Editor's Choice 2024 Romantic Hotels
Editor’s Choice Romantic Hotels
Monachyle Mhor
Lochearnhead
This remote restaurant-with-rooms is unexpectedly stylish, with the odd wacky touch, such options as a ferry cabin and yurts in the grounds, and sophisticated modern Scottish cooking.
From £97.50 per night
Fischer’s at Baslow Hall
Baslow
Leaded, stone-mullioned windows frame views of landscaped gardens and an arboretum at this Jacobean-style Peak District manor with fine-dining restaurant. House bedrooms are furnished with antiques. Vernon, with half-tester bed, is special: on a clear day you can see the Hunting Tower at Chatsworth.
Lewtrenchard Manor
Okehampton
Antiques, portraits, ornate architectural features and blazing fires enhance the atmosphere at this Jacobean manor house in parkland, remodelled by Victorian parson and prolific progenitor Sabine Baring-Gould. A room with a four-poster that once belonged to Charles I’s wife, Henrietta Maria, has views over a sunken garden and fountain.
The Old Railway Station
Petworth
Sleep in a mahogany-fitted converted Pullman car and dream of the golden age of rail travel at this B&B occupying one of England’s prettiest disused stations. A continental breakfast, cream teas and drinks are served in the old booking hall and on the platform, or can be delivered to your room.
Tresanton
St Mawes
Sail around Falmouth Bay aboard 1930s yacht Pinuccia when staying at Olga Polizzi’s casual-chic seaside hotel. Spread across a cluster of whitewashed buildings, it was once home to a yacht club. Every bedroom overlooks the water, but a suite with sea-view terrace and a log-burner has special appeal.
Gilpin Hotel and Lake House
Windermere
Spoiling spa suites at this luxury hotel have a glass-walled bedroom projecting over a pond, a huge circular stone bath and double shower, an ensuite spa and an outdoor hot tub. Choose Michelin-starred fine dining in Source or opt for the relaxed ambience and pan-Asian fare in Gilpin Spice.
Hazlitt’s
London
There is a fantasy element about this time-warp hotel on a Georgian terrace, once home to essayist William Hazlitt, in the heart of Soho. The panelled Duke of Monmouth suite comes with an antique half-tester bed, a sitting room with working fireplace, a garden with sliding roof, a vast marble bath for two.
Penally Abbey
Tenby
Explore the ruins of a 12th-century chapel in the wooded grounds of this whimsical Georgian Gothic house with views across Carmarthen Bay. Bedrooms have hand-picked French antiques; dual-aspect room 5 has sea views from the bed. After a boat trip to Caldey Island, dine in the candlelit restaurant.
The Pig at Bridge Place
Canterbury
Choose between a room with a carved four-poster at this Jacobean mansion or a hop picker’s hut in a water meadow, with log-burner, monsoon shower and in-room bath. The bar serves garden-to-glass cocktails; wood-fired flatbreads are on offer in the kitchen garden and more substantial food is served inside.
Hedingham Castle
Nothing says ‘fairy-tale romance’ like staying in the only bedroom in a Norman castle keep. Dine a deux in the banqueting hall before climbing the spiral staircase to reach the room with a bath big enough for two, a bottle of bubbles and a richly draped four-poster bed.
Editor's Choice 2023 Romantic Hotels
Editor’s Choice Romantic Hotels
Tudor Farmhouse - 'Autumn Leaves Package' Special Offer
Clearwell
The Wye Valley and the ancient Forest of Dean provide a charmed setting for this boutique hotel in a converted farmhouse, a barn and a cider house. The best rooms have a roll-top bath and monsoon shower. Dawn-chorus walks, night-sky safaris and glimpses of wild boar and roe deer add to the enchantment.
Prestonfield
Edinburgh
With theatrical interiors and gardens overlooked by Arthur’s Seat, this luxury hotel invites pure indulgence. One suite has its own private turret staircase, dedicated porter and concierge. Dine in the atmospheric restaurant, or à deux in the private room, summoning your waiter with the ring of a bell.
Boskerris Hotel
St Ives
It’s the seaside with style at this adults-only 1930s hotel, with its dreamy coastal palette, away from the buzz of downtown St Ives. Take a cream tea on the terrace, gazing across St Ives Bay to Godrevy lighthouse. A ‘Celebration’ room has a sunken bath for two, and you can order breakfast in bed.
Lime Wood
Lyndhurst
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, around this New Forest country house with a seductive spa. Bolt-holes for lovers include forest hideaway suites, secluded pavilions, and a lake cabin with triple-aspect windows, balconies on three sides and an outdoor freestanding tub. Add Italian-inspired cooking, and that’s amore.
Belle Tout Lighthouse
Eastbourne
You feel as if you’re at the edge of the world in this cliff-top eyrie amid the rolling South Downs, with the English Channel below, and views to the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs. Share a picnic supper in the cosy lounge, then ascend to the lantern to marvel at the star-spangled sky.
The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa
Bath
A cream tea with fizz in the one-acre gardens or the Dower House restaurant sets the mood at this elegant hotel at the centre of a glorious sweep of honeyed stone Georgian townhouses. Master suites have fine artworks and antiques; England’s most romantic city awaits.
Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons
Great Milton
Borders of lavender line the path to Raymond Blanc’s 15th-century manor house. Every bedroom is special. The sexy Opium suite has wood panelling, an original Ming stone carving and a private garden with water feature. You can stroll through the gardens with ponds and water features before a dinner you’ll never forget.
The Cookie Jar
Alnwick
Get thee to a nunnery! Debbie Cook has created a heavenly boutique hotel in a former convent on the doorstep of mighty Alnwick Castle, close to the unspoilt Northumberland coast. Book the Chapel Suite, with a copper bath under a stained-glass window, and dine alfresco on the terrace by the firepit.
The Coach & Horses
A pumpkin motif at this village gastropub is a nod to Cinderella, promising a fairy-tale stay. The very special Rose bedroom has an open fire, a chandelier, an in-room copper bath and a waterfall shower. Take a stroll in the Ribble valley before dining by candlelight. Have a ball!
Editor's Choice 2022 Romantic Hotels
Editor’s Choice Romantic Hotels
Cary Arms & Spa - 'Gastro Getaway' Special Offer
Babbacombe
New England chic meets seaside inn at the Cary Arms, where you can stay in a stylish beach hut with sea views from the glass doors and the porthole on the mezzanine. Feast on seafood in the restaurant, then sip sloe gin in the rooms.
Monachyle Mhor
Lochearnhead
If your idea of romance is less four-posters and velvet, more modern design in a remote setting, this is the place for you. Stylish rooms include a pod in the trees, a cool cabin and a wagon, and there are wild walks from the door.
From £97.50 per night
Fischer’s at Baslow Hall
Baslow
There are just 11 bedrooms at this Edwardian manor with period furnishings, fine food and beautiful grounds. It’s a short stroll to Chatsworth House, aka Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice, should you wish to channel your inner Jane Austen.
The Old Railway Station
Petworth
What could be more romantic than returning to the golden age of steam travel and staying in a Pullman carriage with mahogany fittings and colonial-style furniture? Sip champagne under a parasol on the platform for a first-class break.
Star Castle
St Mary's
With an idyllic location on the Isles of Scilly, this Elizabethan castle within star-shaped fortress walls is pretty special. Castle rooms have beams and half-testers, and you can take tea on the ramparts or sip gin in the Dungeon bar.
Hazlitt’s
London
It’s lavishly luxurious in this Soho retreat, with four-posters and silk curtains, baroque mirrors and antiques. There’s even a suite where the bed is adorned with gilded cherubs and another with a private garden beneath a sliding roof.
The Middleton Lodge Estate
Richmond
Some of the rooms in cottages, former stables and outbuildings here come with outdoor hot tubs but all are rustic chic boltholes, perfect for snuggling up in after exploring the 200-acre estate with its appealing double-height restaurant.
Thornbury Castle
THORNBURY
Even if you don’t bag the top suite with its ten-foot blue and gold bed at the top of the turret you can’t help feeling the romance of this Tudor castle, complete with arrow slits, crenellated walls, and four-posters.
Penally Abbey
Tenby
Floor-to-ceiling cusped windows frame views over Carmarthen Bay at this ‘Strawberry Hill Gothic’ house with rooms in soft pastels and an incredibly stylish restaurant. Expect toile de Jouy wallpaper, parquet floors and a ruined chapel in the gardens.
The Dial House
Norwich
Choose between rooms resembling a Venetian palazzo, the mysterious east or a Parisian garret with slipper bath at the foot of the bed (oh là là). They all have record players, and a revolving bookcase reveals a secret dining room.
Editor's Choice 2021 Romantic Hotels
Editor’s Choice Romantic Hotels
The Three Chimneys and The House Over-By
Dunvegan
This crofter’s cottage on a ruggedly beautiful spot by Loch Dunvegan is a highly regarded restaurant-with-rooms, now in the capable hands of luxury hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray. Next door are sea-view rooms with rain showers and gardens.
Langar Hall
Langar
Head off to a place loved by the queen of romance herself, Barbara Cartland. Many rooms feature fully draped four-posters, delicate flower prints and antique furniture. Or you can book the chalet overlooking the croquet lawn.
Jeake’s House
Rye
Ideal for lovers on a budget, this creaky 17th-century house in a cobbled street has cosy, individually styled rooms with beams, four-posters, toile de Jouy
wallpapers, a rather theatrical bar and an open fire in the parlour.
Strattons
Swaffham
You won’t have to remortgage to enjoy a romantic weekend at this 19th-century villa filled with art, antiques and eccentricities. The Red Room suite has a Jacobean four- poster, scarlet velvet everywhere, an open fire and courtyard garden.
Portobello Hotel
London
Follow in the footsteps of celebrity couples who have stayed at this citadel of Notting Hill bohemia. It’s as decadent as ever, with flamboyant canopied beds, exotic fabrics and an honesty bar whenever a toast to everlasting love calls.
Prestonfield
Edinburgh
The opulent Owner’s Suite is entered via a turret stairway, and has a four-poster draped in crimson damask and a book- lined bathroom with a chariot bath big enough for two. The candlit restaurant will put you in the mood for a proposal.
Barnsley House
Cirencester
A dreamy country garden designed by Rosemary Verey, chic contemporary rooms, including a Secret Garden Suite with hot tub, four-poster and complimentary champagne, all add up to a blissful Cotswolds retreat.
Gregans Castle Hotel
Ballyvaughan
This manor house in the wild karst landscapes of the Burren, on Ireland’s west coast, has quiet rooms (no TV) overlooking the bay or mountains; some have private gardens. Candles are lit as dusk falls, and the restaurant serves gourmet food.
Lime Wood
Lyndhurst
Snuggle up in perfect privacy for the weekend in a pretty Pavilion room at this chic New Forest getaway. With a vast bed, open fire, lounge, terrace, fully stocked pantry, and roll-top bath in a bay window, there’ll be no reason to leave.
Lympstone Manor
Exmouth
Sumptuously decorated five-star rooms, panoramic views of the Exe estuary, sleek marble bathrooms with roll-top baths, and Michael Caines’s Michelin-starred food can’t fail to inspire an amorous mood at this Relais & Châteaux hotel.
Editor's Choice 2020 Romantic Hotels
Editor’s Choice Romantic Hotels
La Sablonnerie
Little Sark
Arrive by horse-drawn carriage at this 16th-century stone farmhouse on a car-free island ablaze with gorse in summer. Sleep in a rustic cottage bedroom. Take a dip in the pools of Venus and Adonis. Dine in a rose-filled garden.
Langar Hall
Langar
With poetry on the walls and a canopy four-poster, Bohemia room is the honeymooners’ choice at this Georgian mansion in the Vale of Belvoir. Others prefer Cartland room, beloved of the doyenne of romantic fiction, the late Dame Barbara.
Lewtrenchard Manor
Okehampton
‘The herbaceous borders full of flowers, a granite fountain always playing. imagine it on a sunlit evening.’ Victorian genius Sabine Baring-Gould extols his own creation, this glorious Jacobean-style manor replete with ornate plasterwork and antiques.
Hazlitt’s
London
You can repose on a bed adorned with gilded cherubs and steep in a vintage roll-top bath at this sumptuous boutique hotel in raffish Soho, adorned with silks and velvets, portraits and porcelains, the last home of 18th-century essayist William Hazlitt.
Augill Castle
Kirkby Stephen
This Victorian fantasy castle in the Eden valley, with views of fells and dales, enchants all who stay. Most bedrooms have a four-poster, some a real fire. The
Gatehouse suite occupies one of two towers, with private garden.
Glenapp Castle
Ballantrae
A fountain sparkles on the forecourt of this turreted, Scottish baronial-style castle, reached by a wooded drive. Bedrooms have sea or garden views, The Penthouse offers a sauna and roof terrace. Dine as the sun sets over Ailsa Craig and the Mull of Kintyre.
Castle Leslie Estate
Glaslough
Rooms come with tales of wartime espionage, whirlwind romance and royal visits, at Samantha Leslie’s ancestral lakeside pile. Book flamboyant Aggie’s room with four-poster, a roll-top bath in a curtained alcove. Have a lie-in: breakfast ends at 11 am.
No.15 by GuestHouse
Bath
The Hideout Suite at this glamorous boutique hotel has everything for a sybaritic weekend, with statement art and lighting, a sitting room with a real-flame gas fire, a Sonos music system, hot tub and steam-room shower.
The Pig at Bridge Place
Canterbury
The latest in the Pig family occupies a fabulous Jacobean manor and former music venue that hosted the likes of Led Zeppelin. Climb a stairway to the heaven of a four-poster room, or sleep in a hop pickers’ hut, on stilts, by the river.
Editor's Choice 2019 Romantic Hotels
Editor’s Choice Romantic Hotels
Hartwell House - Three Nights for the Price of Two Special Offer
Aylesbury
Louis XVIII paid £500 a year to house his court in exile at this sublime mansion in an Arcadian landscape. For a little less you can spend two nights in a Royal Four- Poster room filled with paintings and antiques.
From £200 per night
Pen-y-Dyffryn - 20% Discount Special Offer
Oswestry
Long walks in tranquil countryside, tea by a blazing log fire, a bedroom with a double spa bath or private stone-walled patio… This small hotel close to the Welsh border offers a perfect getaway à deux.
Drakes
Brighton
For Jane Austen Brighton was a ‘scene of dissipation and vice’. So much the better for an amorous weekend! Sybarites choose a room with a freestanding bath in the floor-to-ceiling window, at this Regency hotel with sea-facing cocktail bar.
Strattons
Swaffham
Theatrical bedrooms set the scene for seduction at this Palladian-villa. There’s the opulent Red Room, with Jacobean four-poster bed; Opium with free-standing bath; exotic Fantouche and Venetian murals in Seagull and Boudoir.
Portobello Hotel
London
In raffish Notting Hill of rom-com fame, this wacky boutique hotel offers everything for couples, from ‘cosy doubles’ with exotic murals to ‘signature rooms’, one with circular bed, another with a
four-poster from Hampton Court Palace.
Prestonfield
Edinburgh
Lady Anne Dick, former chatelaine of this 16th-century mansion, scandalised polite Edinburgh society with her ‘coarse’ verses and cross-dressing, and there is still something deliciously louche about all
the swags and velvets and sumptuousness here.
Glenapp Castle
Ballantrae
Sea-facing rooms at this Victorian fantasy castle in landscaped grounds, gaze across the Firth of Clyde to Ailsa Craig. Some have a half-tester bed. Order a cocktail in teapot in the restored tea rooms in the walled garden.
Lime Wood
Lyndhurst
A mansion in the New Forest, a stellar clientele, sublime Italian food – could you get more romantic? Apparently, yes. Lime Wood now has ‘the UK’s sexiest bedroom’, a cabin cantilevered over a small lake with a private island and alfresco bath and wood-burning stove.
Castle Leslie Estate
Glaslough
A 1,000-acre estate with lakes and woodland surrounds this Victorian pile. It is filled with paintings, antiques – a grand piano, a della Robbia fireplace. Every bedroom has its own story. Eagle’s Nest has a balcony with lake views.
Editors Choice 2018 Romantic Hotels
Editor’s Choice Romantic Hotels
Knockinaam Lodge - Romantic Two Night Special Offer
Portpatrick
Where the road ends and the Irish Sea begins, this former Victorian hunting lodge with a private cove is secluded, unapologetically traditional and rich in comforts and good food.
Pen-y-Dyffryn - 20% Discount Special Offer
Oswestry
‘A hidden gem on the Welsh border’, the Hunter family’s ‘highly dog-friendly’ hotel, in a Georgian former rectory, can again bask in the praise from our readers,
Burgh Island Hotel
Bigbury-on-Sea
Pack your Schiaparelli gowns, beach pants and playsuits, and board the 'sea tractor' for a trip back to the 1930s at this Art Deco hotel on a tidal island where the beau monde came to play.
Driftwood Hotel
Porthscatho
‘This hotel is all about position – on the cliffs above the beach and beautiful gardens,’ a reader writes.
Gregans Castle Hotel
Ballyvaughan
It may not be a castle but this rambling 18th-century manor house, wrapped in gardens and with views over the otherworldly karst landscape of the Burren, has its own romantic charm.
Old Whyly
East Hoathly
It is more than thirty years since Sarah Burgoyne first welcomed guests to her Georgian manor house, ‘in enchanting gardens and grounds’, where ‘deer roam at dawn and birdsong is guaranteed’.
Editors Choice 2017 Romantic Hotels
Editor’s Choice Romantic Hotels
Cliveden House - Three Nights for the Price of Two Midweek Special Offer
Taplow
Redolent of its sometimes racy past, this veritable palazzo, designed by Sir Charles Barry in 1850 for the Duke of Sutherland, sits in National Trust pleasure grounds above the Thames.
Burgh Island Hotel
Bigbury-on-Sea
Pack your Schiaparelli gowns, beach pants and playsuits, and board the 'sea tractor' for a trip back to the 1930s at this Art Deco hotel on a tidal island where the beau monde came to play.
Langar Hall
Langar
Everything is peachy at this apricot-hued Georgian country house in the Vale of Belvoir, at the end of a long avenue of lime trees, transformed from a family home into a delightful, idiosyncratic and much-loved hotel.
The Old Railway Station
Petworth
One of Britain’s prettiest disused stations is today an excellent B&B, with bedrooms in the station building and restored Pullman coaches, cream teas served in the waiting room or on the platform, while breakfast is truly first class.
Portobello Hotel
London
Beyond the Doric portico of a white stucco neo-classical mansion, this boutique hotel captures the eclectic charms of glamorous and bohemian Notting Hill.
Ballyvolane House
Fermoy
With breakfast served until noon, afternoon tea by the drawing room fire, shooting, fishing and communal dining, a house-party atmosphere prevails at this Georgian country house.
Newforge House
Magheralin
There is a happy sense of continuity at this classic Georgian country house, where sixth-generation owners Louise and John Mathers have been welcoming guests since 2005.
The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa
Bath
At the centre of a glorious Georgian crescent, two adjoining mansions are home to an elegant yet family-friendly hotel with oasis garden and beautiful spa.
Editors Choice 2016 Romantic Hotels
Editor’s Choice Romantic Hotels
La Sablonnerie
Little Sark
La Sablonnerie is currently closed. Please contact the hotel to discuss future dates. A horse-drawn carriage conveys you over a dramatic, narrow isthmus 80 metres above the sea to this 17th-century farmhouse on a tiny island with no airstrip, no tarmac road, and no cars.
The Old Rectory
Boscastle
With romantic Thomas Hardy associations, this Victorian rectory is run today as a B&B with traditional bedrooms, original features, lovingly tended garden, and home-grown produce at breakfast.
Driftwood Hotel
Porthscatho
‘This hotel is all about position – on the cliffs above the beach and beautiful gardens,’ a reader writes.
Gilpin Hotel and Lake House
Windermere
With its indulgent bedrooms, Michelin-starred dining, attentive staff and guaranteed privacy, many look to Gilpin as the ultimate in Lakeland luxury.