Room Review NUTFIELD PRIORY HOTEL & SPA, SURREY
THE craft beer industry is huge in the US – Portland alone has 85 breweries, from the experimental to the flavourful, including a Chinese restaurant which brews rice lager.
You can do beer tours by bus, on foot or by bike and THE hipster end of London is also a hotbed for funky hops. There are plenty of craft pubs and microbreweries dotted among the design studios, street art, fusion food joints and vintage clothing shops.
You can taste everything from Snakecharmer to Tunnel Vision and Alpha Centauri Imperial IPA in the lanes and upcycled bars. Weaving your way through the maze is a challenge, so try a guided tour. BRUGES regularly tops the fairytale city-break league table. Add in Belgian chocolate and beer and you’ll think you are in guzzling heaven.
Scores of bars offer thousands of beer types. The 2be Beer Wall bar, left, has 600 varieties.
Beer literally flows under the streets here, thanks to a new beer pipeline linking the ancient Halve Maan Brewery with its bottling plant. stay in a former school that is now both a brewery and a McMenamins hotel.
So now you can get drunk and fall asleep in class. THE Irish pub has become a byword for beer and banter.
You’ll find them all over the planet, but there are none better than in the Temple Bar district of Dublin.
Expect music, poetry and laughter galore on this pedestrianised street that is washed by tidal waves of craic.
Seek out the 800-yearold Brazen Head, where you can enjoy live music every night.
Most visitors end up at the nearby Guinness Storehouse. It’s Ireland’s number-one visitor attraction and boasts amazing views from its Gravity bar. BREWDOG will open a beer hotel near its Aberdeenshire HQ next year. Meanwhile, its first so-called DogHouse has just opened beside its US brewery in Columbus.
They call it the world’s first beer hotel, which means beer taps in the rooms, a fully stocked beer fridge – plus one in the shower – bedrooms overlooking the brewery, and a beer museum.
Columbus is near Pittsburgh, now served with direct flights from British Airways. SET in 12 acres with stunning views of the surrounding Surrey countryside, this four-star country house hotel dates back to 1872 and boasts Gothic features including the ornate stainedglass windows, chandeliers and sweeping staircases.
Nutfield Priory is a short cab ride away from both Nutfield and Redhill stations and is only eight miles from Gatwick airport.
Sixty uniquely designed bedrooms include 15 feature rooms with roll-top baths and four poster beds.
My friend and I were staying in a spacious deluxe twin room, decorated in decadent hues of gold and purple and with fabulous views.
Among other features were a television, DVD player, coffee machine, luxurious robes and Handpicked Hotels’ own brand of toiletries.
The candlelit Cloisters restaurant, with its arched ceilings (inset) and original stone-clad windows overlooking the landscaped gardens, is a special setting for dinner.
It’s a classic menu with a modern twist.
Starters of duck-egg mayo with confit duck brioche and a salad of heritage tomatoes and asparagus were followed by braised ox cheek and halibut and pork belly with thyme porridge.
A selection of sorbets and ice creams and the tasty “love of chocolate” – combining mousse, parfait, sorbet, biscuit and cream – rounded things off perfectly.
Breakfast is a Continental buffet with a menu of hot items to order. Enjoy a drink in the wood-panelled bar or afternoon tea in the beautiful library.
The spa and health club is a perfect place to unwind.