Four of the best hotels for a UK winter break
As the nights draw in, let a stay at a superb hotel lift your spirits, say Laura Fowler and Fiona Duncan in The Daily Telegraph
Another Place
Lake District
This “stylishly informal” hotel in a “heart-stirringly beautiful setting” on the shore of Ullswater offers a “massive” range of activities – sailing, wild swimming, SUPing, kayaking, mountain biking, pony trekking and, of course, walking on the “glorious” fells. Most rooms in the Georgian house and the new extension have lake views, food is straightforward but “tasty” and “well judged”, and there’s a spa and a 20-metre indoor pool. Doubles from £190 b&b, another.place.
Beaverbrook
Surrey
Cushioned by parkland, fields and woods, the former home of the 20th century newspaper magnate Lord Beaverbrook opened as a hotel four years ago. It makes a fabulously luxurious retreat – “the home you wish you had” – with a “top-class” spa, excellent restaurants (Italian and Japanese) and a “brilliant” kids’ club. The rooms, named after Beaverbrook’s guests, are “fresh and elegant”. Yeats’, in a turret under the eaves, is very romantic. Doubles from £545 b&b, beaverbrook.co.uk.
The Bradley Hare
Wiltshire
Set in a village on the Duke of Somerset’s estate, this recently revamped pub-with-rooms is a great place for a cosy weekend in the country. Decorated with Turkish kilims and abstract art from the St Ives School, the interiors are quirky but stylish (larger rooms, in the coach house, have a more contemporary aesthetic). The restaurant serves “refined” takes on “pub classics” using local produce, and aims for zero waste – fermenting, curing and pickling excess produce. Doubles from £135, thebradleyhare.co.uk.
Glenapp Castle
Ayrshire
Set in coastal woodlands with views over to Arran, Glenapp looks like “a fairy tale” in winter, when its turrets are dusted with snow and the fires are lit in its drawing rooms and 21 bedrooms. For “the ultimate family shindig”, book the fourbedroom apartment on the top floor, which has its own sauna, treatment room, butler and private chef. At night, wrap up in blankets for stargazing – neighbouring Galloway Forest was designated the UK’s first Dark Sky Park. Doubles from £267, glenappcastle.com.