Just as The Plaza oozes NYC energy and George V is a distinctly Parisian grand dame, some UK hotels are more than just hotels.
Rather, they’re iconic places to stay that define what British hospitality means: in design, service, comfort and cuisine. Both new and old, the essential properties profiled below are bastions of the nation’s accommodation scene – every self-proclaimed hotel aficionado should check in at least once.
Claridge’s, London
An icon to London locals as much as visitors, this Mayfair institution makes a point of executing everything to the highest standard. Glam art deco interiors dazzle from the moment the top-hatted doormen wave you through the doors. Rambling suites are replete with original detailing in mouldings, cornices and chandeliers, with not a decorative pillow out of place.
And yet for all its sense of tradition, Claridge’s manages to never be stuffy, instead positioning itself with high-brow current trends. New York city cocktail bar (and aperitivo legend) Dante has recently popped up in the restaurant; there’s the pink-drenched Painter’s Room cocktail afternoon tea; and the contemporary Artspace café, parading cakes as if they’re fine jewellery. Then there’s the spa, where ikebana Japanese-inspired florals marry with bio-the treatments like Augustinus Bader radio frequency facials.
From £930; book it here
Gleneagles, Perthshire
For a hundred years this grand countryside hotel, built by the Caledonian Railway Company as a rural getaway for moneyed city folk, has overlooked the rolling green hills of Perthshire – punctuated with lochs, glens and roaming deer. And countryside pursuits still remain at the heart of what this hotel is about, with falconry, fishing, horse riding and shooting all on the roster, alongside the usual countryside walks. Golf is big too: fans of the sport will know Gleneagles has one of the most fêted courses in all of the UK.
A glow up of the interiors a few years ago has attracted a more stylish set to the hotel, though thankfully it did nothing to dampen the timeless ambiance, which extends to white tablecloths, candlelight and trollies at The Strathearn restaurant. Meanwhile, a series of bars provide cosy nooks to sip away at a fine dram, while a sprawling spa is a welcome retreat on grey, chilly days.
From £595; book it here
Shangri-La The Shard, London
The brand may be Hong Kong but the view is all British: perched between floors 34 and 52 of the Shard in London Bridge, this skyscraper hotel’s number one feature is its unbridled views over the world’s greatest capital.
While many visitors drop in for dinner at TING, or cocktails at GONG, to take in the glittering city views by night, when you book in for a stay you get the – arguably more magical – view of London by morning, when there’s a kind of serenity to seeing the city bustle far below. Shuffle around drinking coffee in your robe while watching commuters dash across London Bridge train platforms, then enjoy a dip in the pool, set on the 54th floor and gazing straight over the Thames.
From £650; book it here
Cliveden House, Buckinghamshire
If only walls could talk. As the former home of the Astors – and site of the 1960s Profumo Affair – Buckinghamshire’s grand address drips in the intrigue of yesteryear from the moment you pass through its doors.
Partly managed by the National Trust, many of Cliveden’s spaces, including the very impressive breakfast buffet room, are untouched time warps of regal elegance, with gold leaf, oil paint portraits and polished wood furniture. But that doesn’t stop the hotel from being forward-thinking. A lovely spa with OSKIA treatments and champagne-drenched boat trips among the rambling grounds make it a place for a very current love affair.
From £445; book it here
The Savoy, London
The location is as London as it gets: sandwiched between the river Thames and the Strand, moments from Trafalgar Square, West End shows and Waterloo Bridge. As Britain’s very first purpose-built ‘deluxe’ hotel, opened in 1889, The Savoy has hosted everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Oscar Wilde, Walt Disney to Katherine Hepburn. And now, you.
The polished lobby, with its checked black and white tiling, grand columns and central chandelier, is a place where all walks of life mingle; tourists drift in towards afternoon tea under the Gallery’s dome, and Londoners sip perfect martinis to live piano music in the world-famous American Bar, which has been voted the best bar in the world several times. Meanwhile, newly redesigned suites with Art Deco and Edwardian touches are elegant without unduly drawing attention away from the real star: the unrivalled river-facing panoramas of the South Bank, London Eye and Parliament.
The Savoy is not trendy but it gets the important stuff right: plush robes and towels. Unfalteringly doting, nothing-is-too-much trouble service. And a sublime peach Melba – which, as it happens, was invented right here.
From £800; book it here
The Scarlet, Cornwall
One of the UK’s few adults-only hotels, eco-conscious The Scarlet majors in couple-y getaways featuring spa, wine and general child-free serenity. The location certainly helps to set the mood; perched dramatically above the broad Mawgan Porth beach, framed on either side by coastal path-carved hillscapes, the buildings provide an ever-changing panorama of the blue Atlantic surf.
No stay is complete without a soak in one of the private barrel hot tubs snuggled in amongst the scrubland (book a sunset time slot if you can), or a dip in the natural reed-studded swimming pool, visited by local wildlife. The spa goes beyond the usual cookie-cutter treatments with Ayurvedic therapies and personalised consultations.
From £235; book it here
The Newt, Somerset
A bucolic picture of British countryside life wrought by billionaire South African couple Koos Bekker and Karen Roos, the Newt offers style, elegance and escapism across its 800-acre estate. Between the landscaped gardens, sheep-dotted apple orchard, garden museum, reconstructed Roman villa, multiple restaurants and daily workshops and tours (for example, to spot local herds of deer) there’s far more to explore here than you can fit into a weekend, so it’s just as well that every overnight stay comes with a 12-month entry membership so you can return to wander whenever you’d like. As for rooms, choose between historic pile Hadspen House or relaxed The Farmyard, the latter centred around a willow-draped pond and contemporary rooms inspired by its origins as a dairy barn.
From £785; book it here
Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxfordshire
Raymond Blanc’s temple to culinary wizardry has long set the standard for what a gourmet hotel should look like. Holding two Michelin stars for more than four decades, Le Manoir pioneered the garden-to-table concept in its magnificent Oxfordshire pile and has inspired countless imitators.
With Gallic touches in the form of pastoral toile fabrics, chandeliers and marbles, the decadent suites have long been a plush place to snooze off seven courses of picture-perfect food. Though with the hotel soon to close temporarily for a complete renovation, you’ll need to visit quick if you want to see them in their current form.
Every visit should include a wander around the beautiful gardens, complete with Japanese tea house, and ideally also a class in the onsite cookery school, where course specialisms range from bread to soufflé.
From £1,470; book it here
The Fife Arms, Aberdeenshire
Picture what a rural Scottish hotel should look like and the Fife Arms pretty much hits the brief: polished four posters and vintage-style wallpapers, gold-framed oil paintings, mounted stags and lavish splashes of tartan. It all could so easily feel fusty but with art dealers Iwan and Manuela Wirth – of Hauser and Wirth – at the helm it manages to feel both nostalgic and chic, particularly thanks to the judicious infusion of striking contemporary art.
While devout minimalists might dizzy at the riot of contrasting prints and assorted antiques, a stay here will bring everyone else into a deeply Scottish mood, particularly once they’ve dined on wood-fired produce in the Clunie restaurant and sipped a dram in the velvet-draped whisky bar.
From £525; book it here
The Zetter, London
Hot boutique hotels come and go in London, but for more than 20 years this Clerkenwell hotel has maintained its quirky style, homely but sophisticated air and dedication to fine food and drink.
From tasselled bed curtains to Asian pottery and vintage wooden shelving, the eclectic décor makes it feel like you’re staying at the home of a stylish cousin who’s just popped out. With no formal lobby space, the ground floor Parlour becomes a catch-all meeting space for morning lattes and evening Negronis, where among Dickensian-gone-modern aesthetic London locals mingle with hotel guests.
From £300; book it here
The Gallivant, East Sussex
With its easy-breezy design, fish-forward cuisine and relaxed service, The Gallivant is the hotel that made a British seaside weekend cool again. Built into the bones of a 1960s roadside motel off golden Camber Sands beach, rooms evoke beach hut nostalgia blended with urban sophistication via wall panelling, geometrics and evocative prints.
Daily yoga classes take place in a studio nestled on the grounds or on the sands themselves, and local English wines are poured with gusto at the bar. Meanwhile new restaurant Harry’s, from ex-Bibendum chef Mathew Harris, dishes up a fishy take on a Sunday roast with Rye Bay plaice and brown shrimp butter.
From £165; book it here
The Gilpin, Cumbria
With a Michelin-starred restaurant, serene suites with private hot tubs – and a flock of resident llamas to greet you – this family-owned Lake District stalwart really has it all. The Gilpin doesn’t rest on its laurels, constantly reinventing itself, for example by adding the secluded six-bedroom Lake House and the contemporary spa suites suspended over glassy pools. It just the kind of rejuvenating break you need when you are sightseeing round the Lake District, though between chef Ollie Bridgwater’s delicately plated wonders at Source restaurant and couples’ massages, you may find that you haven’t much time to explore at all.
From £355; book it here
Heckfield Place, Hampshire
When this restored 18th-century pile finally opened six years after originally planned, in 2018, it proved itself most certainly worthy of the wait. Owned by American billionaire Gerald Chan, who clearly has a meticulous eye for detail, it takes the traditional concept of a country house retreat and raises it onto an entirely new, elite level.
It’s not only the sublime, understated and slightly Scandi – but also oh-so-English – interiors, nor the hyper seasonal cuisine from chef Skye Gynell, or the gorgeously tucked away spa, The Bothy, which overlooks ancient oaks. It’s not even the onsite Home Farm, from which much of the produce, cheese and even onsite tea cosies (knitted from estate sheep’s wool) are sourced, or the toiletries made from their own botanicals, or the resident film screenings. It’s the sense here the hospitality is an art, with small moments cultivated to become extraordinary memories.
From £600; book it here
The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa, Bath
When it comes to Jane Austen-style romance, it’s tricky to beat this regal wonder set within one of Bath’s most iconic landmarks, the UNESCO-listed Royal Crescent. The curving Palladian frontage designed by John Wood the Younger stretches out equal parts in each direction – the hotel is nestled at its very heart – making the entrance into the monochrome-tiled lobby area feel grand and exclusive.
Rooms tread the line between historic and modern, dressed in neutrals with hints of zesty colour and eccentric prints. A spa revives Bath’s thermal tradition with a gushing vitality massage jet pool and a steam room, where you can immerse in eucalyptus aromatics with your other half on a romantic break that’s (hopefully) more Bridgerton than Austen.
From £410; book it here
