Best hotels in the UK, from heritage homes to boutique boltholes
When it comes to choosing the best hotels in the UK, the jury is out as to whether a heritage property with acres of land is more alluring than a charming townhouse in central London or a coastal retreat with a beach mere steps from its doorway. But there's little need to choose – or to travel especially far from home – to enjoy a trip that feels indulgent and spoiling enough to outweigh any outlandish jaunt abroad. These hotels are destinations in their own right, and they have one thing in common: they're places the editors of Conde Nast Traveller UK will visit time and time again.
From the elegant to the down to earth, they all focus on attention to detail and sense of place. If you're someone who values the little touches – a welcome note on your dressing table, a glass of homegrown sparkling on arrival, or a sprig of lavender on your mug at turndown – these are the spots for you. These are the best hotels in the UK.
Editor's picks:
Best in London: Claridge's, Mayfair
Best for going off-grid: Fowlescome Farm, Ugborouh
Best for a spa break: Cowarth Park, Ascot
Best for a countryside stay near London: Beaverbrook, Surrey
Best for families: Louma, Dorset
Best for couples: Cowley Manor, Cheltenham
Best for foodies: The Pig in the South Downs
Best in Scotland: Gleneagles, Perthshire
hotelClaridge's, London
Best for: a bucket list London stay
Founded in 1812, frequented by Queen Victoria and listed by 1878’s influential Baedeker’s guide as “the first hotel in London”, Claridge’s could easily rest on its storied laurels. But it has always kept ahead of the rest, enlisting the likes of Guy Oliver and Diane von Furstenberg for face-lifts over the decades to ensure it bestrides the classic and modern in a way few hotels manage. The lobby captures the art deco glamour of the Jazz Age, when flappers hobnobbed with royalty. Its chequered-floor expanse buzzes with an international motley crew of Hollywood stars, brides and business types catching up over zesty Ginger John cocktails in the 1930s-style Fumoir bar. The pick of the new suites is the Georgian, an impeccable meld of English heritage and subtle chinoiserie. There’s a Steinberg baby grand piano, silk de Gournay panels in the dining room and a kitchen with a 24-hour butler.
The hotel’s expansion into the next door building created space for suites such as the Mayfair, where designer Bryan O’Sullivan (The Berkeley Bar) has ingrained modernity through scalloped mohair furniture in coral and pastel-green palettes. Claridge’s has also dug deep to impress guests with its subterranean spa. Designed by André Fu (the Maybourne Bar in Beverly Hills), its limewood and stone textures and dreamy peachy hues are the backdrop for bamboo- stick massages and Cryo Oxygen Shot facials. The pool ripples beneath a vaulted ceiling, surrounded by stone columns and cushy cabanas. Claridge’s is no longer the only show in town, but it’s with good reason that every other heritage hotel in London still sees it as the benchmark. Noo Saro-Wiwa
Address: Brook Street, London W1K 4HR
Price: from about £880 per night
hotelBeaverbrook, Surrey
Best for: proximity to London
A visit to the English countryside doesn’t get much more picturesque than at Beaverbrook. The hotel’s location in Surrey, as well as its heritage – the 470-acre estate dates back to 1866 – makes for an iconic UK stay. Elements of its history are woven into the interiors of the main house, but this is a place that masterfully blends English worldliness with modern finesse. If this is what wows you, book a room in the main house, where decor is classic and elegant and you're only a flight of stairs or two away from a lounge or bar, both of which overlook the grounds. The spa is something of a marvel – all stained-glass ceiling and innovative experiences – and as I pad past the outdoor pool from the cabin-style massage hut, I know the treatments I’ve just had will live in my heart for years to come.
We spent the night in the Village, a zippy buggy ride away from the original house. Its appeal lies primarily with families, as rooms are colour-drenched and whimsical, and the restaurant there is a British-style eatery. Elsewhere, food options include a lauded Japanese restaurant and the Instagram-famous summer dining experience that takes place on the grounds under whimsical hot-air balloons. Sarah Leigh Bannerman
Address: Reigate Road, Leatherhead KT22 8QX
Price: from about £490 per night
hotelCoworth Park, The Dorchester Collection, Ascot
Best for: a spa break
This 18th-century estate near Windsor might be 17 minutes from Heathrow Terminal 5, but it’s light-years away in feel. Since 2010 Coworth Park has outdone itself as a Dorchester Collection version of the country – a perfectly pressed London-adjacent micro-break and fresh-air reboot with minimal dirt on the wellies. The 240 acres of handsome parkland folds in well-kept polo fields (complete with exciting matches and a grafted-on social scene), tennis courts, lakes, a sunken garden and wildflower meadow, and a sleek spa that’s just had a makeover. Add in the promise of excellent food (Michelin-starred Woven by Adam Smith is British food at its apex) and there are plenty of treats to enjoy. The best spot on the estate is the meadowland in summer, when pink roses tumble over the gazebo and striped deck chairs line the croquet lawn. In winter, lolling is best done in the warm and cosseting spa. Lydia Bell
Address: Blacknest Road, Sunningdale, Ascot SL5 7SE
Price: from about £560 per night
hotelLucknam Park, Emblems Collection, Wiltshire
Best for: outdoor pursuits
England isn’t short of vast, sumptuous country estates and perfectly fetching manor houses. But Lucknam Park, Emblems Collection peeps over the rest from lofty heights. This Grade II-listed pile – creamy stone dressed with creepers tangling down its tower like Rapunzel’s hair, best glimpsed from the melodramatic beech-lined driveway – has been around since the late 17th century, and operated as a hotel under its current ownership since the end of the 1990s. Staying here is a deeply reassuring reminder that, sometimes, the classics endure for a reason. Plump four-poster beds are covered in rich floral fabrics or set against wallpaper patterned like humbugs. Original sash windows welcome in West Country sunshine that glints off chandeliers; in the cosy bar, martinis are whipped up cheerfully by informal but expert staff; and the bikes and golf carts lined up at the entrance can whizz you around the estate at the drop of a hat. These are just some of the smart touches that elevate Lucknam Park, Emblems Collection from reliably traditional to top-of-its-game.
Many come here – and repeatedly – for the restaurant (executive chef Hywel Jones’s team have worked to keep the kitchen’s Michelin star for 20 years and counting). But then there’s the facials, the gloriously steamy indoor-outdoor pools, the horse whispering and the clay pigeon shooting. Whatever their poison, guests all appear at breakfast with the unfakeable air of those who are truly rested. There’s no other weekender in the country that does it quite like this. Sarah James
Address: Lucknam Park, Chippenham SN14 8AZ
Price: from about £300 per night
hotelGleneagles, Perthshire
Best for: a Scottish escape
This is a hotel that needs no introduction. An 850-acre estate set against the sprawling Scottish countryside, Gleneagles gained icon status pretty rapidly after it opened in 1924 and soon became known as one of the world’s loveliest hotels for golfing, relaxing and exploring the bonny lands beyond. Home to three world-class golf courses (the King’s Course, Queen’s Course and PGA Centenary Course), the hotel reached new levels of fame in 2014 when hosting the 40th Ryder Cup. Beyond golf, Gleneagles is much loved by an array of celebrities who flock to the estate to spend time in the great outdoors (the hotel offers falconry, fishing, shooting, archery and more) or kick back in the award-winning spa, with two indoor pools, an outdoor thermal pool and 20 treatment rooms where guests can settle down for massages that use lotions and potions made with local ingredients and Scottish botanicals. Lydia Bell
Address: The Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder PH3 1NF
Price: from about £420 per night
Image by Eva-LilihotelLouma Country Hotel, Dorset
Best for: a wholesome, farm-style stay
Whether you’re most fulfilled by locality – be it in the nature of the staff or the sourcing of the food menu – heavenly interiors, connecting with the animals, or you’re simply happy with a glass of really good wine by an open fire, Louma will deliver. Personalised service starts long before guests arrive, and the team is clued up and ready to welcome arrivals by name. There are just 17 rooms here, ranging in size and style, all with personalised touches added that make those checking in feel at home. In ours, all the kit we need for two toddlers, in our neighbours, a dog bed and bowl.
One of the most unique parts about a stay at Louma is that all meals are included in the room rate. There are two restaurants, and the same menu is served in each, with subtle nuances that make the more formal one feel a touch elevated. The chef crafts a concise yet perfected menu that reflects the season. At breakfast, we graze on pastries, avocado toast, and plates of eggs, and at dinner we’re treated to hearty salmon en croute, chunks of beef sirloin, and oh-so-pretty desserts. The Sunday roast is a stand-out and includes three different meat options (or all on one plate, if you’re so inclined). And then there's the wellness offering. Wildsmith products are selected to suit the body’s circadian rhythm – an evening ritual will leave you smelling of lavender to promote rest, for example. The fitness studio is fully equipped with a TechnoGym kit, and no matter what your current workout plan or programme, you’re sure to find what you need. I’m left questioning whether I’m in Dorset or the Dolomites as I stand at the far end of the indoor pool looking through black-framed window panes that take up the entire floor-to-ceiling glass wall opposite. Sarah Leigh Bannerman
Address: Louma Country Hotel, Champernhayes Lane, Bridport DT6 6DF
Price: from about £580 per night
RobJameshotelThe Alfriston
Best for: an affordable boutique stay
Culture and countryside come as a seamless double act in Alfriston, a ridiculously pretty East Sussex village just two hours south of London. It’s perfectly positioned between the chalky drama of the Seven Sisters and the Bloomsbury set’s old haunt at Charleston, ten minutes away. There are 38 rooms, 31 in the main house and seven in the coach house, and they're dressed in gentle pinks, splashes of aqua green or teal and fabric headboards. Some gaze over the gardens and the Cuckmere River, while the swankier rooms up the ante with half-tester beds and perfectly sized roll top baths. A flute of sparkling Rathfinny and a bowl of cauliflower popcorn – dressed in teriyaki, soy, chilli and sesame – set the tone in the 1554 Brasserie: British food with a twist. Starters range from the ever-popular tomato and burrata to a rather good potted smoked trout with Melba toast, and a wild garlic and onion soup that tastes like spring in a bowl.
Tucked away in a separate building, the spa may be small, but it’s still serene. Three treatment rooms cater for the full knead-and-snooze experience; a sauna and steam room provide the heat. A relaxation area looks over the heated outdoor pool (10 by 5 metres) lined with loungers made for lingering. Out back, a small garden area doubles as a yoga spot where you can salute the sun with a view of the South Downs. Jane Knight
Address: Seaford Road, Alfriston, Polegate BN26 5TW
Price: from about £144 per night
hotelHeckfield Place, Hampshire
Best for: couples
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Heckfield Place is your typically grand country-house hotel. There’s certainly enough of the usual elements to throw you off the scent: the sprawling grounds and manicured gardens, the impressive stately exterior, the sweeping staircase and walls adorned with oil paintings. But all is not what it seems. For starters, there isn’t a hint of stuffiness or pomp. The team greet guests with a calmness that’s contagious, guiding you about the place with the kind of ease that never feels imposing. Even the uniforms, designed by cult clothing company Egg – all corduroy, linens and flouncy blouses – are refreshingly unexpected. Bedrooms are stripped back and country comfy without leaning too heavily into the more ubiquitous country-pile aesthetic – creamy oatmeals, subdued greens and pinks and yellows, not a sniff of chintz.
And then there’s the food. Both Marle and Hearth, the two restaurants, are worth the trip from London alone. There’s a farm-to-fork ethos, drawing heavily on the estate farm and kitchen garden for the menus. The latest addition is The Bothy by Wildsmith, a serene, two-floor oasis enveloped in the hotel’s gardens. Years in the making, it’s a deeply soothing space with a gorgeous pool and treatment rooms for hours-long sessions that might include diagnostic kinesiology or abdomen massages. The hot tubs on the deck overlook the grounds, where, in the summer months, you can take a walk around the estate with a picnic or enjoy a dip in the misty lake. In the winter, follow up a session in the waters with a cosy afternoon curled up by the fire in the living room – aim for 4pm and wait for a homemade cake to magically appear on a platter before staff dutifully place fat slices on plates to enjoy as a piano tinkles in the corner. Sarah Allard
Address: Heckfield Place, Heckfield, Hook RG27 0LD
Price: from about £650 per night
hotelThe Newt in Somerset
Best for: a luxurious take on countryside living
This magnificent honey-stone Georgian house really shook up the UK hotel scene when it arrived in the middle of 2019. Not only have the outbuildings and barns all been converted (check out the old stable bedrooms with original 19th-century hay feeders still in situ, pictured), but the gardens have been miraculously brought back to life, and day visitors flock from all over the country just for a snoop around the grounds. The Garden Café (not to mention the buffalo gelateria and Cyder bar) is inspired by the bounty of the gardens and orchards, headed up by chefs flexing their tattooed muscles.
But it’s the hotel, cordoned off to day trippers, that is the real hot ticket. It’s the project of former interiors magazine editor Karen Roos and husband Koos Bekker, who are also behind hotel Babylonstoren in the winelands of South Africa, and the work restoring the properties and gardens took more than five years. Shuttered sash windows frame a classic parkland view; the handsome library and drawing room have been opened up so guests can admire the collections of books and paintings. In the morning, the orangerie, off a dark-green oak-panelled dining room, makes for a light-flooded breakfast room studded with box hedge and orange trees, for feasting on crumpets topped with poached eggs and flaky Portuguese custard tarts. Jemima Sissons
Address: Hadspen, A359, Bruton BA7 7NG
Price: from about £750 per night
Cliveden House, Berkshire
Best for: experiencing a National Trust treasure
Cliveden is proud of its 350-year history and has kept many quirks from former owners, including hiding whiskey bottles in secret wall cupboards (a habit of a late Lord). Now owned by the National Trust, it still feels like a welcoming family seat, filled with character and antiques, including a romantic Tudor revival staircase. The 47 rooms and suites are of generous proportions and often with roaring fireplaces that flicker across decorated ceilings. Even the swimming pool is Grade I listed. It’s where, in 1961, conservative politician John Profumo began a dalliance with Christine Keeler, a mistress of a suspected Russian spy, and brought the British Parliament to its knees. Today, it is in the same walled garden as the modern Cliveden Spa.
Dinner is served in the dining room of the main house, with a three-course à la carte or seven-course tasting menu by chef Christopher Hannon showcasing English produce. In the former stables, the Astor Grill serves more casual fare. Read the full review here. Jessica-Belle Greer
Address: Cliveden House, Taplow, Berkshire, England, SL6 0JF
Price: from about £320 per night
Mr. TripperhotelCowley Manor Experimental, near Cheltenham
Best for: a cocktail-fuelled stayction
Waking up in Cowley Manor feels like you’ve tumbled down the rabbit hole and into a world of comfort, indulgence and serenity, even if just for a night. It’s owned by the Experimental Group and – as expected – it’s designed in the brand’s signature contemporary-cool way. Prepare to start planning how best to replicate its interiors at home. Curious, considering its heritage house shell and historical ties to Lewis Caroll’s Alice In Wonderland inspiration. There are subtle nods to the story throughout: gilded gold door embellishments take the form of the rabbit head, and keys are marked on the hallway carpets. It’s not outlandish, though – this is a hotel that’s all about its guests. The spa and pool are simply heavenly, and many while away the day in the glass box that surrounds the water, glancing up from a book only to spot a bunny hip-hopping along outside. Others choose to set up camp in the bar, which is all roaring fire and chairs you can sink into while sipping on one of the mixologist’s most creative concoctions. Wander the grounds before dinner and discover hidden pathways through the surrounding woods before heading to the deep red dining room, where romance comes as a byproduct of any meal. Sarah Leigh Bannerman
Address: Cowley Manor, Cowley, Cheltenham GL53 9NL
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Jon TonkshotelFowlescombe Farm, Devon
Best for: an eco-conscious farm stay with excellent aesthetics
For that golden intersection of gripping design and home-grown, regenerative ideology, Fowlescombe Farm is remarkably quick to reach by train, despite its bona fide rural location on the fringes of Dartmoor. Nearly every morsel of food here is grown on site with radical ‘land-to-larder ethics,’ whipped up into unfussy, elevated plates and served in easy-going fashion. It’s the greedy aesthete’s ultimate weekende and the antithesis of the token eco-effort. Instead, it's a blueprint for how to sustainably work acres of farmland around a hotel and fuel its kitchen from its home-grown produce. The Capability Brown, or general old school landscaping, has been ditched in favour of wildflower meadows teaming with butterflies, while impressive regenerative programmes encompass everything from the soil (ploughed and grazed at a slower, more manageable level) to the bees (thriving across 16 hives and visibly going about their pollinating business in the meadows wrapping the barns and farmhouse.
Rooms are cosy without feeling cluttered, and the flagstone floors and oak minimalism are softened in clever ways: a woven rug flung across enormous beds (featuring local Naturalmat mattresses stuffed with wool from their own Manx Laughtan flock) or an angular fireplace to warm walkers’ toes from woolly armchairs. Rosalyn Wikeley
Address: Ugborough, Ivybridge PL21 0HW
Price: from about £415 per night
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hotelMiddleton Lodge
Best for: foodies partial to a spa weekend
Middleton Lodge is one of those places that somehow manages to strike the balance between style and comfort effortlessly. From the moment I hop out of the car, I’m struck by the peace and quiet – just the occasional bleat from sheep in the surrounding fields, and the satisfying crunch of gravel beneath my feet as I walk toward the main building to check in for a weekend of R&R.
We’re slap bang the middle of the North Yorkshire countryside, so slow walks, fireside drinks, and generous farm-to-fork meals are very much on the agenda. The estate’s 59 bedrooms occupy former nooks and haylofts, all muted and elegant, with paintings found by the owners at auctions and antique fairs covering the walls. In our Parlour room, a bedroom filled with soothing creams and botanical greens sits above a cosy lounge area, with squashy white linen sofas facing the fireplace.
The jewel in the estate's crown – and the reason for my visit – is the Forest Spa, an expansive sanctuary housed in its own beautiful outbuilding. It’s a Scandi dream – all muted wood, natural stone, and oat-coloured sofas draped in throws. Outside, two whirlpools and striped loungers overlook a heated 15-metre pool – a soothing sight even with the autumn rain bouncing off the water. The treatments draw on nature, featuring Aromatherapy Associates and Voya rituals. Facials, massages, and body wraps are all deeply relaxing, but my highlight is the immersive bathing experience in a secluded woodland cabin. I’ll admit, the idea of lowering myself into a steel tub filled with seaweed felt odd at first, but the candlelight, guided meditation, and gentle scent of seaweed oils left me feeling floaty long after the treatment had ended.
Whatever your plans during the day, save room for a 10-course dinner at Forge – the estate’s Michelin-starred restaurant – that evening. We tuck into plump scallops in a celeriac broth, pink duck with plum sauce and – perhaps the best of all – chunks of homemade beer bread dipped in a cheesy custard. My tip: arrive early, grab a seat at the bar, and enjoy your first course with a cocktail in hand. Sarah Allard
Address: Kneeton Ln, Middleton Tyas, Richmond DL10 6NJ
Price: from £225 per night
Jake EasthamhotelThe Rectory Hotel, Crudwell
Best for: a cosy stay in the heart of the Cotswolds
The Rectory sits in Crudwell, one of the most charming small villages in the Cotswolds. The Grade-I listed All Saints' Church is visible from the hotel’s gardens and well worth a visit, whether for religious reflection or a nose at 12th-century features. Alex Payne purchased this Georgian manor house in 2016, and the country folk and burnt-out Londoners soon cottoned on. 18 bedrooms split between the main property and a separate cottage offer all the trappings of a cosy Cotswolds hideout – the latter is favoured by families and groups, with direct access to the manicured gardens.
Damian Clisby is in charge of the kitchens, which serve up brunch classics and continental spreads by morning and European-inspired a la carte dishes come evening. Guests who aren’t too exhausted after long days navigating the surrounding walking routes stick around a while in the bar and lounge spaces, sipping espresso martinis beside a crackling fire and chatting – or playing Scrabble – until it’s time to sink into their goose-down bedding. This is the spot for a charming escape in one of England’s most naturally stunning settings – with a fantastic in-house restaurant and a destination pub on your doorstep. Connor Sturges
Address: Crudwell, Malmesbury SN16 9EP
Price: from about £170 per night
Mark Anthony FoxhotelEstelle Manor, Oxfordshire
Best for: lavish indulgence
Everything is celebratory of the good life at this Jacobethan hall-set outpost of Sharan Pasricha’s Maison Estelle in Mayfair. The 108 rooms and suites unfold across the house and in the new stable-inspired and walled kitchen garden blocks. Rich interiors, elaborate food and personal service conspire to create a fun, clubbable atmosphere. Roman & Williams, Olivia Weström and AIME Studios have created as much layered sophistication as the countryside can handle in a riot of paintings and sculptures from the likes of Billy Childish and Erin Lawlor, antiques sourced from the Mediterranean to Morocco, and Wilkinson’s of London candelabra. The South Terrace, with a 25-metre pool, is the locus of summer socialising. Breakfasts and informal suppers unfold in the Brasserie and its orangery (the evening menu includes a raw section of caviar, crabs and oysters, as well as juicy steaks served with the marrow). The Billiard Room is best for evening razzle-dazzle with serpent-shaped banquettes and malachite-topped tables. The Chinese menu by ex-Hakkasan Ah Tat Ip centres on dim sum, bao and roasted meats. The Clubhouse is a one-stop shop for work and life, with a salon, workspace, kids' club, Pilates studio and high-tech gym. Roman-style baths are set to open soon. Lydia Bell
Address: Estelle Manor, Eynsham Park, Witney OX29 6PN
Price: from about £650 per night
