These hotels offer a spectacular standard of service and facilities for families. Indoor swimming pools, all weather play areas, family rooms and spas, nature trails, babysitting services and beautiful views and locations all add to the family experience. Here are the Good Hotel Guide’s Editor’s Choice selections for best family hotels.
2020 Editor's Choice Family Hotels
Best family friendly hotels in UK
Woolley Grange - Autumn Break Special Offer
Bradford-on-Avon
One of the first country house hotels to welcome families, this mellow Wiltshire manor continues to delight all ages. Extensive grounds contain a grass maze and play garden with tractor; indoors, there’s a crèche, games room, pool and spa.
Chewton Glen - 4 Nights for the Price of 3 Special Offer
New Milton
Be warned: you’ll raise children’s expectations sky high by taking them to this super-luxury hotel. Will anything ever match sleeping in a Treehouse suite with hot tub, 35 feet above ground? Or fun and games in the new fairytale children’s club?
The White House - Murder Mystery Weekend Special Offer
Herm
There’s something of Kirrin Island about car-free Sark, where children can be let off the leash. The Famous Five would have had an awfully jolly holiday at this traditional country house in gardens with tennis, croquet and solar-heated pool.
The Nare - 'Coastal Walking' Special Offer
Veryan-in-Roseland
A great place for three-generation family holidays; adults are cosseted by immaculate service and comfort, while children are kept busy with lovely Carne beach, swimming pools, tennis and family painting sessions with a resident artist.
Trefeddian Hotel - Winter Breaks Special Offer
Aberdovey
Generations of families have enjoyed the view across Cardigan Bay from this popular hotel that’s just a five-minute dash from the beach. But first you have to tear yourself away from the games room, indoor pool, putting green and tennis court.
The Blakeney Hotel
Holt
Even north Norfolk’s glorious beaches have their drizzly days, and families will find happy refuge here in the games room (pool, table tennis, darts) and indoor pool. Children’s lunch and tea is served, as well as half portions from the adult menu.
The Colonsay
Colonsay
Children love the adventure of a ferry ride to an island. Here there are bikes to hire, dolphins and seals to spot and white-sand beaches – as well as the purest of air. Not to mention board games, a kid’s menu and a laid-back vibe.
Moonfleet Manor
Fleet
‘I’m bored’ is just not an option at this friendly hotel on the Dorset coast. A huge indoor games room, swimming pools for all ages, a skittle alley and fossil hunts are on tap; an Ofsted crèche, high tea and baby listening give parents a break.
Calcot & Spa
Tetbury
This converted Cotswold farmhouse has just the right level of sophistication to make it feel special, offset by an unstuffy atmosphere, a superb spa, crèches and children’s clubs for under- and over-eights and bikes for cycling round the grounds.
Roundwood House
Mountrath
Set in 18 acres near the unspoilt Slieve Bloom mountains, this is a wonderfully relaxed and relaxing family home. Cots, kid’s supper and child beds are offered, with babysitting on request – though it’s worth staying in for Paddy Flynn’s superb dinners.
2019 Editor's Choice Family Hotels
Best family friendly hotels in UK
Star Castle
St Mary’s
Now here is the real thing, an Elizabethan stone house within star-shaped fortress walls. Tim the boatman offers sea trips. You can swim in the indoor pool, play tennis, go horse riding, hire an electric Scilly Cart or take afternoon tea on the ramparts.
Bedruthan Hotel and Spa - Complimentary Lunch Special Offer
Mawgan Porth
Baby and Toddler and Toddler and Time Out breaks are available at this super- family-friendly, Scandi-style seaside hotel. Children’s menus and sophisticated dining, a happy, laid-back vibe and plenty of activities keep everyone entertained.
The Rose & Crown - Autumn Free Bottle of Wine Special Offer
Snettisham
From bangers and mash and knickerbocker glory, to a walled garden with climbing frame, early suppers, high chairs, cots, crayons and colouring books, children are more than merely tolerated at this fun 14th-century pub.
The Grove - Three for Two Special Offer
Narberth
A fairy trail beguiles little ones at this Georgian mansion in gardens and woodland. With boules, croquet, bike rides, an Iron Age settlement and sandy beaches, you’ll never hear ‘I’m bored!’ Family suites and early supper are available.
Ballyvolane House
Fermoy
The relaxed, welcoming atmosphere at this Georgian country house on a working farm makes everyone feel instantly at home. Young guests have woods to explore, a tree house to discover, animals to feed, new-laid eggs to collect.
Moonfleet Manor
Fleet
Family rooms, all-weather play facilities, beaches for fossil hunts, a crèche, babysitters, a baby pool, flexible meal options, treatment rooms and adult-only dining keep all generations in clover at this country manor house close to Chesil Beach.
Fowey Hall
Fowey
‘There’s Toad Hall…’ said the Rat, ‘…one of the nicest houses in these parts.’ Nice, indeed. And with so much laid on for kids at this manor house (said to have been Kenneth Graham’s model for Toad Hall), parents can truly relax.
Glenapp Castle
Ballantrae
Wellies of all sizes await outdoor types at this Scottish baronial castle on the Ayrshire coast. Take a boat trip with a picnic to see seabirds on Ailsa Craig, roam woodlands, go mountain biking, play tennis, quoits, giant pick-up-sticks.
Augill Castle
Kirkby Stephen
Children thrill to stay in this fantasy castle with its free-and-easy ethos. Books and games, a cinema, flexible meal times, tennis, a playground and ‘Little Cooks’ school add up to a recipe for a happy holiday.
Longueville Manor
St Saviour
It’s one long round of pleasure for kids at this Jersey manor-house hotel, with nature trails and treasure hunts, cookery classes and tennis lessons, beaches and pool. Babysitting and baby listening allow carefree evening dining.
2018 Editor's Choice Family Hotels
Best family friendly hotels in UK
Chewton Glen - 4 Nights for the Price of 3 Special Offer
New Milton
‘My four-year-old loves Chewton as much as I do, it’s always a struggle to leave.’ ‘We stayed to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, and it exceeded expectations.’
The White House - Murder Mystery Weekend Special Offer
Herm
The ferry from Guernsey brings guests to this tiny, car-free island; the one and only hotel sends a tractor for their bags.
Bedruthan Hotel and Spa - Complimentary Lunch Special Offer
Mawgan Porth
It is not that they’ve put away childish things at this contemporary hotel set into the hillside above Mawgan Porth beach. It remains very family-friendly, but there is plenty for adults.
Trefeddian Hotel - Winter Breaks Special Offer
Aberdovey
‘It was fabulous to gaze across the dunes and golf course to the sea, with the sunset,’ writes a reader who ‘much enjoyed’ this year's break at the Cave family’s hotel.
The Colonsay
Colonsay
You can take the ferry from Oban, or hop across on a twin-propeller plane, to discover Jane and Alex Howard’s 18th-century inn, bar and village hub, on a hillside overlooking the harbour.
Ballyvolane House
Fermoy
With a seven-a-side soccer pitch, glamping tents, Bertha’s Revenge Gin distilled in a converted cattle shed, and breakfast served until noon, this is no run-of-the-mill hotel.
Moonfleet Manor
Fleet
There is much to fire the young imagination at this 17th-century manor house above Chesil beach, the setting for John Meade Falkner’s 1898 tale of smuggling, Moonfleet.
Fowey Hall
Fowey
‘An eligible, self-contained gentleman’s residence, very unique. . . with every modern convenience. . .’ So Kenneth Graham describes Toad Hall, which he modelled on this Victorian mansion, a baroque extravaganza with sumptuous interiors, overlooking the Fowey estuary.
Augill Castle
Kirkby Stephen
'A very special place.’ ‘Utterly charming.’ 'It’s not the Ritz, but you will feel like a lord.’ Lavish and frequent praise in 2019 for Wendy and Simon Bennett’s Victorian fantasy castle in the Eden valley.
Calcot & Spa
Tetbury
Families have ‘a grand time’ at this 16th-century manor house with spa, in ‘lovely manicured grounds’.
2017 Editor's Choice Family Hotels
Best family friendly hotels in UK
Woolley Grange - Autumn Break Special Offer
Bradford-on-Avon
The first of Nigel Chapman’s Luxury Family Hotels (see also Fowey Hall, Fowey, and Moonfleet Manor, Fleet) occupies a ‘pretty, rambling’ Jacobean manor house in ‘lovely grounds’ with ‘views across the Wiltshire countryside’.
Porth Tocyn Hotel
Abersoch
There is a deceptive ‘wacky’ quality to the Fletcher-Brewers’ ‘lovely’ hotel overlooking Cardigan Bay, a casual vibe that belies the professionalism of the operation.
Bedruthan Hotel and Spa - Complimentary Lunch Special Offer
Mawgan Porth
It is not that they’ve put away childish things at this contemporary hotel set into the hillside above Mawgan Porth beach. It remains very family-friendly, but there is plenty for adults.
Trefeddian Hotel - Winter Breaks Special Offer
Aberdovey
‘It was fabulous to gaze across the dunes and golf course to the sea, with the sunset,’ writes a reader who ‘much enjoyed’ this year's break at the Cave family’s hotel.
The Colonsay
Colonsay
You can take the ferry from Oban, or hop across on a twin-propeller plane, to discover Jane and Alex Howard’s 18th-century inn, bar and village hub, on a hillside overlooking the harbour.
Tresanton
St Mawes
‘Expensive certainly, but it’s worth paying for quality.’
Moonfleet Manor
Fleet
There is much to fire the young imagination at this 17th-century manor house above Chesil beach, the setting for John Meade Falkner’s 1898 tale of smuggling, Moonfleet.
Fowey Hall
Fowey
‘An eligible, self-contained gentleman’s residence, very unique. . . with every modern convenience. . .’ So Kenneth Graham describes Toad Hall, which he modelled on this Victorian mansion, a baroque extravaganza with sumptuous interiors, overlooking the Fowey estuary.
Augill Castle
Kirkby Stephen
'A very special place.’ ‘Utterly charming.’ 'It’s not the Ritz, but you will feel like a lord.’ Lavish and frequent praise in 2019 for Wendy and Simon Bennett’s Victorian fantasy castle in the Eden valley.
Longueville Manor
St Saviour
Behind a 16th-century stone facade festooned with wisteria in springtime, this manor house hotel (Relais & Châteaux) in its own wooded valley abounds in modern five-star comfort.
2016 Editor's Choice Family Hotels
Best family friendly hotels in UK
Congham Hall - Sunday Special Offer
King’s Lynn
Close to Sandringham, a Georgian country house set amid lawns, orchards and woodland.
Calcot & Spa
Tetbury
Families have ‘a grand time’ at this 16th-century manor house with spa, in ‘lovely manicured grounds’.
The Evesham Hotel
EVESHAM
A self-confessed ‘quirky’ establishment, this family-friendly hotel has been run by John and Sue Jenkinson for 40 years. They have appointed David Field as manager, and stepped back ‘to concentrate on the bits we really enjoy’.
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