Blakes, which opened in London in 1981, is now widely considered to be the world’s first boutique hotel, and back in the day London hoteliers weren’t too shy about copying the individual quirky format. And boutique hotels, some with more claim to the name than others, are now found everywhere! Including rural Norfolk, the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Wight — just to name a few of the destinations where you’ll find one of our recommendations for the 20 best boutique hotels in the UK.
These days the term ‘UK boutique hotel’ is reasonably broad, and boutique hotels in the UK are sometimes hotels with particularly great design, or a particularly unique or imaginative mansion conversion, as well as those small, upscale and gorgeously personalised and detailed hotels that the term was originally coined for. And our list of the best UK boutique hotels has been fairly liberal about the term too. We also have some boutique pubs with rooms on the list, and some great value hotels that we think tick many ‘boutique boxes’, but that are probably too affordable for them to qualify. All 20 of our recommendations for the best UK boutique hotels have great bars and/or restaurants though. All are small, and all have plenty of unique charm.
Some of our UK Boutique Hotel Collections:
Boutique Hotels for a Special Occasion
- Where better to start than at Blakes? In a quiet residential street behind South Kensington its home is an imposing but discreet building with 41 rooms. Still one of the best boutique hotels in London, actress Gwyneth Paltrow described it as "a super-chic design hotel but comfortable and sexy" and she pretty well nails it. The classic darker rooms with their rich fabrics and Eastern art will be a little too opium den for some tastes but there are brighter, whiter rooms which are equally luxurious. The cocktail bar and restaurant are well thought-of.
Best Boutique Hotels in London
- The Franklin is in the centre of Knightsbridge, but you probably won’t have spotted it, it’s a perfectly discreet hotel, in a couple of converted townhouses in an elegant row, associated with the private Egerton Gardens. There are 35 rooms and suites, and the designer has taken a lot of care to make this feel like an inviting private home, rather than a hotel. Albeit a home with zero clutter, a neat, mainly monochrome colour scheme and a lot of mirrored surfaces. The food is Italian and inventive, and the bar and restaurant are gorgeous, plus there’s a gym and small hamman.
- Since 1718, Hazlitt's has been a fixture of the Soho literary scene, a Frith Street Georgian townhouse which has always felt a bit more private club than hotel, and in the best possible way. Stay here, in one of the 30, individually decorated rooms and suites, and you’ll feel like more than just a guest. The decor is traditional and elegant: think wood panelling and the odd bust — and no plasma screen TVs.
- The intimate, 13 room Zetter Townhouse in hip, fairly-central Clerkenwell, is an offshoot of the larger, modernist Zetter Hotel. But it’s properly boutique, with some really fantastic vintage pieces and a quirky, eclectic Cool Britainia vibe. And an excellent afternoon tea offering.
Best Boutique Hotels in Edinburgh
- There’s really nowhere else like The Witchery by the Castle, a classic boutique hotel at the luxury end of the market offering a super special stay. Impressively Gothic on the outside, and next to the gates of Edinburgh Castle on the Royal Mile, The Witchery only has nine rooms, all flamboyantly decorated, with gilded ceilings, wood panelling and swathes of velvet in all the colours of a throne room. Romantic and theatrical, expect oil paintings, four-poster beds, vast bath tubs and complimentary champagne.
The Most Romantic Boutique Hotels in the UK
- The Gore’s London location is unbeatable, close to the museums, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, Kensington Palace and the Royal Albert Hall for starters. Its reputation is also unbeatable, it’s been a staple on the British hotel scene since 1892, and this is where the Rolling Stones launched their ‘Beggars Banquet’ album, so it’s cool too. And I hazard to propose that the decor is unbeatable too —think dark wood panelling, velvet, extra curtains to divide rooms, metallic damask, beautiful mirrors, paintings everywhere, great lighting. The bar is famous for its long G&Ts, and the restaurant is overseen by a chef with a Michelin star.
- The Forest Side is a Gothic mansion surrounded by 43 acres of gardens and land just outside Grasmere in the heart of the Lake District. The decor is charming: think plush contemporary fabrics and silvery surfaces, but the restaurant and the views are the big draw cards here. The restaurant gained a Michelin star after only six months, and everything looks amazing as well as tasting amazing. This is the perfect spot for a romantic mini-break.
The UK’s Best Boutique Escapes
- The wonderfully reinvented Fife Arms in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, has sprung from the vivid imagination of gallery owners and art dealers, and they’ve drawn on their taste and creativity in these 46 individually themed rooms — varied and eclectic themes! But it isn’t just the owners who’ve been involved with this project, it seems like the whole local community has been involved, and as well as its own original art, the Fife Arms has its own tartan and its own, impressive collection of taxidermy. This is a magical highland stay, and a fantastic opportunity for art lovers and anyone who appreciates a maximalist aesthetic.
- In the smart, market town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, The Black Bull is a smart coaching-inn, recently refurbished to make the most of its original features, but to also make it elegantly modern. It still feels like the best sort of traditional English pub in a fantastic, outdoorsy location, but the interiors are lighter, airier and more elegantly minimal.
- Equidistant between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, Hipping Hall is a charming restaurant with ten rooms and beautiful surroundings. The bedrooms range in size and style, with both contemporary and traditional decor an option, but it’s the restaurant that will really impress you. Try the tasting menu for a string of good surprises and wines to match.
Best Boutique Hotels by the Beach
- Fowey’s Old Quay House Hotel is a small, minimalist property in a fantastic spot right on Fowey’s harbour. Crisp yet comfortable, this is the kind of boutique hotel with contemporary artworks and elegant lines, but it’s the waterfront views and the award-winning restaurant that elevate this hotel, and allow it to make the cut. And you’re just ten minutes from the Eden Project.
- Hillside, in Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight, is a charmingly Scandi-chic, thatched Georgian villa overlooking the sea. The collection of Danish furniture in these 12 rooms is beautifully offset with simple white walls and CoBrA inspired abstract paintings. The fact that Hillside was at one time the home of the poet John Sterling is respected too, charmingly displayed in photographs and documents on the walls of the bar. The restaurant offers fine European dining with a Scandinavian twist, prepared using the finest ingredients from their own garden. And there’s a tennis court.
- There’s nothing between the Royal Hotel and the ocean except a stretch of golden, pebbly beach. In historic Deal, in Kent, this elegant, 18 room hotel has hosted the likes of Admiral Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton in its time, and some of the staircases probably still creak in just the same way. Though the rooms have been modernised a great deal; they’re light and airy and decorated in pale blues and greys. Downstairs the restaurant is chic, with some great Naval memorabilia, and a promising menu.
Best Boutique Pubs with Rooms
- Brighton’s Ginger Pig offers a great pub experience with 11, industrial chic rooms atop. The wood floors and smoke green walls are a great backdrop for their blend of modern and vintage furnishings, and the pub, bar and restaurant are all popular with locals as well as visitors to Brighton.
- If you’re looking for something a bit special in the Peak District then The Farmhouse at Mackworth is a property to consider: this recently refurbished, 18th century farmhouse turned gastro pub and ten room hotel, is now beautifully light and airy, with contemporary art works, and indulgent details. The food is good and hearty.
- The Kinmel Arms is a boutique village pub with a gourmet restaurant and lots of original art. There are only four rooms, and it’s all very simple, but the details elevate it beyond being a pub. The food is really superb, the wine list is award-winning and the surrounds are relaxing and rural. It’s a great escape.
Best Value Boutique Hotels in the UK
- The Artist Residence Oxford is a country pub and restaurant with just five comfy, imaginatively decorated rooms. You’re just 15 minutes from Oxford and close to the Cotswolds too, so it’s convenient and very romantic. The restaurant especially, which is very William Morris, but with Tracy Emin style neon art. Walk to the picturesque local village through the wheat fields, or blow all your money at the local garden centre, which is apparently the Harrods of the Cotswolds. Oscar Wilde would probably hole up here and write a novel.
- The Gunton Arms is a country inn on a country estate in Norfolk, which has recently been lavishly restored and its eight rooms elevated from comfortable country pub rooms to something more. The views of the thousand acre park are relaxing, the location is superb, the art is well chosen and the food is really excellent.
- Timbrell's Yard is a Grade II Listed former manor house in Bradford-upon-Avon. Its conversion into a boutique hotel has been fairly sympathetic, and the resulting rooms are now quite minimally decorated, but many original features remain — beamed ceilings, fireplaces and funny sized windows, for example. The pub and restaurant have a similar feel, and the menu is ‘hearty’.
Still not sure which to book?
