15 of The Best Hotels for a Quick Country Escape (From London)

London is an amazing place to live. But it’s also somewhere that we all sometimes need a break from. A mini-break? a weekend away? just an opportunity to stretch out and breathe some country air… But it’s good be close, otherwise there’s the risk of spending all your precious away time travelling. So where to find the best hotels for a quick country escape?

For years people have been bemoaning tourism’s exploitation of the UK’s farthest corners, and claimed it’s no longer possible to find a remote corner of these isles - AA Gill called it the ‘cream-tea enema’, subjected on Britain by tourism. But how remote does one actually want to be from things? How about 125 acres of parklands, backed by beautiful views of the Downs? Or in one of ten rooms in a hotel by a quiet patch of private river? Our Gurus have discovered plenty of properties along these lines less than an hours travel from London and made a round-up of the best hotels for a quick country escape from London.

Sure, it may be that other people are sharing the hotel with you, but it’s certainly an escape from the city, and there’s plenty of opportunity to be on your own. Until you fancy being pampered in the spa, or treated to a beautiful meal. Then you can come back to ‘civilisation’.

For A Romantic break

• Cliveden House is a grand neoclassical country pile, a National Trust treasure, and probably still best known for its part in the Profumo affair. But it seems like everyone who’s ever been anyone has stayed here, from Churchill to Chaplin and Lawrence to Lennon. There are 44 rooms and 15 suites, but staying here still feels like you’re staying in a country home rather than a hotel. There are original Old Masters on the walls, a spa, boats on the river, two pools and a truly wonderful afternoon tea.

For Families

• Barnett Hill Hotel is a beautifully renovated mansion set in acres of picturesque parkland just south of Guildford. It's been stylishly done and all the accommodatiion exudes a cool contemporary vibe. As well as the expansive grounds for your little ones to run around in (and your four legged family members too), you can expect spacious suites which will easily take a family of four and specially curated children's menus (written by the GM's kids!).

For a Country Escape plus Pampering

• Just outside Crawley, West Sussex, the Alexander House Hotel & Utopia Spa is a beautiful boutique country house hotel set amongst 120 acres of its own park and gardens. There are 57 rooms, which they call ‘sinfully luxurious’, plus an excellent spa, a pool, fine dining and a champagne bar.
• Out by Ascot, Coworth Park offers the quintessential English countryside experience, with superb equestrian facilities, including its own polo fields, beautiful grounds, excellent restaurant and bars and an eco-luxury spa.
• The Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa, outside Bagshot, Surrey, is a beautiful, ivy clad 19th century built country house hotel with a Michelin starred restaurant and an award winning spa. There are 123 rooms and suites, surrounded by 123 acres of park and gardens. And you’re only 30minutes from Heathrow and about 45minutes from central London.

For a Foodie Escape

• Great Fosters is easily accessible from London, being just under an hour away. It's a beautiful 16th century Royal hunting lodge turned luxury hotel with a sublime Michelin starred restaurant on site. Tony Parkin at The Tudor Room limits the number of dining guests to 10 per sitting and introduces all the food himself! A true foodie experience!
• Gravetye Manor, in a leafy part of West Sussex, is an Elizabethan mansion with 17 fine, wood panelled bedrooms with four-poster beds, and an exceptionally beautiful garden. There’s also a Michelin starred restaurant.
• The Waterside Inn in Bray is a fantastic choice for foodies, run by Michel and Alain Roux and with three Michelin stars, this is about as gourmet at the it gets. The eleven rooms and suites are sumptuous and start from around £220 per night.
• Just ten minutes drive from Gatwick, Langshott Manor is a 16th century English manor house converted into a 22 room hotel. And what rooms! They’ve beamed ceilings, four-poster beds, plush furniture and a crackling fire come the winter months. Plus the restaurant has won awards.

Just outside town

• Just outside London on the M4, Stoke Park looks like a mini version of the White House: a luxury Palladian mansion turned country house hotel and spa, with golf course and indoor and outdoor tennis facilities which are good enough to host Wimbledon warm up events. There are 49 rooms and 14 suites, a choice of restaurants and a fabulous spa.
• Grand, majestic and inviting, with its beautifully landscaped parks, Hartwell House is another one of those country piles owned by the National Trust and run as a country house hotel. With its 52 rooms and 12 suites, 16th century Hartwell is near Aylesbury, and an easy drive to Stowe, Oxford and Waddesdon.
• South Lodge Hotel is a classic country house retreat near Horsham, West Sussex, with 89 individually designed rooms and suites with handmade mattresses and pillow menus throughout. You’re surrounded by 93 acres of park and gardens and beyond that you have views of the South Downs. One of the restaurants has a Michelin star, the other two AA rosettes. Both the Godman and Farriers Suites have their own private terraces with hot tubs.

For a Riverside Escape

• The Miller of Mansfield is a traditional, ivy-covered inn in the pretty village of Goring-on-Thames. There are 15 individually designed suites with views of the river and the restaurant is well reviewed.

For a pub with rooms

• In one of the loveliest and most historic locations of any coastal hotel, the Master Builder’s is the former home of Henry Adams, the man in charge of building warships, including Agamemnon, at Buckler’s Hard, still preserved as it was in his 18th century day. Today the hotel has a delightfully quirky interior, with furnishings and fabrics from India giving the main bedrooms a laid back yet luxurious air. There’s an elegant brasserie style dining room, and in summer a popular barbecue in the garden, as well as the local yachtsman’s bar opening onto to the grassy street that runs down between the shipwrights’ cottages to the water.
• The Lamb at Hindon has been a great Wiltshire pub with rooms for 800 years! A few hundred miles south of Scotland, these days it’s the country outpost of Boisdale, the Scottish-themed Belgravia restaurant. Tartan is everywhere and rooms all have a bottle of whisky in them for a night cap in bed.

For great value

• The Crown Inn in peaceful Amersham is a delightful modern coaching inn with plenty of character and a reputation for good food - and it can be reached by tube, it’s on the end of the Metropolitan Line just 40 minutes from central London. There are 23 rooms - most of them with contemporary decor - except for room 12, which retains a traditional feel - you might recognise it from the film Four Weddings and a Funeral.

If you haven’t found your idea of the best hotels for a quick country escape on our Guru’s list of the 15 best hotels for a quick country escape from London you could:

• Consider refining your search to just the best places to stay in Kent? or the best places to stay in Surrey? or the best places to stay in Essex? or East Sussex? or the Wbest places to stay in West Sussex? or the best places to stay in Berkshire?
• Or you could contact one of our friendly Gurus for personalised advice.

The Best Hotels for a Quick Country Escape

 

Written by Kat Parr Mackintosh

posted Wednesday, 30th October 2024