THE NEW HOSPITALITY

CLARE VOOGHT stokes the fire in this selection of country house boltholes

CLARE VOOGHT checks into cosy country retreats

待客新道

Clare Vooght入住舒適寫意的鄉郊酒店

THE GRAND COUNTRY

house reached its height in Britain a century ago. All over the country, dukes and earls, industrialists and politicians entertained in their rural ‘piles’ of varying magnificence.

But Downton Abbey’s days were numbered. After the Second World War, social revolution, death duties and a plain shortage of cash (and servants) meant the upper classes could no longer afford their large country mansions. Some of those piles became tourist attractions; others became schools and conference centres.

And now, increasingly, they are becoming hotels. In the mid-1990s, the funky boutique revolution found some unlikely adherents in the British shires once Nick Jones of London’s Soho House snapped up an elegant Queen Anne mansion called Babington House for a new breed of affluent weekender.

Now, you’ll find contemporary country house hotels all over the world. Something else has changed, too. They’re places where you can switch off from reality, venturing out for wild winter walks before retreating into the glow of a warm rural bolthole. Expect that warm, fuzzy feeling to kick in soon after check in at these five cosy country house hotels around the world… 一個世紀以前，富麗堂皇的外郊 別墅在英國大行其道。全國的貴族、工業家和政治家都在華麗的鄉郊別墅中款客和自娛。

可是唐頓莊園的時代已走到末。路經歷第二次世界大戰、社會改革、遺產稅，以及現金﹙和傭人﹚嚴重短缺後，上流階級未已 能負擔郊外大宅的龐大支出。部分大宅成為旅遊景，點 其他則用作學校和會議中心。

時至今日，愈來愈多別墅活化成酒 店。1990年代中段，敦倫 Soho House酒店老闆Nick Jones購入高貴典雅的安妮女王時期大宅Babington House，吸引新興的富裕短途旅客來度周末，將精品酒店革命，帶到冷門的英倫郊區。

今天，別墅酒店遍佈全球，見證時代的變。遷 這些別墅已成為暫避煩囂之所，讓旅客在寒冬中野外步，漫 後 躲進溫暖的別墅中。入住以下五間來自世界各地的村鄉 別墅酒店，感受溫暖慵懶的氣氛……