

“Who likes green beans so much we have to fly them from Kenya?” wonders Bob Keegan of the restaurant-with-rooms Ashlack Hall. Wasteful global supply chains have long bothered him. So when the Ballymaloe-trained chef set up shop in his family’s 17th-century house, he and his partner, Jenna Freak, went the other way. Much of what guests eat here comes from their 500-acre hill farm. Most of the rest is grown nearby, and the experience of staying and eating here is so deeply connected to the leafy Cumbrian valley you’ll feel yourself subconsciously putting down roots.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[38]Details B&B doubles from £99, six-course dinner menu from £65pp; ashlack.com

35. The Ship Inn, Fife

Elie is Edinburgh’s answer to Southwold, an ancient fishing port turned short-break idyll with a blue flag beach and cobbled wynds, a sailing club and Victorian holiday homes. Here, on a sandy lane above the sea walls — they serve as the Ship Inn CC clubhouse for beach cricket matches in summer — this always-busy pub-with-rooms is a cracking base for coastal yomps and beachy days, serving above average pub grub including locally landed seafood. Comprising two knocked-together 1700s fisherman’s houses, it is an East Neuk institution, a place to hunker with a loved one in winter or scamper about barefoot with kids in summer.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[39]Details B&B doubles from £100, mains from £16.95; shipinn.scot

36. Artist Residence, Bristol

Formerly a boot factory, this historic building in Bristol has been lovingly spruced up but remains true to much of its character. Exposed brick walls are — as you might expect — adorned with canvases, prints and photographs. It’s all very cool, as is the crowd in the bar/restaurant. Here, bar tables extend off the columns that support the extremely high ceiling and attentive staff mix cocktails behind the brick bar. The ambience is lovely: groups of friends sit at the sage velvet banquettes chatting — some eating, some just drinking.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[40]Details Room-only doubles from £140, mains from £18; artistresidence.co.uk

37. Corner House, Kent

DAVID BABAIAN

Just beyond Canterbury’s southeastern city walls, this grade II listed former coaching inn has been welcoming passers-through since 1682, with the building itself dating back to 1574. The main draw today? The food. The menu of its chef, Matt Sworder, will please everyone bar vegetarians, who have limited options. Most mains combine a generous slab of meat with exquisitely cooked veg and obligatory “jus”. Young, smiley staff will fill you in about where everything is sourced (Kent, mostly). Upstairs, the five rooms — all sloping floors, exposed beams and original iron fireplaces — are as charming as you would hope. With rates starting at £75, breakfast included, they are excellent value too.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[41]Details B&B doubles from £75, mains from £21; cornerhouserestaurants.co.uk

38. The Haweswater, Cumbria

Who said the Lake District was overcrowded? Wind your way up the no-through road from Bampton Grange to Haweswater and you’ll find an instant antidote to the bustle of Bowness — courtesy of this revamped 1930s roadhouse. Here, beside a lonely reservoir, the Haweswater Hotel offers period details aplenty in the public rooms, as well as comfy beds, colourful bathrooms and cinematic views. Add the feisty flavours of Mark Greenaway’s restaurant and you have an experience that is both delightful and incongruous.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[42]Details B&B doubles from £119, mains from £22; haweswaterhotel.com

39. Hotel Meudon, Cornwall

Dig out those bell bottoms — they won’t be out of place at Hotel Meudon, near Falmouth, where the decor tips a floppy hat to 1970s chic (the effect is more Faye Dunaway than Bay City Rollers, we promise). Remember FM frequencies? You’ll need them to tune the restored teak-wood Roberts radios in each of the 29 bedrooms. There are modern trappings including TVs and wi-fi, but why bother? Instead, watch the unfurling Cornish weather from an Ercol or Parker Knoll chair facing the picture windows in a lounge. Or stroll down the cliff, along paths weaving across eight acres of subtropical gardens, to a secluded beach at the bottom. Wellies, Berghaus jackets and muddy dogs are the daytime accessories of choice at this informal hotel, while in the evening Meudon is transformed with mood lighting, classic cocktails and generous seafood suppers.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[43]Details B&B doubles from £129, two courses from £30; meudon.co.uk

40. Llys Meddyg, Pembrokeshire

The Georgian coaching inn of Pembrokeshire locals Ed and Louise Sykes pioneered the boutique look — art on inky walls, woven Welsh bed-throws and slipper baths — when it opened in Newport 20 years ago. Its cracking restaurant championed “local” and “foraged” long before they were buzzwords. Factor in chatty staff and this place has always felt warmly welcoming. But during the pandemic Ed and Lou were innovating again. They built a rustic-glam dining room plus a cabin-like bar. Their garden now hosts the bohemian Secret Garden dining space, while a new ebike company allows guests to explore the Preseli Hills with ease. Though new, the additions are local, authentic, all heart and soul — Llys Meddyg in a nutshell.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[44]Details B&B doubles from £150, mains from £16; llysmeddyg.com

41. Masons Arms, Devon

Seven centuries back, the Masons Arms dispensed cider to stoneworkers in surrounding Branscombe. Just two years ago, it was a tired country inn — albeit one pleasantly close to the sea. Now, after a careful £2 million makeover by the St Austell Brewery, you will find a posh pub with partly thatched exteriors, low beams and stone walls that has been enhanced by terrific, wholesome local food, cosy but cool decor and luxury touches such as Hypnos mattresses. It adds up to a great base for classic south Devon days spent striding along the Jurassic Coast to beaches or visiting Lyme Regis.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[45]Details B&B doubles from £105, mains from £15; masonsarms.co.uk

42. Queen’s Head, Wiltshire

NEWWould the chancellor please take some tips from the Chickpea Group? Its fifth pub is a charming 19th-century inn loaded with feelgood factor that doesn’t unduly tax your wallet. Its idyllic location in the super-cute village of Broad Chalke, not far from Salisbury, is an instant vote winner but it takes intoxication to the next level by adding flagstone floors, low-flying beams, blazing fires, local ales and good, honest, well-priced pub grub. The bedrooms are cheerfully unpretentious and focused on the essentials, such as quality mattresses, duck-down duvets and Egyptian cotton linen. Five more bedrooms above the bar are set to open in summer 2024.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[46]Details B&B doubles from £95, mains from £18; queensheadbroadchalke.co.uk

43. School Lane Hotel, Liverpool

NEWHope Street Hotel is one of Liverpool’s best hotels, with a string of awards to its name. Last year, it quietly opened an impressive little mini-me in a smart Victorian building down a quiet lane near the Royal Albert Dock. Original features include soaring ceilings and restored sash windows but Hope Street’s DNA is imprinted all over its souped-up interiors, so expect a serene minimalist mood board of milky colours, light oak furniture and virginal white fabrics. There’s no on-site evening restaurant, though guests receive discounts at its sister restaurant 1931 and Hope Street’s fabulous spa, plus the Liverpool ONE entertainment complex is on its doorstep.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[47]Details Room-only doubles from £79; schoollanehotel.co.uk

44. Gin Trap Inn, Norfolk

Pubs with rooms hotel of the year

If the test of a good pub is its popularity with locals, the Gin Trap Inn passes with flying colours. Walk into this handsomely restored 17th-century coaching inn set in north Norfolk’s nature-packed playground — the BBC’s Springwatch is broadcast from Wild Ken Hill, just four miles down the road — and you will be drawn in by the tang of woodsmoke, the lazy gaze of wet dogs and the relaxed babble of locals. With 12 characterful bedrooms and suites (including three self-catering cottages), the Gin Trap Inn is a heritage riot of original beams, low doors and wonky floors. But the restaurant is modern and ambitious, with Gareth Rayner, the chef-patron, gunning for a Michelin-star with his imaginative dishes showcasing the superb local seafood, game and veg. Service throughout is exemplary.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[48]Details B&B rooms from £120 (Wednesdays to Sundays), mains from £18; thegintrapinn.co.uk

45. The Bath Arms, Wiltshire

Southwest hotel of the year

It’s hard to imagine a more inviting West Country pub with rooms than the Bath Arms in Longleat. The ivy-covered listed 18th-century pub, now part of the modern Beckford Group that has rejuvenated other pubs in the region, is as warm and welcoming as a hug — much as it has been since 1736. The food, served in the higgledy-piggledy candlelit inn downstairs and overseen by Jack Chapman, the chef, is superb. Rooms upstairs and in the stable building are cosy-casual with clawfoot tubs, soft throws and Roberts radios tuned to Classical FM. A cutesy spa cabin, added in 2023 and stocked with products from the Wiltshire brand Bramley, sits in the garden. A stay here puts you at the mouth of the Longleat estate, which provides enough space for woodland rambles or child-pleasing drives into the safari park, which has lions and giraffes. Rates are admirably affordable for other popular West Country areas such as Bath or the Cotswolds and include a full English breakfast — plus a bloody mary and paracetamol for your hangover.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[49]Details B&B doubles from £140, mains from £15; batharms.com

46. The Running Horses, Surrey

When you arrive at a pub midweek and it’s already bustling at 6pm, you know you’re in for a treat. Better still, come to the Running Horses in Mickleham, near Dorking, in winter and you’ll be met by the inviting roar of an open fire. This 16th-century inn, in the Surrey Hills, was once a coaching house on the main trade route from London and has been welcoming guests for more than 400 years. It’s packed with character, from antique horse-racing medals on the walls to old equestrian buckles attached to room keys.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[50]Details Room-only doubles from £120, mains from £16; therunninghorses.co.uk

47. Lord Crewe Arms, Northumberland

This 12th-century monk’s abbot in the honeystone village of Blanchland, bang on the border between Northumberland and Durham, has been turned into a cosy pub that puts you within stomping distance of the heather-strewn Pennines and Derwent Reservoir. The 26 bedrooms, set across the 12th-century medieval priory and abbot’s lodge, go big on countryside chic with oak beams, original stone fireplaces and cosy tweed wallpaper. Nice touches abound: just-baked cookies in the bedrooms, pints of local ale pulled in the medieval vaulted bar and big, bold seasonal dishes served in front of crackling fires in the former bishop’s dining room.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[51]Details B&B doubles from £184, mains from £17; lordcrewearmsblanchland.co.uk

48. Blind Bull, Derbyshire

The Blind Bull is a welcoming retreat, especially if you roll up after dark. Set in one of the Peak District’s quietest outposts — Little Hucklow, near Buxton — every window of this snazzed-up 12th-century inn positively glows. Indoors you’ll find a pleasing collision of beamy boozer and foodie feasting house, majoring in sturdy Derbyshire ingredients in sophisticated arrangements — lamb faggot kebab with preserved lemon relish; beef with sourdough puree and beer-pickled onions. Little Hucklow local Raab Dykstra-McCarthy rescued the pub from dereliction in 2020, and across the lane he’s converted an old piggery into five surprising suites, with high ceilings and loft-style aesthetics: three have their own mini patios, three come with clawfoot baths.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[52]Details B&B doubles from £130 (Wednesday to Sunday; two-night minimum booking at weekends), mains from £19; theblindbull.co.uk

49. Cholmondeley Arms, Cheshire

Detention wouldn’t be such a bad prospect at this Victorian schoolhouse, deep in the countryside, a 30-minute drive from Chester. It’s now a buzzy boozer where those teachers of yesteryear might be surprised to find a gin-making copper still centre stage in the old classroom. “The Chum”, as it’s known, loves its gin, with 366 varieties on offer as well as interesting ales from local microbreweries. Straw boaters and boarders’ trunks nod to its previous incarnation, while leather button-backed armchairs beside blazing fires, exposed brick interiors and sky-high sash windows keep interiors stylish. Dinner might be devilled kidneys or wagyu beef burgers, before you head to the cosy bedrooms in the headmaster’s former home.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[53]Details B&B doubles from £135, mains from £16; cholmondeleyarms.co.uk

50. Hare & Hounds, Cumbria

This laid-back 17th-century coaching inn in low-key Bowland Bridge gets the balance just right between spit-and-sawdust boozer and posh gastropub. It is run with urbane charm by the business partners Andrew Black and Simon Rayner-Langmead, who bring a cheeky sophistication to snugs with exposed stone walls and wood-burning stoves, plus challenging art by Tracey Emin. The food also sashays deftly between styles, so tuck into Wainwright beer-battered fish and chips with mushy peas or stick out your pinky for sea trout with Avruga caviar. The five rooms are as uplifting as the rural views and rooted in nature with comforting pastels and warm woolly textures.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[54]Details B&B doubles from £110, mains from £18; hareandhoundslakes.com

51. Marquis of Granby, Kent

On a small hump in the scenic Alkham Valley, the Marquis of Granby makes an ideal starting point for beach trips, country walks, even a holiday across the Channel. About 15 minutes’ drive from Dover, this 200-year-old pub has become a firm local favourite since it was revamped in 2019. The Kent-inspired menu, served by the fire, takes in everything from Simpsons sparkling wine to Mangalica pork sourced a few miles away. The cosy vibe continues upstairs, with ten affordable rooms that team dark walls with upcycled furniture and Matissesque flowers and leaves. The homemade “welcome cookies” in your room — sizeable, buttery, not wise to consume just before dinner — sum up the service.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[55]Details B&B doubles from £90, mains from £18; marquisofgranby.co.uk

52. The Bell at Charlbury, Oxfordshire

NEWThey say good things come in threes and this place proves the point perfectly. It is the third pub with rooms from Lady Bamford of Daylesford Organic and it’s a delight. Just off the high street in increasingly trendy Charlbury and within easy reach of Chipping Norton and Woodstock, this 17th-century tavern’s elevated pub grub has already caught the eye of the Michelin inspectors. Its interiors are every bit as tasty. In winter, real fires and exposed stone make for cosy evenings, while its acre of orchard gardens with a stream at the bottom for playing Pooh sticks promises nostalgia-filled summer nights. The 12 rooms have an arts and crafts ambience and are as rural and winning as a William Morris design.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[56]Details B&B doubles from £195, mains from £14; thebellatcharlbury.com

53. Three Horseshoes, Somerset

NEWMargot Henderson, the queen of east London’s coolest culinary experience, Rochelle Canteen, is behind Somerset’s latest country escape. With Max Wigram, a former art dealer, she has revamped a 17th-century boozer in Batcombe, a sleepy village within a buttered scone’s throw of trendy Bruton. Interiors are now a study of stealth-wealth discretion, leaving the menu to provide the retro fireworks, including smoked haddock and mash, and sherry trifle. The five bedrooms have an eclectic mix of antiques, art and village rooftop views, with the bells of the grade I listed 15th-century church of St Mary the Virgin providing your wake-up call.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[57]Details B&B doubles from £220, mains from £18; thethreehorseshoesbatcombe.co.uk

54. The Rectory, Wiltshire

JAKE EASTHAM

Boutique hotel of the year

It’s the ultimate hospitality cliché but this Georgian manor house in the classic Cotswolds village of Crudwell near Malmesbury really does feel like a home away from home. Perhaps the fact that Alex Payne, one of the owners, is a former music industry executive sprinkles a laissez-faire informality through its super-smart sitting rooms, conservatory-style dining room and Scandi-influenced bedrooms. Food by Jake Simpson, who was trained by Jeremy Lee, the acclaimed Quo Vadis chef, offers refined informality. Design-wise, the moody bar is the full-on Keith Richards (in his prime) to entice late-night over-indulgence. There is a pretty pool in the garden for a pre-breakfast refresher.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[58]Details B&B doubles from £170, mains from £22; therectoryhotel.com

55. Boys Hall, Kent

Southeast hotel of the year

NEWSurprises can sometimes be unwelcome for an unsuspecting hotel guest but Boys Hall, a wisteria-clad, grade II listed manor on the outskirts of Ashford, is unexpected in the best possible way. Brad and Kristie Lomas, the owners, have taken a dilapidated 17th-century Wealden hall house in an unlovely part of town and from it created a sumptuous nine-room hotel, with three acres of garden and a cathedral-like glass-and-green-oak restaurant where the swimming pool once stood. Charlie Dilworth, the chef, champions a seasonal, locally sourced menu that can’t be many food miles away from a Michelin star.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[59]Details B&B doubles from £180, mains from £22; boys-hall.com

56. The Rabbit, Co Antrim

Northern Ireland hotel of the year

Nothing says good times more than a disco ball — especially if it’s giant and swinging above a heated Roman bath like the one at the Rabbit. Fun is what this 33-room boutique hotel does best. Its spa has been designed to surprise, with a heated pebble “beach” and tiki bar where the vibe is more rum spritz than green smoothie. Retreat later to rooms that are magnets for millennial couples: neon signs, Dyson hairdryers, Instagrammable William Morris wallpapers. A gold star comes for convenience, too. The hotel, northwest of Belfast, is a ten-minute drive from Belfast International airport and 20 minutes from the centre.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[60]Details B&B doubles from £185, mains from £20; rabbithotel.com

57. George in Rye, East Sussex

A central character on Rye’s high street since its days as a 16th-century coaching inn, the George was left out of action for two years after a devastating fire, before its phoenix-like comeback in 2022. It’s not just bolder but bigger now too, with another seven rooms tucked around the grade II listed building’s courtyard garden. A treasure trove of eclectic finds and designer quirks, from the reception desk and its former life as a church altar to the scallop shell-lined grotto of the women’s loos, the whole place exudes boutique hotel crossed with pub-with-rooms warmth — think brass rolltop baths and snug corners lit by ceramic log-burners.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[61]Details Room-only doubles from £125, mains from £21; thegeorgeinrye.com

58. Collective at Woolsery, Devon

NEWThe Collective is a curious bubble of sophistication that’s somehow materialised in Woolsery, a modest, back-of-beyond village outside Barnstaple in north Devon. The tech millionaire Michael Birch has a deep affection for the place after spending childhood summers here and in 2015 he bought the local pub and hatched a rose-tinted plan to resuscitate village life. He and his wife, Xochi, have since carefully renovated the shop, its chippy, created a regenerative farm and won Michelin’s approval for the pub’s food. Finally, in a handful of village buildings, they’ve added accommodation that wouldn’t look out of place in Mayfair. Except when you step outside these boutique bedrooms, the pristine wilderness of the Hartland peninsula awaits.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[62]Details Room-only doubles from £275, mains from £16; woolsery.com

59. The Retreat at Elcot Park, Berkshire

Packed with personality and placing the emphasis firmly on informality, this elegant 18th-century mansion hotel is a breath of fresh air — and won our Best Places of the Year 2023 title. Despite being only 20 minutes’ drive from Newbury, the fact that its 16 acres merge seamlessly into the North Wessex Downs creates the illusion that it is in rural seclusion. There is plenty to do (spa treatments, games of tennis, ebike rides) and eat, from classic dishes in 1172 Brasserie to pan-Asian plates in Yu and picnic hampers for lunches in the countryside. Bedrooms are painted in primary colours with jaunty patterns. In spring 2024 it is adding nine apartments that are ideal for extended families.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[63]Details B&B doubles from £150, mains from £16; retreatelcotpark.com

60. Rothay Manor, Cumbria

JAKE EASTHAM

Imagine a fashionista friend who’s just discovered tweed, and you’ll get a sense of Rothay Manor’s style. Outside, it’s a whimsical Regency villa. Inside, however, it buzzes with patterns, texture and the clever use of colour — and it’s hard to pick a plum from its 23 rooms and suites. Admittedly, this isn’t as secluded a spot as some in Cumbria. The manor sits on the edge of Ambleside, and its pretty garden is girdled by brisk traffic. But there are compensations, not least the middle-of-the-Lakes location. And besides, all you need do to escape the bustle is walk up Loughrigg Fell next door. It’ll be the perfect prelude to one of Aaron Lawrence’s refined and delicious dinners in the restaurant.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[64]Details B&B doubles from £260, three courses from £75; rothaymanor.co.uk

61. The Address, Glasgow

NEWThe Address was previously a six-storey insurance building; now, it’s a minimalist 95-room retreat (the UK debut of an Irish luxury group, the Address Collective) in the thick of Glasgow. The views offer glimpses of the city — on one side the elegant sweep of West George Street, leading down to the historic George Square, and on the other, lively Renfield Street, home to the trendy Devil of Brooklyn cocktail bar. Explorations can be fuelled at North, the in-house restaurant that champions hyper-local fare. Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword here; the whole hotel is powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. But its best credentials are the super-friendly staff, who offer inside knowledge on how to enjoy true Glaswegian craic.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[65]Details Room-only doubles from £139, mains from £18; theaddressglasgow.com

62. Bishopstrow House, Wiltshire

The Kaleidoscope Collection owns two West Country favourites — Homewood and the Bird, in Bath — so the recent addition of this chocolate-box charmer of a Georgian manor outside Warminster makes perfect sense. It is a lovely little all-rounder with elegant sitting rooms for chilly days and a dining terrace and alfresco champagne bar if the sun shines. There is a cute spa, indoor and outdoor pools, and wellies to borrow to check out the hotel’s no-dig kitchen garden and preview what will be on your dinner plate. The 36 bedrooms are a mix of contemporary and traditional, split between the main house, stables and gardens.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[66]Details B&B doubles from £160, mains from £12; bishopstrowhotel.com

63. The White House, Norfolk

JAKE EASTHAM

If you fancy the elegance of a country house party, look no further than the White House. The beautifully restored Elizabethan manor house, set deep in north Norfolk farmland, near Brancaster, has all the grandeur of an old estate — it has 12 bright, spacious bedrooms overlooking tennis courts, woodland and rolling fields — but with the relaxed sensibilities of a smart, modern boutique hotel, serving memorable food. Wander past the wellies standing sentry in the huge, tiled hallway, grab a slice of homemade cake and a glass of something from the honesty bar. Then plonk down by a roaring fire in one of two huge lounges, chat with the other guests (or don’t), and generally make yourself at home.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[67]Details B&B doubles from £140, mains from £18; stayatthewhitehouse.co.uk

64. Farlam Hall, Cumbria

Foodie hotel of the year

Unless you live in Brampton or Carlisle, Farlam Hall seems impossibly remote. But since this long-established country house hotel changed hands in 2019, millions of pounds have been spent to create a must-visit destination. Its 19 rooms and suites are crisp, comfortable and beautifully lit, and its staff could grace any London five-star — but neither will dazzle you as much as Hrishikesh Desai’s cooking. Up here, on the edge of the Pennines, where every passing winter storm seems to fell a tree, he is doing wonderful things with English ingredients and the subtle and well-judged use of spice. Never mind the Cumbrian wind — dinner here is a breath of fresh, invigorating air.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[68]Details B&B doubles from £274, three courses from £90; farlamhall.com

65. The Suffolk

East hotel of the year

In 2020, the enigmatic restaurateur George Pell — then managing director of L’Escargot in London — moved from Brixton, south London, to the coastal town of Aldeburgh. That summer he opened L’Escargot Sur-Mer, a pop-up seafood joint in a ramshackle 17th-century building on Aldeburgh’s high street. Now, after a meticulous year-long refurb of the historic property, the Suffolk is a permanent fixture. Last summer, Pell added six bedrooms above the dining room, and an outdoor terrace. At weekends it’s filled with a mix of “up-from-Londoners” and locals — and it seems there’s little chance of Pell returning to the capital anytime soon.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[69]Details B&B doubles from £180, mains from £20; the-suffolk.co.uk

66. Gravetye Manor, West Sussex

It’s seldom that a gardener gets a namecheck, but Tom Coward is central to the magic of Gravetye, an Elizabethan country house hotel lost in the Sussex Weald, five twisty miles from East Grinstead. His kitchen garden supplies 95 per cent of the produce in Gravetye’s Michelin-starred restaurant, a twinkling glass box fused to the back of the grade I listed manor, overlooking the stunning gardens of the 1,000-acre estate. The 17 rooms and suites here are a mix of olde-worlde charm (wood panelling, open fires) and thoughtful treats, such as plum cordial on the table and humbugs by the bed. All in all, an epicurean delight.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[70]Details B&B doubles from £335, three courses from £125; gravetyemanor.co.uk

67. Holm, Somerset

NEWFans of the chef-patron Nicholas Balfe’s inventive cooking include Olivia Colman and Richard Ayoade, who were regulars at his London bistro, Levan. But while the rest of us spent lockdown perfecting banana bread, Balfe was plotting his escape to the country. In November 2021, he was in Somerset at the helm for the opening of Holm, his farm-to-fork restaurant in a sturdy syrup-colour building in South Petherton. His delicious dishes and ethical attitude have proved a hit in the West Country, and now he’s added seven rooms for those who fancy staying over and sampling his quirky wine cellar.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[71]Details B&B doubles from £145, mains from £18.50; holmsomerset.co.uk

68. Husk, Suffolk

NEWThe conviviality starts in the car park; no guests can get past Husk’s security team — aka Mr Yeats, Rita, Serena and Vodka the geese — without their arrival being announced by a rousing cacophony of honking. This jollity continues indoors, courtesy of Husk’s human owners and easy-going hosts, Joey O’Hare and Katy Taylor. The couple purchased the historic Walnut Tree Farm on the outskirts of Thorington in 2021, transforming it into a Friday and Saturday-night supper club for just 16 guests in a converted barn. Chef Joey’s modern European cooking pivots on Suffolk’s seasonal produce — some of it from the farm itself — while Katy’s predominantly organic wine list offers bold pairings (there are cocktails too). Dinner guests can now amble over the courtyard to one of the four spacious bedrooms added in December 2023, which have freestanding baths and are decked out with individual, upcycled antiques sourced from eBay, auction houses and markets.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[72]Details B&B doubles from £480, including supper club (£72pp); huskthorington.co.uk

69. Mingary Castle, Highland

This 13th-century castle teetering atop rocks must be one of the grandest four-bedroom hotels on the planet. Dining and interiors have been taken care of by Colin Nicholson and his partner Jessica Thompson, who previously worked at Inverlochy Castle Hotel. There is a just-right marriage of ancient and new. Cross the drawbridge and you’re into a cobbled courtyard where you half expect to see a scullery maid plucking chickens; the 10ft-thick walls rising on all sides once held off a siege by the Spanish Armada, and are now topped by a walkway with mighty views across Loch Sunart to Mull. There’s an original cannon here, a sword on the wall there, and a bathroom in one room (MacDougall) converted from what was once a chapel. Sounds a bit Game of Thrones? It might be were it not for a thoroughly contemporary refit, which is pleasingly uncluttered, with colourful Kashmiri drapes keeping things cosy. A lounge with crushed velvet sofas, a crackling fire and brooding Victorian portraits is a magical spot for whisky cocktails and canapés.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[73]Details B&B doubles from £300, five-course tasting menu from £60; mingarycastle.co.uk

70. Sculthorpe Mill, Norfolk

When sisters Siobhan and Caitriona Peyton opened the Mill — a thick-walled, low-doored structure built in 1757 — on the Wensum near Fakenham in July 2021, their ambition was to be a boutique hotel, gastropub, cocktail joint and local boozer. And they’ve pulled it off. On a busy weekend the upstairs dining room and downstairs bar entertain a happy crowd of NFNs (normal for Norfolk) and DFLs (down from London), drinking Barsham ales or Norfolk negronis; eating sausage rolls, oysters, buttermilk waffles or nine-hour venison shoulder with chipotle and mac’n’cheese. Out back, there’s a garden with a river running through it and lawns where people dance to DJs in the summer — and there’s the Grizzly grill for barbecues. On the top floors are seven bordello bedrooms done out in yellow, green and blue to match the farmland and skies of what has suddenly become a highly fashionable corner of rural north Norfolk.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[74]Details B&B doubles from £110, mains from £18; sculthorpemill.uk

71. Cawthorne House, North Yorkshire

Many bed and breakfasts are marvellously run, with ultra-attentive hosts. What elevates Cawthorne House is its grade II listed Victorian stone building, tasteful interiors and stellar food — encompassing welcome canapés, brilliant breakfasts and even a seasonal sourdough school. It all comes courtesy of Pascal Watkins, the owner. His father, Denis, founded the pioneering Angel at Hetton, near Skipton, widely proclaimed as Britain’s first gastropub. With Cawthorne House, Pascal is based further east in North Yorkshire, in the market town of Pickering, a short stroll away from where the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s steam trains trundle off towards Whitby.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[75]Details B&B doubles from £110, two-night minimum stay; cawthornehouse.co.uk

72. Tillingham, East Sussex

It’s a vineyard stay where you can embrace your rustic #bestlife — a 70-acre hop farm-turned-biodynamic vineyard in Peasmarsh near Rye that tunes out city-level white noise without forsaking its style. And what style. Eleven modern rooms are not so much decorated as curated: art and a Corbusier chair here, thrift-shop chic and a sheepskin rug on a rough milking bench there. A warehouse-style bar is more Hackney hipster than High Weald, while restaurant menus — homegrown and hyper-local ingredients, zero waste — are revelatory. Food is probably why you are here, but it’s only by staying overnight that you grasp Tillingham’s ethic: relaxed sophistication, wholesome fecundity. #Bestlife indeed.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[76]Details B&B doubles from £175, two courses £28, three courses from £35 or five courses £60; tillingham.com

73. Updown Farmhouse, Kent

Ruth Leigh and the chef Oli Brown swapped west London for the countryside surrounding Deal in the summer of 2021, opening this charming farmhouse stay the following year. Set in a series of farm buildings, it feels like a place to discover, with brick-laid paths and archways leading between them and into the woods (it’s in seven acres). The 17th century main house is full of character — from the welly-filled porch with its dinky porthole-like windows onto the garden to the imaginatively decorated living rooms for guests to lounge in. One room has Fanta-coloured walls, another inky blue. All are filled with fabulous totem-like lights by Ruth’s brother-in-law, Jamie Brown, and an eclectic mixture of art, including portraits by Studio Lenca. There’s an honesty bar majoring in Italian aperitifs, and the restaurant, in a converted former cattle shed, is a twinkly enclave come evening, serving an elegantly chosen menu with Italian flair.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[77]Details B&B doubles from £250, mains from £22; updownfarmhouse.com

74. Ynyshir, Ceredigion

The chef Gareth Ward has gone all-out goth at this personality and protein-loaded restaurant-with-rooms outside Machynlleth on the southern edges of Snowdonia. Ynyshir does design in shouty caps. Everything from the Victorian exterior to the sitting room, bar and restaurant is dungeon-black, although a glinting stainless steel open kitchen takes centre stage in the dining room, where honeyed oak furniture provides extra relief. Staff are also dressed in black. The waiting team have the fast-paced, swivel-eyed vigilance of Kim Kardashian’s security unit as they talk into their headsets. As it gets late, the DJ cranks up the pounding music and turns on the strobe lights. Subtlety is not in Ward’s vocabulary.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[78]Details Half-board doubles from £990, room-only tepees from £170, tasting menu from £350; ynyshir.co.uk

75. Hort’s Townhouse, Bristol

NEWBristol was crying out for some cool new places to stay, and then, like buses, two came along almost at once. In 2022 the Artist Residence^[79] opened in a former boot factory in the up-and-coming neighbourhood of St Paul’s, and now Hort’s, a former sports bar on Broad Street, has undergone an extensive eight-month renovation. The beautiful grade II listed pub remains, but the TV screens and sticky floors are gone. In their place is an upmarket art deco boozer with 19 boutique rooms upstairs.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[80]Details B&B doubles from £129, mains from £16; hortstownhousebristol.co.uk

76. Parador 44, Cardiff

An authentic Spanish inn in a Cardiff side street? Seeing is believing at Parador 44, Tom and Owen Morgan’s boutique take on the Iberian country idyll, complete with ornately carved beds and terracotta tiles. Hardcore hispanophiles, the brothers have spent two decades perfecting their Bar 44 tapas emporia in south Wales and beyond, and this latest venture crams nine charismatic rooms into a three-storey townhouse in the city centre, within cheering distance of the Principality Stadium. The bedrooms are lovely little bolt holes, and the downstairs restaurant, Asador 44, is a copper-lit cavern specialising in dry-aged Spanish sirloin and Welsh lamb, cooked over fire — comfortably one of Cardiff’s most flamboyant feeds.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[81]Details B&B doubles from £127, mains from £18; grupo44.co.uk

77. The Royal Crescent, Bath

With its symmetrical, sand-coloured frontage and dainty lollipop-shaped trees at the entrance, this Georgian pile feels as perfectly proportioned as a doll’s house. It’s vast inside, though, with plenty of colour and Regency character. Location-wise, it’s hard to match its central spot on Bath’s most illustrious curve, the Royal Crescent. The façade of the grade I listed 18th-century building, which opened as a hotel in 1971, has been immaculately maintained, but on the inside the decor is modern — from quirky chessboard tiling in the reception to eclectic artwork and peach velvet furnishings. Tributes to the property’s colourful 300-year history are visible throughout, from period-style, painted woodland wallpaper to grand, gold-framed oil portraits of George III and landscape watercolours by Julius Caesar Ibbetson.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[82]Details B&B doubles from £375, mains from £26; royalcrescent.co.uk

78. University Arms, Cambridge

Here is a hotel that could only exist in Cambridge. The University Arms, which dates back to 1894, was sensitively renovated for £80m in 2018 by the architect John Simpson and interior designer Martin Brudnizki, who kept its distinct sense of place. Visitors enter through a honey-stone porte-cochère, a reminder of its days as a Cambridge coaching inn. The pea-green lobby, scented by geraniums, is characterised by chandeliers shaped like celestial orbs and a rather severe portrait of Sir Winston Churchill. Suites are named after famous Cambridge alumni (Darwin, Newton and Byron among them); the colour scheme varies from rich university-scarf green to navy, deep red and the hotel’s own cyan. Books are everywhere: stacked up in rooms, in the Library and even piped into the loos — guests can listen to Alan Bennett reading The Wind In The Willows. Downstairs, the swish brasserie Parker’s Tavern serves modern British dishes, all sourced from local East Anglian producers. A stay here will leave you feeling well-fed and rested, but also smarter and better-read, too.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[83]Details B&B doubles from £204, mains from £16; universityarms.com

79. Gleneagles Townhouse, Edinburgh

Edinburgh has had its corsets well and truly loosened by this fun-loving private-club-cum-boutique-hotel on St Andrew Square. Once a seriously sober branch of a Bank of Scotland, the exuberant neoclassical architecture of its banking hall is much better suited to its new iteration as a buzzy all-day diner, dominated by a twinkling art deco bar. The hotel is a winner from top (a trendy rooftop bar) to bottom (a high-tech wellness studio), which still leaves several floors for bedrooms that are total bankers: with mid-century naughtiness softening Victorian primness and cute touches such as pre-mixed cocktails to help get the party started.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[84]Details B&B doubles from £355, mains from £18; gleneagles.com

80. The Municipal, Liverpool

NEWThe French and Italianate flourishes throughout this grade II listed beauty were perhaps wasted on the office workers who used to clock in here, so it’s good news that the city council sold up. The move paved the way for the building’s £60 million, four-year transformation into a glamorous city bolt hole. Centre stage is the Gatsby-esque Palm Court, an opulent all-day playground with soaring white columns, acres of marble and burnished gold art deco-inspired easy chairs, where locals and guests hang out sampling the cocktail list. Add in the city’s prettiest afternoon tea venue, a sultry spa, 179 urban oasis bedrooms and plenty of Scouse charm and you will feel you are on the winning side.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[85]Details B&B doubles from £98, mains from £20; municipalhotelliverpool.com

81. The Grand, York

The North Eastern Railway was one of England’s most powerful businesses when it commissioned this showcase of wealth as its headquarters in 1906. These days, the elegant Edwardian edifice, minutes from York Minster, is home to two restaurants, including one that features in the Michelin Guide, a buzzy bar, a spa and pool in the old vaults, and a cookery school so swanky that it puts the set of MasterChef to shame. The hotel’s 207 bedrooms are split between those that celebrate its heritage and 100 that sit firmly in the 21st-century camp. Full marks to the friendly team for providing a service that never veers off track.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[86]Details B&B doubles from £235, mains from £22; thegrandyork.co.uk

82. Old Parsonage, Oxford

You know you’re in a hotel with pedigree when the “History” page of its website begins at 1390 and spools forward via ghostly nuns, civil war royalists and one-time resident Oscar Wilde. The Old Parsonage, part of the Oxford hospitality group that also includes the city’s Old Bank hotel and the restaurants Gees and Quod, has been a hotel since 1971, but the 17th-century building next to St Giles’ church, just north of the centre, was last reinvented in 2014. Now, behind the wisteria-festooned Headington stone façade are a cosily smart restaurant and bar, plus 35 bedrooms aimed squarely at British mini-breakers and overseas visitors of means.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[87]Details B&B doubles from £238, mains from £24; oldparsonagehotel.co.uk

83. Whitworth Locke, Manchester

The transformed 19th-century cotton factory with 160 hip bedrooms mixes the best bits of a conventional hotel with the convenience of an Airbnb. Set in Manchester’s Civic Quarter, near Canal Street, it has restaurants and a co-working space, a trendy lobby bar and friendly “house hosts” at reception to deal with any issues. The apartment-like rooms come kitted out with kitchens fitted with Smeg appliances and access to a communal laundry. Interiors are well above your usual rental flat. Courtesy of leading New York design outfit Grzywinski+Pons, they are decked out in distinctive pastel pinks and deep greens, set off by bespoke contemporary furniture.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[88]Details Room-only doubles from £107, mains from £15; lockeliving.com

84. Broadwick Soho

London hotel of the year and city hotel of the year

London’s most flamboyant postcode has welcomed a theatrical hotel with the chutzpah to rival the most glittering West End show. Broadwick Soho’s dazzling looks — name up in lights on the exterior, pink elephant statues in top hat and tails over the entrance, lacquered ceilings, staff in leopard print jackets or stripy jumpsuits — is the work of design’s greatest showman, Martin Brudnizki. It’s his first hotel in London. Same for the owner, Noel Hayden, who grew up in his family’s hotel, Mon Ami, in Bournemouth. At an early age he was an assistant to his magician father — look out for the photo in the glitzy rooftop bar, Flute. That sense of performance pervades. It’s fun and fabulous. There’s a Francis Bacon in reception, Warhol lithographs in the private dining room and those elephants (the hotel’s mascot) crop up all over the place; on the wallpaper, as a whimsical brass bar cart, on the front-door knocker. Guests can watch the world go by from the terrace of Bar Jackie (where breakfast is served) or descend to the Italian-style restaurant, Dear Jackie, a perfectly lit den, ideal for intimate negronis.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[89]Details B&B doubles from £595, mains from £24; broadwicksoho.com

85. Ruby Zoe, Notting Hill

NEWColourfully painted houses, Portobello Road’s antique shops and, of course, the annual carnival — Notting Hill in west London has never been understated. Which is why the flamboyant Ruby Zoe hotel fits in perfectly. Check-in is via a tablet and printer that spits out your room card, but head left and you’ll find the hotel’s showpiece: a 455 sq m bar containing a purple piano, a mint green 1957 Ford Prefect car (you can pretend to drive it too), a chandelier of trumpets and a nook decorated with speaker heads. If you don’t own Rod Stewart’s greatest hits on vinyl you can find them here at the in-house record shop. It’s bonkers, yet also a fitting introduction to the Ruby group of affordable-luxury hotels, which aim for party vibes and playful rooms that draw design inspiration from their locations. This Notting Hill outpost is the 16th, and the second in London after Ruby Lucy at Waterloo, where the decor is inspired by the arts and markets of the South Bank.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[90]Details Room-only doubles from £225; ruby-hotels.com

86. art’otel London Battersea Power Station

NEWBattersea Power Station is one of the capital’s most instantly recognisable and much-loved landmarks. For the very best views of this architectural masterpiece, check into this 164-room boutique hotel next door and head up to its crowning glory: a rooftop infinity pool and garden. They are on nodding terms with the former power station’s soaring chimneys and decorative brickwork and look down on the Thames, Chelsea Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. Interiors are another visual feast. Uncluttered bedrooms are influenced by surrealist art and its airy public spaces are dotted with sculptures. Dinner doesn’t let the side down — opt for a Portuguese-inspired feast in 15th-floor Joia or relaxed Italian in Tozi on the ground floor.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[91]Details Room-only doubles from £274, mains from £14.50; artotellondonbattersea.com

87. Mama Shelter, Cambridge Heath

First things first: this hotel isn’t in Shoreditch, it’s in Cambridge Heath. But that’s a positive. The vibe is edgier and less corporate in this pocket of east London. And French mini-chain Mama Shelter, with its all-black exterior and kaleidoscopic lobby area filled with vintage arcade games and Liberty London prints, fits right in. Rooms are functional, but more exciting than your standard budget stay — have you had reception’s number daubed in lipstick on your mirror before? Downstairs, you can expect TikTok-ready dishes such as truffle burrata and Bounty cheesecake, two Japanese-style karaoke rooms and DJs every weekend. Yes, it’s a lot. But it’s hard not to have a good time here.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[92]Details Room-only doubles from £110, mains from £16.50; mamashelter.com

88. Bull & Last, Highgate

There are foodie pubs and then there are foodies’ pubs, and the Bull and Last in Highgate, north London, is a classic example of the latter. Since 2008, when it was taken over by Joe Swiers (ex-Wolseley) and Ollie Pudney (ex-Richard Corrigan), the pub — and its big-flavour, pedigree-ingredient pub grub turned up to 11 — has been a darling of the UK’s food set. The Times critic Giles Coren is such a fan of the place and its “Georgian magnificence”, he wrote the foreword to its history-and-cookbook. In 2018 it closed for a huge refurb, removing the roof to transform the two-bedroom upstairs flat into seven bedrooms, returning to the 19th-century building’s coaching-inn roots (named because it was the “last” stop for stagecoaches leaving London). Those rooms, finished just in time for the pandemic, have now hit their stride, welcoming guests from Wimbledon to Wisconsin looking for a lie-down after the best post-Hampstead-Heath-yomp feed.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[93]Details Room-only doubles from £165, mains from £19; thebullandlast.co.uk

89. Claridge’s, Mayfair

This Mayfair grande dame is the Helen Mirren of hotels: always age-appropriate yet still achingly cool. Right now that means embracing the new era of stealth-wealth so its main restaurant is a laid-back brasserie, sans celebrity chef, and it has also opened its first bakery and florist shop. Don’t worry, it’s still glamour central, with a sexy spa upgrade and a new, much-anticipated penthouse for which the hotel enlisted Chris Martin to fine-tune the suite’s grand piano. You’ll be just as wowed by the original rooms, once occupied by the likes of Winston Churchill, and by breakfast in its twinkling Foyer and Reading Room.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[94]Details Room-only doubles from £840, mains from £38; claridges.co.uk

90. Spread Eagle, Wandsworth

Wandsworth — south of the river, not on the Tube and most famous for its category B prison — isn’t an obvious choice for a mini-break in the capital. But, stay with us, because the Spread Eagle in Wandsworth is a corking option if you’re after a reasonably priced wine list, posh pub grub and a comfy sleep, all without forking out central London prices. It’s a quintessential Victorian pub with rooms (an old-school boozer for snoozers, perhaps) but there aren’t any sticky carpets or partially defrosted burgers here, more rolltop baths, metro tiles and rosemary focaccia. The pub was bought by the south London brewer Young’s in 1836, but it wasn’t until 2021 that the 21 hotel rooms were added in a separate but connected building behind the main bar. Now it’s growing in popularity with both weekending families and business types.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[95]Details Room-only doubles from £109, mains from £16; spreadeaglewandsworth.co.uk

91. Babington House, Somerset

Romantic hotel of the year

Babington House has been shorthand for a stylish country escape since it first opened outside Frome 25 years ago, and it is still packing them in. There’s the eye-candy architecture of the mellow-stone Georgian manor set beside a shimmering lake, as well as the magnificent mid-century interior design that is still receiving the sincerest form of flattery — its look still being imitated by dozens of new hotels even now. Pretenders can’t quite match its joie de vivre though. Babington has an unbeatable sense of fun, led by bartenders always happy to push on until dawn, and a winning generosity, from the vast complimentary afternoon teas to rows of full-size toiletries in the 33 bedrooms.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[96]Details Room-only doubles from £360, mains from £18; sohohouse.com

92. Penally Abbey, Pembrokeshire

Welsh hotel of the year

There are really only two things you need to know about Penally Abbey. One is that it occupies a late-Georgian former rectory near the Pembrokeshire coast: original 1803 cornicing trims elegant public areas; the sea winks through gothic windows. The other is that this is the vision of the former interior designer Melanie Boissevain and her husband Lucas, both still hands-on after over a decade of ownership. So decor here has an almost theatrical flair: oversized prints and oil paintings on charcoal-black walls; swallow wallpaper like an 18th-century illustration in the dining room. Tempering it all are antiques picked up in Wales and France (there’s a touch of château about the place), antique rugs on nicely scuffed parquet, candlelight and chatty, smiley staff. Put it all together and you have a Welsh weekender of dreams: escapist, wildly romantic — there’s a ruined medieval chapel in the grounds, for goodness sake — yet with interior magazine glamour.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[97]Details B&B doubles from £175, tasting menu £70; penally-abbey.com

93. Myse, North Yorkshire

NEWIn Hovingham, a pretty village outside York with a river running through it, the chef-patron Joshua Overington has transformed the 19th-century country pub into a classy restaurant with rooms. Dining is focused on Yorkshire produce, but with Noma undertones, and is so good that Myse was awarded a Michelin star within six months of its first service. The style may be Scandi minimalism, but portions are maximalist. Expect 16-course tasting menus featuring dishes such as charcoal pie filled with raw roe deer and smoked caviar. Don’t worry — it’s delicious and, afterwards, the trio of bedrooms are as light and lovely as whipped cream.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[98]Details B&B doubles with dinner from £470, tasting menu £125; restaurantmyse.co.uk

94. Hotel Tresanton, Cornwall

Catch the weather right and you could be on the Amalfi coast — all the ingredients are here: bedrooms housed in higgledy-piggledy whitewashed sea-facing buildings, a cliffside beach club and even the fearsomely narrow roads leading to the tip of south Cornwall’s Roseland Peninsula. Owned by Olga Polizzi (sister of Rocco Forte), Hotel Tresanton’s Arts and Crafts style and warm service are also what’s cemented it as one of the county’s most-loved stays. The number of repeat visitors means it would be easy to sit back, but Polizzi’s small-stuff sweating annual updates — shifting plug points, wallpaper switch-ups and a new treatment room in 2024 — prevent Tresanton from dating. Sure, Charles and Camilla stayed here in 2008 and countless celebrities have done since, but this is a hotel for all — bring the kids, the dog or your nan.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[99]Details B&B doubles from £230, mains from £20; thepolizzicollection.com

95. Cliveden, Berkshire

There aren’t many country house hotels that the general public want to tour, but this 19th-century wedding cake of a stately home outside Taplow is a National Trust property with a fascinating backstory, so the usual rules don’t apply. The public rooms are as rich in history as their decor is lavish. Queen Victoria, Charlie Chaplin and the Roosevelts all partied in the atmospheric Great Hall, which is adorned in reverential shades of ruby and lined with suits of armour. The gilded dining room offers modern British cuisine, with a side order of Cliveden’s famously dreamy parterre lawn. The 48 bedrooms are redolent of a bygone age.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[100]Details B&B doubles from £455, mains from £25; clivedenhouse.co.uk

96. Galgorm, Co Antrim

Galgorm feels like less of a hotel with a spa and more of a spa with a hotel. Its colossal thermal village stretches out alongside the River Maine and guests can hop between 40 experiences, including salt caves and snow rooms, or sit back in one of the heated infinity pools to watch herons swoop for fish in the rapids. Rooms are split across the 17th-century house, previously owned by a family of local linen merchants, and a string of outbuildings. There’s also a 72-par championship golf course and enough restaurants and bars that you probably won’t bother with the 40-minute drive into Belfast.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[101]Details B&B doubles from £285, mains from £13; galgorm.com

97. The Pig at Combe, Devon

JAKE EASTHAM

Robin Hutson, the man who paired wine with rooms to make the Hotel du Vin group, went a step further by pairing very local food with rooms when he opened his first Pig in the New Forest in 2011. Half an hour’s drive east from Exeter, the Pig at Combe, an 18th-century country house with sweeping views across the Otter Valley, followed in 2016. Added in 2023 were five wagons (a deluxe upgrade from a shepherd’s hut), each sleeping two and each with its own private outdoor rolltop bath. From your wagon, nestled near a stream, stroll the half mile up through the parkland for dinner. It’s a boutique country house set-up, but it’s the food that really sets it apart.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[102]Details Room-only wagons from £370 (snug rooms from £255); thepighotel.com

98. Seaham Hall, Co Durham

Seaham Hall ploughs a lonely furrow of luxury on Durham’s Heritage Coast. But it does so with such charm and conviction that you can’t help but be won over. Here, the bedrooms blaze with colour and invention, the spa always seems to be buzzing and the staff won’t just give you directions if you are lost, they will take you where you need to go. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the quality of chef Damian Broom’s cooking. Overshadowed by the popularity of the spa, it flies in under the radar at the end of each day and quickly becomes its highlight — closely followed by beachcombing for the local sea glass. Both eye-catching and unexpected, this weathered glass is all that remains of a long-vanished bottle factory, and it makes the perfect Seaham souvenir.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[103]Details B&B doubles from £295, three-course à la carte dinner menu £90; seaham-hall.co.uk

99. Tempus, Northumberland

Northumberland delivers unbeatable coastline: swathes of crowd-free, dune-backed beaches crowned by castles. Staying at the Tempus, which opened last May, puts guests in striking distance of those magnificent sandy stretches as well as a ten-minute drive from the market town of Alnwick. The former farm’s set of 18th-century honey-coloured stone barns and outbuildings have been turned into 32 surprising bedrooms where you might find leopard-print tub chairs, fantastical House of Hackney wallpaper and bathrooms with gold-plated pelicans on the walls. The bar, festooned with disco balls, is inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and will leave you with a grin as wide as the Cheshire Cat’s.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[104]Details B&B doubles from £195, mains from £20; charltonhall.co.uk

100. W Edinburgh

This hotel building was unveiled in July 2021 — and boy, did it split the room. Clad in winding steel ribbon that unfurls with a playful flick above the £1 billion St James Quarter shopping centre, the 12-floor hotel is either an “outstanding landmark evoking Edinburgh’s festival spirit” (the architects) or a “golden turd” (a vocal chunk of Edinburgh residents). The reception is sleek and minimalist, looking out via wall-to-wall glass across a quiet pedestrianised square to a Georgian townhouse that holds 39 of the hotel’s 244 rooms and suites. Young, eager staff (80 per cent Scottish) stand behind granite pulpit-like desks; the urbane doorman Alan offers a welcome glass of champagne below a funky deconstructed tartan tapestry that runs the length of the walnut-panelled space. Elegant, sexy, secluded — it feels a lifetime away from the hustle and bustle of the St James Quarter.Read the hotel review in full and book a stay^[105]Details B&B doubles from £339, mains from £18; marriott.com

Reviews by Becky Barrow, Ben Clatworthy, Cathy Adams, Chris Haslam, Claire Irvin, Claudia Rowan, Francesca Angelini, Hannah Gravett, Huw Oliver, Ian Belcher, James Stewart, Jenny Coad, Jennifer Cox, Jeremy Lazell, Laura Jackson, Liz Edwards, Lizzie Frainier, Lucy Perrin, Lucy Thackray, Matt Rudd, Mia Aimaro Ogden, Min Sett Hein, Pamela Goodman, Rachel Cocker, Richard Mellor, Sean Newsom, Sophie Pither, Susan d’Arcy and Vincent Crump

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References

1. ^{^} More of the UK’s best hotels for 2024 (www.thetimes.co.uk)
2. ^{^} handy search tool to find the best British hotels (www.thetimes.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Enter now (www.mytimesplus.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Read the hotel review in full and book a stay (www.thetimes.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Why we picked Gleneagles (www.thetimes.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Read the hotel review in full and book a stay (www.thetimes.co.uk)
7. ^{^} Read the hotel review in full and book a stay (www.thetimes.co.uk)
8. ^{^} Read the hotel review in full and book a stay (www.thetimes.co.uk)
9. ^{^} Read the hotel review in full and book a stay (www.thetimes.co.uk)
10. ^{^} Read the hotel review in full and book a stay (www.thetimes.co.uk)
11. ^{^} Read the hotel review in full and book a stay (www.thetimes.co.uk)
12. ^{^} Read the hotel review in full and book a stay (www.thetimes.co.uk)
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