England Hotels

In past lives, this limestone-clad, neo-Jacobean mansion served as a police academy and maternity ward. English-country-house obsessives, rejoice: In 2021, after a total reimagining by Ennismore, the brand collective responsible for Hoxton Shoreditch and Gleneagles, Estelle Manor opened as a five-star hotel and members club. While some parts of the property are members-only, non-members won’t feel a shortage of space. Guests enjoy the bright brasserie, weekend dim sum in the billiards room, an arboretum, a living room bar, and 60 acres of open land, stables, and padel courts. Classical Roman tepidariums inspired the spa, which features five thermal pools and treatments that draw on ancient healing traditions. The property is technically family-friendly, and there are activities suitable for all ages, but it should be noted that some bedrooms are off-limits for kids under 13.

Sister property to South Africa’s Babylonstoren, the Newt in Somerset is a country hotel on an 800-acre cider-making estate. The gorgeous limestone main house—the Hadspen—was originally built in the seventeenth century and remodeled for Georgian sensibilities in the next. Half a mile away in the Farmyard house, accommodations are a little more rustic, but still luxurious and considered. There’s a private cabin, too, built into the stone wall that surrounds the property. The restaurant menu features Babylonstoren wine and whatever is fresh picked from the garden, and the spa offers yoga, sound baths, a hammam, and a very cool indoor-outdoor pool.

Thirty-five minutes from London, Boys Hall is a restored 17th-century manor with seven charming bedrooms, each unique (three more are in the works). The property is in town but feels farther afield; the grounds are quiet and large enough to feel private. By day, sit out on the terrace with a book and a bottle from the hotel’s extensive wine collection—or book a winery excursion nearby (Chapel Down, Woodchurch, and Chartham are all good). At night, guests can settle into the dining room for slow-roasted vegetables and locally farmed meat and fish by a roaring fireplace.

The Hoxton Southwark, just south of the river, is newer and buzzy enough to satisfy the trendiest of travelers. It goes heavy on smart design. Millennial-leaning amenities—like custom cool-spot maps, kombucha on tap, and complimentary breakfast in a bag on your doorknob—are the norm. Best of all, it means there’s an affordable-ish hotel within easy reach of the Tate and Borough Market with a bar that booms every night and a lobby that welcomes laptops all day.

Over forty years ago, in the bucolic expanse of England’s Cotswolds, Daylesford became one of the first high-profile adopters of organic, sustainable farming practices. The name has become synonymous with a distinct kind of English eco-chic (to see why, just take a look at the beautifully designed shop, which sells seasonal produce, baked goods, and kitchen supplies), and visitors come here for the quintessential British countryside experience. The Wild Rabbit, a pub that owner Carole Bamford opened just down the road in 2013, incorporates the same philosophy and aesthetic. This isn’t a typical English pub—this one was awarded a Michelin star in 2016 and serves wellness-friendly options, like a heritage carrot entrée with spelt and Swiss chard from the garden, and several fish dishes accompanied by foraged mushrooms and all manner of organic veggies. It also puts on one of the best Sunday roasts outside of London—or in London, for that matter. This one uses grass-fed local cows for the roast beef and dairy products. Each of the fifteen guest rooms is named after a local critter that roams the surrounding woods (the Hedgehog, the Badger, the Fox, etc.)…

Staying at Lucknam Park is a lot like staying at Downton Abbey. The forty-two guest rooms are Georgian marvels, some with frilly canopy beds, all with chintzy wallpaper, silk lampshades, and antique mahogany writing desks—for all the letters you might actually write in a place like this. Evenings kick off with dressy drinks in the library. That’s followed by a formal feast—Scotch salmon bathed in butter, Wiltshire beef, that sort of thing—at Michelin-starred restaurant Hywel Jones. Lucknam Park’s inviting, relaxed atmosphere is luxurious but never stuffy. Between afternoon canters around the estate on one of Lucknam’s horses (there are also well-trained ponies for smaller riders), outdoor soaks in the saltwater pool, and patisserie classes at the superb cooking school, there’s little incentive to leave the estate. And it’s 500 acres, so why would you? But if you do, head to Castle Combe. The village has barely changed since the 1600s.

History buffs—and everyone else—tend to swoon over the storied Lygon Arms, which has been operating as an inn since the fourteenth century (the current building dates to the early seventeenth century) and has a guest book that includes Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Taylor. Architecturally, the sprawling, wood-beams-and-vaulted-ceilings property doesn’t stray far from its Jacobean foundations. Rooms can be small, so we suggest going for the more-private cottage deluxe option. The ground floor is a maze of snug corners, stuffed sofas, leather armchairs, and antique memorabilia. The bar serves a gin and tonic that is beyond reproach, and the full English breakfast at the elegant Lygon Bar & Grill is worth the journey.

Thyme—a newish Cotswolds destination in tiny Southrop—wraps everything you could want into one tidy, Georgian bundle. Guest rooms are palatial, some with four-poster beds, others with vintage wallpaper and clawfoot tubs. The entire property is an ode to good, old-fashioned Englishness, where champagne is poured into proper crystal coupes, organic gardens are meticulously landscaped, medieval barns come cloaked in ivy, and afternoon scones are heaped with jam and clotted cream. Eat as many of Ballymaloe alum (and local son) Charlie Hibbert’s meals as possible in the Ox Barn. And book a few master classes at Thyme’s superb cooking school to take a taste of the Gloucestershire countryside home with you. For a change of scenery, a few steps through the gate and across the street is the Swan, Southrop’s charming pub: a roaring fire, a robust wine list, convivial locals, the works.

Knightsbridge is not short on formal hotels that could be mistaken for mausoleums. Walking down toward Chelsea several weeks back, we noticed a flurry of activity on the moneyed Queen Anne–style intersection of Pont and Sloane Street and stopped to take a peek. The Belmond Cadogan was closed for a four-year renovation, and each one of those 1,460 days was entirely worth it. Basement to rooftop, every polished corner is considered. From a literary perspective, the property is iconic—Oscar Wilde was arrested here—and each guest room contains its own mini library curated by John Sandoe books just down the street. If you’re going to splurge on a suite, do it here. The Penthouse Suite sits at the tip-top of the property, which means that aside from being the most gorgeously outfitted room we’ve seen recently—fireplaces, custom artworks, a bathroom the size of most bungalows—its outdoor terrace has a view of London most people never get to see. Locals have already adopted the bar as their own, which lends a convivial buzz to the place. But the best entertainment is the hotel itself—just walk around and take in the myriad…

The Kimpton Fitzroy took us completely by surprise. Rushing up the steps off busy, buzzy Russell Square, we stepped into the cavernous, mosaic-floored, marble lobby and gasped: The hotel is breathtaking. Taking up an entire city block, the heritage building with its turrets and flourishes contains more than three hundred guest rooms—but you would never know. The sloping corridors, palatial public spaces filled with antique furniture, specially commissioned artworks, and warm tones feel intimate and welcoming rather than austere. A basement gym, several dining spaces—peach-hued Neptune might be the prettiest dining room in London—and the softest beds we’ve slept in for a while have turned the Kimpton Fitzroy into a dreamy pied-à-terre when we’re in town.