Family Friendly Hotels
Rothay Manor - 20% Discount Special Offer
Ambleside
The flower-bedecked balconies at this manor house hotel offer spectacular views to Wansfell Pike. Dating from 1823, it stands in wooded grounds on the edge of Ambleside.
The Cavendish - Country Escape Weekend Special Offer
Baslow
‘Comfortable, pretty and very English’, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire’s smart hotel on the Chatsworth Estate delighted readers this year.
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.
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.
The Horn of Plenty - Two Night Signature Tasting Menu Getaway Special Offer
Tavistock
What do Jennifer Saunders and David Bowie have in common? Both have stayed at this ‘superbly relaxing’ spot overlooking the Tamar valley.
Hambleton Hall - Autumn and Winter Breaks in Rutland
Oakham
‘I find it difficult to make any original comments,’ writes a Guide regular after this year’s visit to Tim and Stefa Hart’s much-loved hotel (Relais & Châteaux) with celebrated grounds reaching down to Rutland Water. ‘All the superlatives have been used by other guests.’
Lastingham Grange - October/November Special Offer
Lastingham
‘Loved it all.’ ‘A slice of heaven.’ Readers have an abiding fondness for this small hotel, a wisteria-swathed 17th-century stone farmhouse, owned by the Wood family since the 1950s.
Lewtrenchard Manor - Winter Break Special Offer
Okehampton
A ‘wonderful hotel’ with that ‘special feel’ of family ownership, Sue and James Murray’s manor house delights with its ‘history, beauty and style’.
The Goring - Three Nights for Two Special Offer
London
‘We enjoyed our very expensive one-night stay,’ writes a reader who pushed the boat out at Jeremy Goring’s grand Edwardian hotel, the last of its kind in London to be run by the founding family.
Chewton Glen - 3 Nights for the Price of 2 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 Rose & Crown - Winter Snuggler 3rd Night Free Special Offer
Barnard Castle
‘This hotel is amazing.’ ‘The perfect place for a break in the country.’ A chorus of approval in 2019 for Cheryl and Thomas Robinson’s 18th-century coaching inn beside the Saxon church in a ‘charming, peaceful village’.
Star Castle - Spring 2020 Full Board Special Offer
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.
Soar Mill Cove Hotel - 3 Nights for the Price of 2 Special Offer
Salcombe
‘We rate this very highly in almost every respect.’ Praise from a reader for Keith Makepeace’s much-loved, family-run, family-friendly, dog-friendly hotel in a ‘gorgeous’ coastal setting.
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.
Gliffaes - Winemakers Dinner Special Offer
Crickhowell
‘An amazing mansion set in equally amazing gardens.’ Praise from Guide readers this year, for this former Victorian vicar’s house high above the River Usk.
Tyddyn Llan - Six Course Tasting Menu Special Offer
Corwen
‘Not quite the back of beyond’, but this restaurant-with-rooms ‘in a very pleasant, quiet, rural location’ is well worth the trek, according to trusted Guide readers.
Argyll Hotel - Early Autumn Special Offer
Isle of Iona
‘Being here makes even a committed atheist feel holy,’ wrote a reader after a visit to Iona and a stay at this hotel, occupying a row of crofters’ cottages.
Killiecrankie Hotel - December Pre-Christmas 3rd Night Free Special Offer
Pitlochry
‘Strongly endorsed’ by trusted readers on a return visit, this ‘wonderful’ whitewashed 1840s dower house at the end of a tree-lined drive displays ‘impressive, unchanging excellence’.
La Sablonnerie - Suite Upgrade Special Offer
Little Sark
‘Wonderful as ever,’ writes a reader this year, a regular returnee to Elizabeth Perrée’s 16th-century, whitewashed stone farmhouse in a beautiful part of this car-free island.
Rathmullan House - Winter Nights Special Offer
Rathmullan
More a professional operation, less an intimate Irish country house experience, Mark and Mary Wheeler’s hotel on the shore of Lough Swilly, in ‘wild and wonderful’ Donegal, has something for everyone.
The George of Stamford - Sumptuous Sundays Special Offer
Stamford
‘Another excellent stay,’ reports a Guide regular this year, after returning to Lawrence Hoskins’s ‘very traditional’ town-centre hotel, once a coaching inn on the old Great North Road.
From £195.00 per night
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.
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.
Lords of the Manor - 'Idyllic Autumn' 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 Michael Obray.
Cliveden House - Three for Two Short Break
Taplow
Meghan Markle spent the night before her wedding at this ‘magnificent’ Italianate mansion in ‘glorious’ National Trust grounds on a bluff above the Thames.
Family-friendly hotels
The summer holidays are always a time of great joy, but there’s also a phenomenal juggling act to be done in order to make sure that parents and children alike get a chance to relax and enjoy themselves. Instead of everyone spending time doing something that no one really wants to do as a measly compromise, the right hotel is an opportunity for everyone to enjoy time out.
No choosing between entertainment for the kids and luxury for adults, the Good Hotel Guide carefully selects hotels for their variety of opportunities, whether it’s those with plenty of pools and activities available, beautiful grounds to roam in or a steady supply of books to luxuriate in, there’s something for everyone.
Recognising that not every child or parent wants to spend their holiday ferrying children to and from summer camps, the hotels that garner the most treasured memories for families are those that straddle quality time and the chance to take a little worry and responsibility away. The likes of Fowey Hall and Moonfleet Manor in Dorset and Cornwall are both expert at such things, with spa and creche facilities alike.
Of course a trip to the beach is the stuff that even fairytales are made of, so it will come as no surprise that the UK’s coastal hotels, whether they be in Norfolk or Devon, are supremely popular for stylish holidays with the family. Strolls into postcard perfect towns and menus that cater for all ages in suitable environments are joyful for everyone involved, and this is a selection of family friendly hotels that have delighted guests time and again.