The best UK hotels for families and with amazing English history
AS the new edition of The Good Hotel Guide goes live online, we’ve picked out some cracking escapes.
Below are our favourite five fabulous hotels when it comes to interesting histories, followed by our top choices for family getaways.
For all the options see goodhotelguide.com.
Hedingham Castle
A STAY here is sure to make you feel very special for there is only one bedroom in this Norman castle keep in Essex – the former seat of the colourful de Veres, Earls of Oxford.
Queen Matilda died at the castle in 1152. King John besieged it. And Henry VII feasted in the banqueting hall, where you might dine if beer and a burger at the 680-year-old local Bell Inn aren’t more within your budget.
The Royal Chamber has a richly draped four-poster, a bath for two and a fridge in a wardrobe.
Bed and breakfast double costs from £495. See hedinghamcastle.co.uk.
Star Castle
BUILT in 1593 to ward off invading Armadas, the Elizabethan artillery castle in St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, is now a family-run hotel.
Novel accommodation includes three guardroom singles on the ramparts, and sea-view doubles with four-poster beds.
The stone walls of the Dungeon Bar once enclosed dangerous prisoners, but today it is buzzy and cosy.
A set menu in the dining room is big on local and home-grown produce.
Dogs, including old seadogs, are welcome.
Bed and breakfast doubles cost from £200, guard rooms from £120. See star-castle.co.uk.
Pale Hall
ON the edge of Snowdonia National Park, in Bala, Gwynedd, this neo-Jacobean Victorian pile hosted Queen Victoria for ten days in 1889.
The grand Victoria room has an antique half-tester bed and original bath and basin.
But it is the baronial-style Churchill Suite – named after the Prime Minister who visited in the 1950s – that steals the show, with its wood-panelled walls, stained-glass roof lights and four-poster.
A fine dining restaurant is named after the hall’s original owner, renowned railway engineer Henry Robertson.
Bed and breakfast doubles cost from £299. See palehall.co.uk.
Mingary Castle
A SCENIC drive leads you to this remote restaurant-with-rooms – a meticulously restored Georgian mansion wrapped around by a 13th-century fortress in Kilchoan, Highland.
The ancient stones have seen lots of action, with Viking occupation, clan feuds, sieges and piracy. James IV visited in 1493.
One of the four suites has a bathroom occupying a tiny former chapel in a formerly secret passageway.
Chef-patron Colin Nicholson cooks the daily tasting menu, with five courses at £55 or eight for £85.
From April-Dec, B&B doubles cost from £280. See mingarycastle.co.uk.
The Lygon Arms
THIS wonderfully atmospheric, stone coaching inn in Broadway, Worcs, hosted both Charles I and Oliver Cromwell in the Civil War.
The royal coat of arms adorns a fireplace in the Charles I Suite, while a copy of Old Ironsides’ “warts and all” portrait hangs where he slept the night before the Battle of Worcester.
Dine from James Martin’s menu in the double-height grill room with its vaulted ceiling.
Later famous guests include Edward VIII, Prince Philip, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton.
Bed and breakfast doubles cost from £245. See lygonarmshotel.co.uk.
Chewton Glen
THIS remains the UK’s ultimate country-house hotel and spa, effortlessly combining five-star luxury with a family-friendly ethos.
It was at the hotel, in New Milton, Hampshire, in 1840, that Captain Frederick Marryat wrote his classic Children Of The New Forest.
The New Forest, on the doorstep, is one big adventure playground to this day.
There’s a range of room options, while you can opt for formal or informal dining.
Activities such as archery and cookery classes are charged extra.
Bed and breakfast doubles cost from £435. See chewtonglen.com.
Moonfleet Manor
DATING in parts from 1620, this manor house above Chesil Beach in Fleet, Hampshire, featured in J Meade Falkner’s novel Moonfleet, a tale of smuggling, treasure and shipwreck.
Part of the Luxury Family Hotels group, this seaside spot is perfect for a break for all ages – with a nursery, the Four Bears Den, pools, climbing wall, escape rooms and crazy golf.
Rooms range from doubles, to sea-view suites. Simple lunches and a wider-ranging menu at night will suit all tastes, with child portions even at breakfast.
Doubles cost from £155. See luxuryfamilyhotels.co.uk.
Polurrian
THERE are stirring sea views through a wall of glass in the bar and café at this cliff-top hotel in Mullion, Cornwall.
Contemporary bedrooms range from doubles to family suites. Sea-facing garden rooms have direct outside access via patio doors.
All-day dining from Mediterranean-inspired menus includes wood-fired pizzas as well as more sophisticated dishes.
There is a health club with hot tubs, pools (indoors and out) and a gym. Activities include tennis and outdoor movies screenings.
Bed & breakfast doubles cost from £129. See polurrianhotel.com.
Augill Castle
THIS castle in Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria comes with towers and battlement in 15-acre grounds between the Lakes and the Yorkshire Dales. It is a personable hotel, with a relaxed ambience.
Bedrooms are individually designed, some with a four-poster bed, some interconnecting.
Dinner is served in the Music Room from Wednesday to Saturday from a short, inventive menu.
Bring toys and games and relax in the drawing room, but the outdoors always beckon, with plenty to explore.
Bed and breakfast doubles start at £200. See stayinacastle.com.
The Torridon
THE outdoor life appeals at this baronial-style former hunting lodge in beautiful landscape near Loch Torridon, in the Highlands.
House rooms blend contemporary and heritage styling. Stables rooms are cheaper and cosier, some for a family, with bunk beds, some on the ground floor that are ideal for dogs.
Spend your days kayaking, gorge scrambling, mountain biking and Munro-climbing.
Eat brasserie fare in Bo & Muc, or, from Wednesday to Sunday, dine in style with a tasting menu at 1887 restaurant.
Bed & breakfast doubles start at £190. See thetorridon.com.