The word ‘boutique’ often gets overused when it comes to hotels, but with a mix of opulence and fashionable design, contemporary gadgetry and history these boutique hotels are a joy to behold. There’s always something to catch your eye in these magic places, from the art to the bespoke furniture. Here are the Good Hotel Guide’s Editor’s Choice selections for best boutique hotels.
2018 Editor's Choice Boutique Hotels
Editor’s Choice Boutique Hotels
No. 1 Pery Square
Limerick
It’s hard to believe that this boutique hotel, in a Grade 1 listed town house, at the corner of one of Ireland’s most perfectly preserved Georgian terraces, was once a youth hostel.
The Queensberry
Bath
Near the city centre but surprisingly quiet, this stylishly quirky hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant occupies a quartet of Georgian town houses, each backed by a garden.
Prestonfield
Edinburgh
Wrapped in parkland, this gleaming white country house that is only ten minutes from the city centre takes luxury to hedonistic levels, with lavish decorations and indulgent service.
Drakes
Brighton
‘A really memorable experience without stuffiness or formality,’ write our trusted reviewers of this stylish boutique hotel on Brighton’s Marine Parade.
Number Thirty Eight Clifton
Bristol
Everything was shipshape and Bristol fashionable at Adam Dorrien-Smith’s ‘handsome, double-fronted’ Georgian merchant’s house turned boutique B&B when our inspector visited.
2 Blackburne Terrace – Liverpool
Liverpool
In the cultural district, this boutique B&B between the city’s two cathedrals is ideally located for the Liverpool Philharmonic and Everyman and Unity theatres.
Chapel House
Penzance
A Guide regular gives ‘five stars’ this year to this B&B in a serene Georgian town house overlooking Penzance harbour.
Brocco on the Park
Sheffield
Behind the facade of an Edwardian villa, Scandi chic prevails in this multi-award-winning hotel.
Bank House
King’s Lynn
In a ‘fine waterfront setting’, this ‘distinguished’ Georgian bank-turned-town hotel is a sought-after spot for locals, who gather in its popular bar and brasserie.
The Zetter Townhouse Clerkenwell
London
‘We’ve been raving about it to everyone!’ enthuses a recent guest of this zany boutique hotel on Clerkenwell’s St John’s Square.
2017 Editor's Choice Boutique Hotels
Editor’s Choice Boutique Hotels
The Queensberry
Bath
Near the city centre but surprisingly quiet, this stylishly quirky hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant occupies a quartet of Georgian town houses, each backed by a garden.
The Rookery
London
Powder your wig and imagine you’re arriving by sedan chair at this singular hotel, occupying a Georgian terrace and presented as a piece of living history.
Number Thirty Eight Clifton
Bristol
Everything was shipshape and Bristol fashionable at Adam Dorrien-Smith’s ‘handsome, double-fronted’ Georgian merchant’s house turned boutique B&B when our inspector visited.
Artist Residence Brighton
Brighton
Right-on Brighton rocks to a bohemian rhythm, encapsulated by Charlotte and Justin Salisbury’s mural-bedaubed hotel on a Regency square with view to the eerie remains of the West Pier.
Old Parsonage Hotel
Oxford
Built in the 1600s for a chop-house owner and chef, this gabled stone building has long opened its oak door to paying guests.
38 St Giles
Norwich
‘Well placed’ for city exploration, this luxury B&B, in a grand 18th-century house, is within walking distance of the Theatre Royale and the central marketplace.
Kings Head Hotel
Cirencester
A man walks into a bar – not the cue for a joke, but a Guide inspector, incognito, to check out this historic coaching inn which has a comedy club in the cellar.
Edgar House
Chester
On the Roman city walls, overlooking the River Dee, this handsome boutique hotel is ‘very well run’ by owners Michael Stephen and Tim Mills.
The Zetter Townhouse Marylebone
London
Mark Sainsbury and Michael Benyan’s second Zetter town house hotel is every bit as eccentric as the first, the design conceit here being that it was once the home of ‘wicked Uncle Seymour’ (the inspiration for Seymour being Edward Lear, former incumbent and real-life eccentric).
Sands Hotel
Margate
A short seafront stroll from the Turner Contemporary gallery, Nick Conington’s ‘smart’, modern hotel is a welcome part of Margate’s renaissance.
2016 Editor's Choice Boutique Hotels
Editor’s Choice Boutique Hotels
Hart’s Hotel
Nottingham
‘The best place to stay in Nottingham,’ is a Guide stalwart’s conclusion on Tim and Stefa Hart’s city hotel, in an award-winning noughties building on the castle ramparts.
Jesmond Dene House
Newcastle upon Tyne
You get the best of both worlds here: although it’s in the city suburbs just a ten-minute drive from the centre, Jesmond Dene House, named after the lush wooded valley it overlooks, ‘feels as if it’s in the country’.
The Levin
London
The show-stopper at this small hotel is Sharon Marston’s April Light, an 18-metre cascade of polished steel, polymer and glass fibre optics, which hangs in the central stairwell, scattering colours and light.
Old Bank Hotel
Oxford
Jeremy Mogford indulges his passion for art and literature at his luxury city-centre hotel, where the walls are hung with works from his collection, with a library for residents to browse.
The Zetter
London
Housed in a converted Victorian warehouse, this design-conscious boutique hotel is a perfect fit for east London’s creative hub.
The Grazing Goat
London
You can graze throughout the day at this dining-pub-with-rooms in an area of trendy independent shops dubbed Portman Village, two minutes from the homogenous stores of Oxford Street.
The Zetter Townhouse Clerkenwell
London
‘We’ve been raving about it to everyone!’ enthuses a recent guest of this zany boutique hotel on Clerkenwell’s St John’s Square.