Grown-up hotels with family appeal
British escapes offering stylish dining for adults and fun times for kids
British escapes offering stylish dining for adults and fun times for kids
Surrey
A modern take on the classic English country house hotel, Beaverbrook has bedrooms and suites split between a grand Victorian manor house and a farmhouse-chic Garden House (whose interconnecting rooms make it ideal for families). Food is taken as seriously as the décor, from The Dining Room, an exceptional Japanese restaurant (try the yellow tail tiradito with yuzu soy), to the relaxed Garden House restaurant. There’s a ’20s-style cocktail bar and cookery school, while children can join a weekend kids club, watch films in a cinema room or chill out with air hockey and books. Family rooms start from £300 per night for four (two under-fives); beaverbrook.co.uk
Cornwall
Right opposite the beach in chic St Mawes, Cornwall’s St Mawes Hotel has seven smart bedrooms (one is a family room that sleeps up to four, though most rooms have space for a travel cot) and a relaxed, breezy feel that makes it restful for guests with small children. Food, too, is family-friendly; think local fish (or lobster) and chips, stone-baked pizzas and burgers, plus a separate children’s menu. For more decadent dining, book a babysitter and a table at sister hotel The Idle Rocks, five minutes’ walk away, for mussel tortellini, or miso rump cap. Better still, try lunch on the Idle Rocks’ terrace and let the children loose in the hotel’s playroom. Back at the St Mawes, there’s a cinema room that shows children’s films during school holidays – or on demand if the room is free. Family room from £195 per night for four, b&b; stmaweshotel.com
Perthshire
Bought, three years ago, by the group behind Hoxton Hotels, most of a wholesale renovation of Gleneagles is now complete. No longer aimed so squarely at the huntin’, fishin’, golfin’ brigade, de-tartaned bedrooms are softer and prettier (not least the Royal Lochnagar suite, pictured). Two Michelin stars and Andrew Fairlie aside, the resort’s restaurants and bars are much improved – with menus that cater to the brunch and burger crowd as well as finer diners. With 850 acres to explore – and a vast programme of supervised activities – Gleneagles has always been popular with families. New for this year, however, is Little Glen, a supervised play space for kids up to nine, and The Den, whose video games, air hockey and cinema room should keep older children and teens happy. Family rooms from £325 per night for four, b&b (£50 per child supplement for six- to 14-year-olds); gleneagles.com