COUNTRY HOUSE HOTELS

Since Francis Coulson opened Sharrow Bay in Cumbria as the first British country house hotel in 1949, countless stately homes followed suit. The trend emerged after the Second World War, when owners saw tax hikes on their estates. Faced with the hard reality of having to sell, many converted their properties into hotels. Classic British Hotels recorded that there are now 5,000 country house hotels in Britain, a 16 per cent rise since the 1990s. Today, packages include dinner, bed and breakfast as well as experiences like cookery schools, falconry and horse riding. They give the user a good deal and ensure properties make a profit.