The sorts of places made for moonlight and music, some hotels really are made for romance. So from four poster beds to beautiful views, decadent dinners to country walks, rich histories of love through the ages and picturesque buildings with spiral staircases, these are the hotels to head to with loved ones. Amongst the collection there’s even an island hotel for the ultimate getaway. Here are the Good Hotel Guide’s top 10 romantic hotels for 2017.
Editor’s Choice 2017 Romantic Hotels
The Portobello - Sunday Stay Over Offer
London
Intrigued by the idea of an antique four-poster bed so high you need steps to get into it? Fascinated by the notion of a Victorian steampunk bath right in the bedroom? Look no further.
From £195 per night
Ardanaiseig - Hogmanay Special Offer
Kilchrenan
The scene is pure theatre: the Scottish baronial mansion, built in 1834, with turrets, chimneys and crow-stepped gables, stands against a backdrop of Loch Awe. Inside, owner Bennie Gray, an antiques dealer, has filled the place with ‘eccentricity’ and ‘a pleasingly old-fashioned air of country house grandeur’.
From £217 per night
Cliveden House - Three for Two Short Break
Taplow
‘Expensive but worth every penny,’ say guests seduced by the ‘beautiful’ grounds, ‘stunning’ bedrooms, ‘superb’ meals and ‘attentive, personable’ staff at this history-rich Italianate mansion on the River Thames.
From £495 per night
Gliffaes
Crickhowell
Pheasants scatter on the lawn around this Italianate mansion standing ‘proudly’ by the River Usk, where Guide inspectors in 2016 found ‘a fine house filled with warm, amiable staff’.
From £135 per night
Langar Hall
Langar
‘High standards are faultlessly maintained’ at Imogen Skirving’s much-loved, somewhat eccentric hotel in the Vale of Belvoir.
Burgh Island Hotel
Bigbury-on-Sea
Arrive by sea tractor (‘an experience in itself’) to fully appreciate this ‘amazing’ Grade II listed hotel – an ‘Art Deco tour de force’, and a dreamlike tribute to the now-faded glamour of the 1930s.
Ballyvolane House
Castlelyons
There’s ‘an atmosphere of warm hospitality’ and ‘a genuine sense of welcome’ at Justin and Jenny Green’s historic, family-friendly country house in the North Cork countryside, say Guide inspectors in 2016.
From £150 per night
The Old Railway Station
Petworth
Train buffs make tracks for this ‘quirky’ B&B, occupying a handsomely restored timber-built late Victorian station and four refurbished Pullman carriages on the disused railway line.
From £100 per night
Newforge House
Magheralin
‘Excellent in every way’, John and Louise Mathers’s traditionally decorated guest house has much to please the modern guest.
From £125 per night
The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa
Bath
Two elegantly converted town houses host this luxury hotel and atmospheric spa in a ‘spectacular’ location on the Georgian Royal Crescent, with its 'magical vista’ across the city.