From historic country house hotels with gardens dating back from the 1700, to those with more modern design and cliff top views, these hotels have beautiful gardens brimming with bluebells, springing with snowdrops, bursting with rivers, lakes and beautiful views to wake up to. Here is our Editor’s Choice for best hotels with gardens.
2020 Editor's Choice Hotels with Gardens
Best hotels with gardens in the UK
Lindeth Fell - Winter Discount Special Offer
Bowness-on-Windermere
Gardens laid out by unsung Edwardian genius Thomas Mawson surround this B&B overlooking Lake Windermere. Here are Mawson’s trademark terraces, lawns, dry-stone walls, glorious plantings, a private tarn in grounds that melt into the landscape.
The Grove - Three for Two Special Offer
Narberth
Walking trails thread through 28-acre grounds at this 17th-century-cum- Victorian mansion. Explore four acres of kitchen and walled gardens, terraces, a pond, a stream, an apple orchard and fruit garden, beehives, ancient oaks, mighty beeches.
Gravetye Manor
East Grinstead
‘In setting a garden, we are painting,’ wrote William Robinson, who owned this Elizabethan manor from 1884. Disdaining Victorian formality, Robinson favoured
a natural style. Discover a wild garden, flower garden, orchard, lake and meadow in 1,000 wooded acres.
a natural style. Discover a wild garden, flower garden, orchard, lake and meadow in 1,000 wooded acres.
Fischer’s at Baslow Hall
Baslow
Five acres of gardens surround this Jacobean-style mansion, with clipped box and yews, cottage garden borders, an arboretum, a kitchen garden. Guests, free to wander, find hidden paths, a pond, a ‘secret’ bridge, specimen trees.
Greywalls
Gullane
An Arts and Crafts ‘golf box’ designed by Edwin Lutyens stands in gardens attributed to Gertrude Jekyll, with arched gateways in high walls framing views, a sunken croquet lawn, a lavender border, a ha-ha beside Muirfield golf course.
Viewmount House
Longford
Four landscaped acres surround this 17th- century mansion. Guests will discover a Japanese garden with pagoda and wisteria pergola, a blue garden, a white garden with lily pond, an orchard – and a herb garden to supply the kitchen.
Goldstone Hall
Market Drayton
Come to this Georgian manor house in summer to see the roses. Come at any time to enjoy produce from one of the UK’s largest hotel vegetable gardens, with herb walkway (more than 200 varieties), heritage vegetables and double-tiered herbaceous border.
The Pig near Bath
Pensford
A kitchen garden lies at the heart of every Pig, and this Georgian manor with deer park has the largest, with smokehouse, glasshouse, wild-flower orchard, fruit cages and hives. Enjoy home-grown produce
in the Conservatory, spa treatments in a ‘potting shed’.
in the Conservatory, spa treatments in a ‘potting shed’.
Boath House
Nairn
You can eat alfresco at the café in the walled garden of this Georgian mansion in parkland. Hens, hives, orchard, potager, glass houses and herb parterres supply the kitchen. Herbaceous borders supply flowers, the lake is stocked with trout.
The Salutation
Sandwich
‘Lutyens’s most intricate Wrenaissance house and garden ensemble’, this red brick mansion overlooks 3.7 acres of walled gardens for all seasons, a plant-lover’s paradise painstakingly restored and home to a summer opera festival.
From £90 per night
2019 Editor's Choice Hotels with Gardens
Best hotels with gardens in the UK
Hambleton Hall - Autumn and Winter Breaks in Rutland
Oakham
The owners of this former hunting lodge have created a glorious patchwork on 17 south-facing acres, with a parterre, ornamental ponds, mature trees, statues and topiary, bordering Rutland Water. Lovely in all seasons.
Bodysgallen Hall and Spa - 'The Great Half-Price Break' Special Offer
Llandudno
Guests can wander more than 200 acres of parkland, pleasure grounds and gardens at this Jacobean manor house. Garden tours take in a rare 17th-century box parterre. There are woodland walks, a lily pond, a cascade, specimen trees, a prolific walled kitchen garden.
Cliveden House - Three for Two Short Break
Taplow
Sir Charles Barry’s Italianate mansion overlooking the Thames stands amid pleasure grounds, with a yew maze, rose garden, a Japanese water garden, a parterre laid out by John Fleming, pioneer of ‘carpet bedding’ – and Britain’s most notorious swimming pool.
Congham Hall - Sunday Special Offer
King's Lynn
With more than 400 varieties of herbs, the herb garden at this Georgian country house is a great attraction for students
of all things culinary and physic, while supplying kitchen and spa. Best experienced with the heady aromas found at dawn or dusk.
of all things culinary and physic, while supplying kitchen and spa. Best experienced with the heady aromas found at dawn or dusk.
Goldstone Hall
Market Drayton
One of the UK’s largest hotel kitchen gardens, reclaimed from wilderness, supplies the kitchen with a wealth of produce at this Georgian manor house. There is a herb walkway, a walled garden with double-tiered herbaceous border, a riot of colour all summer long.
Hotel Endsleigh
Tavistock
Olga Polizzi’s ducal fishing lodge stands in an 18th-century arcadia laid out by Humphry Repton, with the River Tamar running through. Discover streams, pools, cascades, ravines, a shell house and grotto, and one of England’s longest herbaceous borders.
Longueville Manor
St Saviour
From 1863, the Rev Christian (aka WB) Bateman landscaped the grounds around this ancient manor house, with lake, specimen trees, kitchen garden. They remain much as he designed them – though with the addition of a pool, jogging trails and spa.
Hilton Park
Clones
Oaks grown from acorns planted in 1752 to commemorate an ancestor’s marriage, champion beeches, a kitchen garden and a rose garden created by Victorian landscaper Ninian Niven, can all be found in the park and pleasure grounds of this very special stately home.
Boath House
Nairn
An ornamental trout lake, wildflower meadow, streams and formal plantings surround this Georgian mansion. The walled garden supplies organic fruit and vegetables for the table; bees and hens do their bit for breakfast.
The Salutation
Sandwich
The ‘Secret Garden’, laid out by Lutyens, architect of this Queen Anne-style house, is revealed to the paying public and hotel residents. Designed as a series of ‘rooms’, the walled garden includes a poplar, holm oak and meadow walk, wet meadow, tropical and jungle garden.
From £90 per night
2018 Editor's Choice Hotels with Gardens
Best hotels with gardens in the UK
Lindeth Fell - Winter Discount Special Offer
Bowness-on-Windermere
‘The Kennedys certainly know how to welcome their guests and to make every minute special,’ report visitors staying for lunch this year.
Bodysgallen Hall and Spa - 'The Great Half-Price Break' Special Offer
Llandudno
‘A highlight of our journey. It was everything one could expect, in a historic setting.’ A reader on a hotel tour this year was impressed by this Grade I listed Elizabethan mansion-turned-hotel-and-spa in parkland with views of Snowdonia and Conwy Castle.
Lords of the Manor - Spring Relax and Dine Retreat Special Offer
Upper Slaughter
A golden stone Carolean manor house-turned-rectory in an ‘idyllic setting’ is run as a ‘welcoming, comfortable and relaxing’ hotel, under highly experienced manager Dorian Charlton.
Askham Hall - Midweek Special Offer
Penrith
‘The warm welcome, beautiful setting and delicious food’ are ‘truly exceptional’ at Charles Lowther’s battlemented ancestral pile.
Hotel Endsleigh
Tavistock
Et in Arcadia we go – to Olga Polizzi’s Regency cottage-orné, in gardens and pleasure grounds with woodland walks and waterfalls, arboretum, fount and follies.
Millgate House
Richmond
A trove of arts décoratifs is ‘trustingly displayed’ in this Georgian house, ‘in a good situation off the market square'.
Douneside House
Tarland
‘Top of the range in every respect.’ Much praise from a Guide stalwart after this year's visit to the MacRobert Trust’s ‘wonderful’ hotel bordering the Cairngorms national park.
Talland Bay Hotel
Talland-By-Looe
‘One of our favourite hotels,’ enthuses a reader about Teresa and Kevin O’Sullivan’s quirky and luxurious cliff-top hideaway in this south Cornish seaside hamlet.
Boath House
Nairn
‘A beautiful hotel with wonderful food and lovely young staff.’ Readers this year loved their stay at Don and Wendy Matheson’s Georgian mansion in gardens and parkland.
Barnsley House
Cirencester
There is ‘a romantic air’ to this Cotswold stone mansion, built in the 1690s and extended in the 1820s. Today a hotel and spa, it is part of the Calcot Collection (see entry for Calcot).
2017 Editor's Choice Gardens
Best hotels with gardens in the UK
Lindeth Fell - Winter Discount Special Offer
Bowness-on-Windermere
‘The Kennedys certainly know how to welcome their guests and to make every minute special,’ report visitors staying for lunch this year.
Middlethorpe Hall & Spa - Tailor make the break of your choice
York
Handy for the racecourse, this William and Mary mansion, built for Sheffield cutler Thomas Barlow ‘in the Italian mode’, operates as a hotel and spa, ‘ideal for those seeking individual attention and pampering’.
The Grove - Three for Two Special Offer
Narberth
In a grove, indeed, surrounded by flower gardens, kitchen garden and meadows, with views to the Preseli hills, Neil and Zoë Kedward’s hotel is ‘a real haven’.
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.
Goldstone Hall
Market Drayton
‘Hands-on owners, attention to detail and a warm and friendly ambience.’ All-round plaudits this year for John and Sue Cushing’s Georgian manor house hotel.
Hotel Endsleigh
Tavistock
Et in Arcadia we go – to Olga Polizzi’s Regency cottage-orné, in gardens and pleasure grounds with woodland walks and waterfalls, arboretum, fount and follies.
Millgate House
Richmond
A trove of arts décoratifs is ‘trustingly displayed’ in this Georgian house, ‘in a good situation off the market square'.
Talland Bay Hotel
Talland-By-Looe
‘One of our favourite hotels,’ enthuses a reader about Teresa and Kevin O’Sullivan’s quirky and luxurious cliff-top hideaway in this south Cornish seaside hamlet.
Barnsley House
Cirencester
There is ‘a romantic air’ to this Cotswold stone mansion, built in the 1690s and extended in the 1820s. Today a hotel and spa, it is part of the Calcot Collection (see entry for Calcot).
Austwick Hall
Austwick
The Guide's recommendation inspired one gratified reader to book a stay at Eric Culley and Michael Pearson’s characterful B&B in a Yorkshire Dales village: 'I’m pleased to be able to agree with the enthusiastic comments.’
2016 Editor's Choice Gardens
Best hotels with gardens in the UK
Gravetye Manor
East Grinstead
‘Whenever a special date crops up, we make a beeline for Gravetye and have never been disappointed.’
Glenapp Castle
Ballantrae
Beyond ‘splendid wrought iron gates’, a ‘beautifully wooded half-mile drive’ leads to Paul and Poppy Szkiler’s towered and turreted Victorian pile, with a fountain ‘dominating the forecourt’.
Lime Wood
Lyndhurst
At the end of a long drive past rustic cabins, a helipad and a forest-fringed meadow, this 21st-century rebuild of a Georgian lodge is a ‘highly professional, near faultless’ modern country house hotel.
Stone House
Rushlake Green
Stone House closed down at the end of January 2018.