Romantic Hotels

The one time home to Louis XVIII, exiled King of France, Hartwell House offers the sort of place that inspires novels as well as proposals whether the sun is shining or as frost sparkles on the ground.

This sprawling honey-stone building with its tall chimneys and leaded windows offers history, grand rooms and antiques, along with a thoroughly modern spa and 21st-century luxuries.

Renowned for its herb garden, with some 400 varieties, this Georgian merchant's manor house is set in 30 acres of Norfolk parkland.

Exceptional food, exceptional grounds and exceptional decor are all part of the luxurious experience at Hambleton Hall - a romantic Relais & Châteaux retreat in Rutland.

A five star country house hotel with a luxurious spa, Chewton Glen is perfect for romantic escapes, especially if you stay in the impeccable treehouses in a sky high world of your own.

In 'one of the most idyllic spots ever', this dog-friendly hotel 'near the end of an extremely narrow lane' overlooks cliff-top gardens filled with larky sculpture and Wonderland whimsy.

There’s certainly nothing monastic about the rooms in this much-loved hotel, standing in four acres of lovely grounds bordered by the River Frome beside the Saxon priory church.

First-time visitors can’t help but stand and stare at this exquisite country house, with its William and Mary symmetry and 20 acres of gardens and parkland.

This Tudor Gothic-style Elizabethan mansion, extended over centuries, overlooks parkland with a rare 17th-century parterre, walled rose garden, cascade, lily pond and follies.

‘Expensive but very comfortable' with 'excellent food', this Victorian Scottish baronial hotel on a 28-acre estate combines luxury with unforced family and dog-friendliness.

Where the road ends and the Irish Sea begins, this former Victorian hunting lodge with a private cove is secluded, unapologetically traditional and rich in comforts and good food.

‘Over five decades the dear old George has never missed a beat, and our stay was as perfect as ever in this beautiful, old but supremely comfortable hotel in a lovely town.’

Winding lanes lead to this 17th-century former rectory, ‘a bit hidden away’, in a ‘gorgeous location’, in 'beautifully maintained' gardens on the River Eye.

Where the Duchess of Sussex spent the night before her wedding, Cliveden House is the perfect destination for a decadent honeymoon, proposal or romantic weekend, set in beautiful grounds that seduce you on arrival.

The real charm of this grand country house, with sweeping gardens, terraces, oak panelling and swish spa, lies in its warm and informal atmosphere.

This former 17th-century inn, which is part of the Duke of Devonshire's 30,000-acre estate at Bolton Abbey, is today an impressive country house hotel, with fine dining and a spa.

Once a bolt hole for wealthy Venetians escaping the summer heat (plus Robert Browning, Freya Stark, Igor Stravinsky et al.), this charming little medieval hill town in the Veneto is known as ‘the town of a hundred horizons’.

After a day browsing the galleries of this buzzy, arty town, you can escape the crowds to sit serenely sipping cocktails in the sub-tropical gardens at Malcolm Herring’s small hotel.

You can lie in an antique four-poster in the William Madocks room at this singular B&B with views over the Glaslyn estuary to the Rhinog mountains, and listen to steam trains puffing along the sea wall.

A spectacular example of how to update a historic building, Seaham Hall is a historic country house turned contemporary hotel. It was the one time home of Lord Byron and continues his legacy of decadence and seduction.

‘My favourite hotel anywhere in the world,’ writes a reader of this welcoming pub-with-rooms in an enchanting Cornish fishing village.

With its romantic bedrooms and views across the Menai Strait, the former country residence of the Armstrong-Jones family manages to be luxurious yet relaxed.

Readers are effusive in their praise for this 'truly outstanding' hotel, in a Victorian villa close to Windermere, with luxurious bedrooms, thoughtful comforts and 'first-class service'.

Celebrate a romantic weekend away with the ultimate feel good factor at this prestigious eco spa and add an extra touch of coastal romance with a glass of Champagne in the clifftop hot tub.

Right on the edge of the water with unrestricted sea views, Cary Arms and Spa combines the warmth of a British inn with the decadent details of a luxury hotel. Little wonder it's a favourite for romantic retreats and proposals.

Under the big skies of Caithness, wrapped in woodland and a curve of the River Forss, this Georgian mansion offers the grandeur of Scottish country house living but with modern-day warmth and comforts.

An exquisitely decorated boutique hotel on a quiet street in Exeter, Southernhay House Hotel has a seductive style with rich colours and sumptuous furnishings as well as an intimate atmosphere.

With a Michelin-starred restaurant, Grade II listed garden, 17th-century pele tower and French drawing room, Askham Hall sounds as if it might be very formal; not a bit of it.

The elegance is timeless, the style is Jazz Age glamour, the feel is New York fun – all of which makes The Beaumont, in the heart of Mayfair, one of London’s leading luxury hotels.

On the leafy edge of Pitlochry, with views to the Perthshire hills, Struan and Louise Lothian’s hotel has the feel of a Victorian country house in town.

Whale-watching, spectacular sunsets and starry, starry nights are among the wonders at this Victorian former hunting lodge on a wooded estate lapped by Loch Gairloch.

A Saxon royal hunting lodge in the Gloucestershire countryside, rebuilt over centuries, is run today as a private hotel by ‘lovely hosts’ Christopher Trim and Kathryn Warner.

Where Exmoor meets the Bristol Channel, this foodie retreat which oozes personality and style in its eclectic rooms is 'probably as good as it gets for a small hotel', write readers.

Seventy-two years after its launch as a hotel, in countryside outside St Andrew's, third-generation owners of this turreted Edwardian mansion take evident pride in their legacy.

'Nigh on perfect’, Mindi McLean’s ‘superb B&B' is in a restored 200-year-old barn at the heart of a historic village.

There’s a huge sense of fun at this stylish hotel, whose logo is Vanity Fair’s caricature of the 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Oscar Wilde’s Nemesis.

As you drive through landscaped parkland to find this country-house hotel overlooking a lake and 16th-century dovecote, you might wonder if you have arrived in the Loire valley.

Deep in the Sussex countryside, a romantic Elizabethan manor house, built by an ironmaster for his bride, stands amid 1,000 acres of historically important gardens, pleasure grounds and woodland.