Planning a significant birthday is always a scary prospect, but a weekend at the five star luxury hotel Bovey Castle in the heart of Dartmoor, meant that I was assured of a stay fit for the occasion.
A birthday weekend at Bovey Castle hotel
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Country house hotels (54 posts found)
Luxury country house hotels reviewed on travel reviews website ALadyofLeisure.com by travel journalist Sarah Bridge
Staying in a small, boutique hotel rather than one with dozens of rooms turns a hotel into more of a home-from-home experience and so it turned out with my stay at Burleigh Court hotel in Stroud, in the western end of the Cotswolds area of outstandin...
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Before I visited Hoar Cross Hall hotel in Staffordshire I was fond of declaring that there are hotels with spas and there are hotels which are spas, but after my stay at Hoar Cross Hall hotel I might have to add a third option.
A stay at Hoar Cr...
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Staying in a luxury hotel with a Michelin star restaurant turns a great trip into a truly memorable one. While most four and five star hotels will have their own fine-dining restaurants, many of them highly-rated by the AA, Sawdays, Tripadvisor and t...
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You never forget your first Pig, as the old saying doesn't go, and with such fond memories of my stay at The Pig near Bath (check out my review 'The Pig near Bath - A heavenly, foodie, country retreat') I was very excited to discover on a recent trip...
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Lainston House hotel is the perfect place to stay if you're visiting Winchester, but it would be easy to just stay put and make the most of everything the hotel has to offer.
Not only are there luxury bedrooms in which to relax, there's also a coo...
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It is impossible to walk around the grounds at Middlethorpe Hall and not take dozens of photos. While the front of the hotel is on a quiet country lane just next to York racecourse, the rear of the hotel looks out over a beautiful lawn containing a s...
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After months of lockdown my first hotel was, reassuringly, at Hand Picked Hotel's flagship hotel Fawsley Hall hotel and spa in Northamptonshire near Daventry. This grand country house hotel and spa - we're talking at least 600 years old here - has wi...
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When I first arrived at Gravetye Manor, the Michelin-starred country house hotel with award-winning gardens, I soon decided that this was one of the best hotels in West Sussex and when I was fortunate to revisit recently, there was nothing to make me...
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South Lodge hotel and spa in West Sussex near Horsham is a great destination hotel. With a huge, modern spa, two restaurants, a bar, acres of lush grounds to explore, a terrace for cocktails or afternoon tea, vast luxury bedrooms and even its own win...
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There are probably many historic hotels with a spa and swimming pool but I don't think many of them can say they have their own moat, which makes New Hall hotel and spa in Sutton Coldfield, just a few miles from the centre of Birmingham, a rare hotel...
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If you're looking for luxury hotels in the Cotswolds The Lygon Arms Broadway will be high on your wish-list. This historic hotel has been a main fixture in the beautiful Cotswolds village of Broadway since its days as a coaching inn back in the 17t...
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Stapleford Park hotel in central England was a real treat; a combination of traditional stately home and modern spa, with all the trimmings of a luxury hotel: staff happy to drive you to the spa at the other end of the hotel grounds in little buggies...
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Luxury country house hotels get booked up early for Christmas and with good reason: luxury hotels could be made for Christmas. Think of the best luxury country house hotels for Christmas and instantly you can picture the festive scene: comfy sofas, ...
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Fans of Germaine de Capuccini who are wondering where to get Germaine de Capuccini spa treatments in the UK, will be delighted to hear that award-winning hotel Park House hotel and spa in West Sussex offers the skin care specialist products.
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Throughout my own stay at Cliveden House hotel, there was one question which I found almost impossible to answer. Would Cliveden still be as fabulous if it wasn't, well, Cliveden?
Cliveden house history
The thing about Cliveden, which i...
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A stay at Stoke Park hotel and country club comes with high expectations. It's where James Bond played golf with Goldfinger, where Bridget Jones spent the night with Daniel Cleaver and where Teri Hatcher and Pierce Brosnan (as James Bond) danced the ...
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You don't often hear the cast of a West End musical warming up when going for a walk in the grounds of a country house, but that's what you're likely to get during a stay at Kilworth House hotel.
The unique outdoor theatre in the grounds of Ki...
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It shares its name with a famous motor racing circuit but guests at the Brandshatch Place hotel and spa will enjoy a relaxing stay away from the fast lane.
As befits a hotel named after a racing circuit, guests to the Brandshatch Place hotel a...
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Brockencote Hall, set in 70 acres of lush green Worcestershire countryside, turned out to be an almost perfect stay, with the comforts and treats of a luxury country house hotel, from immaculate rooms, impeccable service and great food.
Brocke...
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It isn't often I embrace a hotel gym so wholeheartedly but there was something about the spa at Mallory Court hotel in Warwickshire which made it irresistible.
The spa at at Mallory Court hotel
As we'd just come from enjoying a great stay with ...
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There was far more to Milsoms Kesgrave Hall than I’d expected. Having just come from its sister hotel, Talbooth House, a luxurious, refined, relaxed country house with outdoor pool and 12 beautifully designed rooms, I wasn’t sure whether the 23-room ...
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The key to a memorable hotel stay is a great welcome and such was my arrival at the excellent Talbooth House and spa on the Essex/Suffolk border was that within ten minutes I felt utterly at home.
Arriving at Talbooth House and spa
The sign...
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Luxury hotels could be made for Christmas. Think of the best luxury country house hotels for Christmas and instantly you can picture the festive scene: comfy sofas, roaring fires, beautiful decorations and acres of grounds for the Boxing Day walk (o...
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It goes without saying that anyone doing battle with the traffic on either the M25, A2 or A20 routes is probably in need of some serious relaxation, but they might be surprised to learn that there is an oasis of calm just moments away in the form of ...
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Lewtrenchard Manor is one of those classic country house hotels which actually feels like someone's home rather than a hotel: a rather grand home, admittedly, but one where you instantly feel as if you don't need to lock your bedroom door and where y...
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The first time I visited Burley Manor Hotel in the New Forest I had absolutely no expectations - not because I thought it was going to be terrible, but because it had never even crossed my radar before. It turned out there was a reason for this: whil...
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If a hotel is called a castle, then you want it to look seriously impressive, and Bovey Castle hotel Devon did not disappoint. Once we'd handed the car to the friendly and efficient team of valets who welcomed us on arrival, we walked through the hot...
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My arrival at The Pig near Bath was one of the most welcoming I've had in any hotel. The moment I arrived I was greeted by someone saying enthusiastically: 'You're just in time for lunch!' and was promptly whisked off to sit in the sun with a large G...
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It isn't often you spend the night at a five-star country house hotel and find yourself sleeping in a treehouse on stilts in the middle of a forest. But a Chewton Glen treehouse, located in the famous Chewton Glen hotel and spa located deep in the he...
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Just one night at the Spread Eagle Hotel Midhurst felt like a really long stay, which I mean in the most positive way.
A stay at the Spread Eagle Hotel Midhurst
I arrived there on Sunday afternoon, and by the time I left 24 hours later I'd had ...
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Walking into a really gorgeous hotel room like my spa suite at Ockenden Manor hotel and spa in West Sussex can be such a bittersweet moment. There is the initial reaction of 'Wow! This is really, really nice....!' and delight that this is actually al...
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If lockdown has left you feeling in serious need of a relaxing break with country walks, a first-class spa and restaurant and cosy rooms to hide away in, then, once we are allowed to stay in hotels once more, Bailiffscourt hotel and spa is the place ...
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To arrive at Langshott Manor is to jump back in time. One moment you are in urban Surrey, passing through towns like Redhill and Horley and driving though a modern housing estate, and then all of a sudden you arrive at a building unlike no other - wi...
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There's a warm glow which comes when reading a newspaper article called 'Cosiest pubs to stay in this winter' and realising you are heading off to stay in one of those featured that very day. This happened to me recently when about to head off to Th...
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It's been receiving guests for more than 60 years but Park House hotel is still making the transition from well-kept local secret to firm fixture on the British country house hotel scene.
A stay at Park House hotel
With its spa PH2O being short...
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Just when you think you’ve stayed in the best hotels in the Cotswolds, along comes Whatley Manor hotel and spa luxury hotel and tops the lot. From the moment the gates opened to reveal a beautiful cobbled courtyard, the entrance garlanded by wisteria...
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If you like visiting beautiful English stately homes but hate the queues, the drive, the parking and the general hassle which usually goes with such visits, then Bowood hotel, spa and golf in Wiltshire has the perfect solution: its own fleet of golf ...
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I hadn't meant to embark on an impromptu Champagne cocktail-tasting session just after breakfast, but in keeping with the overall spirit of relaxation and pampering at The Greenway hotel and spa Cheltenham it seemed the right thing to do.
It w...
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If your idea of a perfect summer's day is afternoon tea (or a gin and tonic) on a beautiful lawn in the sunshine, The Manor House luxury hotel in the pretty Cotswolds village of Castle Combe, Wiltshire, is the place to be.
The Manor House ...
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If the England rugby team need somewhere to recharge their batteries after a tough game then they needn't travel very far: their training ground at Pennyhill Park luxury hotel in Surrey is just a drop kick away from one of the finest spas in the coun...
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A trip to the Cotswolds is always a treat and if you're in need of some bracing countryside walks, a hearty pub meal and then a nightcap in front of a roaring fire, then The Old Swan and Minster Mill in the pretty Cotswolds village of Minster Lovell ...
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Being named The Sunday Times' Hotel of the Year, which The Painswick hotel was a few years ago, can be a double-edged sword. On the upside, the phone didn't stop ringing once the news came out, bookings went through the roof and for a newly-opened ho...
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You have to be deeply relaxed to nod off during a massage, so falling completely asleep, not once, but twice, during my treatment at the Lime Wood hotel spa shows what an incredibly relaxing spa treatment it was.
This was quite an achievement...
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The man who described Bibury as 'the most beautiful village in England' surely never went to Lower Slaughter. It might have a slightly alarming name but Lower Slaughter, all lush green fields, yellow Cotswold stone houses and a babbling brook running...
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Searching for the best hotels in the Cotswolds may sound like an easy task - luxury hotels in the Cotswolds seems to be everywhere! But with so many great hotels to chose from, it's easy to be overwhelmed. The best hotels in the Cotswolds don't come ...
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For those who love the idea of staying in a luxury spa hotel in the Cotswolds (and who doesn't?) and are travelling with children in tow, Calcot Manor luxury hotel, just the other side of Circencester, is a great choice - a Cotwolds hotel and spa f...
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Within two minutes of arriving at Barnsley House hotel and spa in the Cotswolds I had completely fallen in love with it - and that's before I'd even tried out the private cinema, outdoor hot tub or delicious food. All these things were yet to come, b...
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Bodysgallen Hall hotel in North Wales was the starting point for my week exploring Wales and it was a great place to begin. One of the top luxury hotels in Wales, its location just outside Llandudno on the north coast is right at the top of Wales and...
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There are some places that are so lovely you can't stop thinking about them after you leave, and Gravetye Manor West Sussex is most definitely one of those.
[Note: this review of Gravetye Manor West Sussex was first published in 2015 and some of t...
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As beautiful settings go, Ashdown Park hotel in East Sussex certainly has the 'wow' factor.
A stay at Ashdown Park hotel
Ashdown Park hotel is easily one of the best hotels in Sussex and is a hotel with stunning views. Walking through a stone a...
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It isn't often you get to share a sink with Hugh Grant but the sign in our bedroom at the five-star Luton Hoo hotel and spa proclaimed it to be true: the rather quirky sink-in-a-cupboard in the corner was indeed the very same cupboard from Four Weddi...
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Hidden deep in the heart of the Devon countryside and just 12 minutes away from the M5, Huntsham Court is a massive Victorian Gothic 34-bedroom mansion house set in five acres of land, which is in turn located within the 5,000 acre Huntsham estate.
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It isn't every day I stay in a 17th century Palladian mansion but after just a few hours at Luckham Park hotel near Bath I was walking around as if I had lived there for years.
Staying at Lucknam Park hotel
I would grandly descend the staircase...
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