20 British hotels for a superb Sunday-night stay
Wear your Sunday best to this Surrey countryside mansion, which brings together an elegant, traditional English estate with Japanese dining and an artistic spa. Its Sunday Cinema Club packages include a movie viewing in the plush, chaise lounge-seated cinema (complete with blankets and unlimited popcorn), plus a tasting menu in the restaurant and a cracking breakfast the next morning. You’ll get full use of the Brian Clark-designed spa with its statement tilework and balmy outdoor pool, and you can add on extras such as fishing trips, cycling or tennis. Monday mornings have never looked so good. Beaverbrook (01372 571300; beaverbrook.co.uk) offers doubles as part of its Sunday Cinema Club package, including dinner and breakfast, from £495 on a Sunday (standard B&B from £570 on a Saturday)
DORMY HOUSE Cotswolds
Up a steep hill and on the outskirts of the honey-hued Cotswold village of Broadway, you’ll find Dormy House. The simple exterior of this 17th-century farm belies the size and scope of what lies inside: a warren of cosy sitting rooms and snugs, inviting bedrooms, alluring restaurants – and a superlative spa. What better day than a Sunday to drift between lavender steam room, juniper sauna, infinity pool and outdoor hydrotherapy hot tub. Use the money you save by skipping Saturday night to splash out on a treatment – facial, flotation session or body scrub, perhaps – and then sink in front of the fire with board games and cocktails. Don’t miss the comté cheese souffle at dinner. Dormy House (01386 852711; dormyhouse.co.uk) offers doubles from £299 on a Sunday ( from £399 on a Saturday), including breakfast
PENNYHILL PARK Surrey
Just 45 minutes south-west of London is this grand 18th-century mansion that sits within 120 acres of parkland. Time moves slowly at Pennyhill, as it’s all about relaxation here. The spa, with its heated outdoor pool and bar, and indoor thermal suite, is where the heart of the languid action lies – float between sauna, steam room and whirlpool before enjoying a treatment with natural skin products, created specifically for the hotel. Spend what you save on the Sunday room rate on dinner at Michelin-starred Latymer.
Pennyhill Park (01276 478300; exclusive.co.uk) offers doubles from £445 on a Sunday ( from £570 on a Saturday), including breakfast
THE BELFRY Warwickshire
Sleep well thanks to Suite Sunday at the Belfry, a spa and golf hotel that’s held the Ryder Cup four times and is hosting the Betfred British Masters this May. Its Sunday night offer gets you a modern suite with private balcony enjoying fairway views, plus a three-course dinner in the Ryder Grill where steak and fish is the main event. The spa will tempt you away from the outdoors with its new exfoliating mud-mask treatment, and Monday mornings are made better with late check-out and an extensive breakfast buffet.
The Belfry (01675 238600; thebelfry. com) offers suites from £225 on a Sunday ( from £429 on a Saturday), including dinner and breakfast. Use code SUITE to book
LEVEN MANCHESTER
Spend the last day of your weekend surrounded by chic industrial style and
Scandi minimalism at LEVEN Manchester, an almost intimidatingly cool hotel set within a former cotton warehouse on Canal Street. It’s all about design here, with an irrefutably sexy emerald green and brass lobby area and fresh, crisp white bedrooms with their own kitchenettes. There’s no breakfast served on site, but the coffee shop has pastries and flat whites aplenty and buzzes with creative locals engaging in a little remote working, so why not bring your laptop and join them? LEVEN Manchester (01613 597900; liveleven.com) offers doubles from £88 on a Sunday ( from £199 on a Saturday), excluding breakfast
ELMBANK HOTEL York
Sandwiched between York’s historic city centre and its racecourse, the Elmbank is a little art-nouveau gem with a storied past – it was home to some of the city’s most elite residents, a onetime gentleman’s club and Second World War Army billet. Expect stainedglass windows, magnificent murals, a double-height wood-panelled lobby and some of the most arresting carpets in the country, plus bedrooms with colourful furnishings all set within a 19th-century mansion. As part of the hotel’s Sunday package, you’ll get afternoon tea with bubbles in the chintzy Peacock Bar and a hearty breakfast the next morning.
The Elmbank (01904 610653; elmbankhotel.com) offers doubles from £115 on a Sunday ( from £199 on a Saturday) including afternoon tea and breakfast. Use code SUNDAY to book
THE GREENBANK Cornwall
Falmouth’s oldest hotel, which dates back to the 17th century, has had a trendy facelift and now the Greenbank is this Cornish town’s coolest place to stay. Sundays here are spectacular and not just because of the 30 per cent discount on your room rate: the hotel is the only property to have its own pontoons and private quay, so bring your paddleboards or kayak and splash about in the ocean before settling in for a pint at its pub. Dinner at the Water’s Edge restaurant (£40 per person when you book the Sunday Saver rate) means fresh seafood with ocean views – dreamy.
The Greenbank (01326 312440; greenbank-hotel.co.uk) offers doubles from £76 on a Sunday ( from £109 on a Saturday), including breakfast
THORNBURY CASTLE Gloucestershire
If you’ve ever wanted to live like a wealthy Tudor, Thornbury Castle is the place for you. And if you haven’t, it’s well worth booking anyway, especially on a Sunday night. This Relais & Chateaux property exudes Tudor opulence – think crenellated towers and woodpanelled lounges – and serves it up with the bells and whistles you’d expect from modern luxury hospitality. A romantic bolthole once host to weekends away for Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, it’s the ideal place to spend some quality time together – and eat like kings and queens while you’re at it.
Thornbury Castle (01454 281182; thornburycastle.co.uk) offers doubles from £299 on a Sunday (£528 on a Saturday), including dinner and breakfast
FISTRAL BEACH Cornwall
For wild Cornish sea views with white surf and a soft-sand beach on your doorstep, Fistral Beach is a serene adultsonly retreat. Rooms are bright and blueish to reflect those ocean views, and the restaurant tasting menu is highly recommended. The Sunday night rates can be as much as 30 per cent lower than Saturdays, but it’s the Sunday Stay package that wins out. Get bed, breakfast, a 45-minute spa treatment and free access to the fitness classes, plus 10 per cent off further treatments from just £291 – a smashing way to start the week.
Fistral Beach (01637 852221; fistralbeachhotel.co.uk) offers doubles from £90 on a Sunday ( from £126 on a Saturday)
FISHMORE HALL Shropshire
Set on the edge of the undulating Shropshire Hills AONB, this privately owned country house hotel has endless appeal. It’s surrounded by lush countryside where you can work up an appetite climbing Brown Clee Hill and Titterstone Clee Hill – which are visible from many of its rooms, too – before settling down to dine in the Orangery, where roast dinners come with Herefordshire rare-breed beef. Plus, there’s a charming garden spa with cedar-wood hot tub and giant hammock for lazy Sunday snoozing. Dogs are welcome, too, so make this walking break one for all the family.
Fishmore Hall (01584 875148; fishmorehall.co.uk) offers doubles from £75 on a Sunday ( from £175 on a Saturday) including breakfast
MORGANS Swansea
Swansea might not be your first port of call for a weekend break, but with the gorgeous Mumbles and Gower coastline on its doorstep, you’d be remiss not to consider a break in this Welsh coastal city. Especially at Morgans, a handsome 20th-century building that was built as the Harbour Trust Offices. With halfprice rooms on Sundays, there’s no excuse not to extend your weekend – or perhaps upgrade your room to one of its spacious superior rooms – and use this as your base for exploring the region’s fine sweeps of yellow sand. Raise a glass to your excellent choices in the Champagne Bar.
Morgans (01792 484848; morganshotel. co.uk) offers doubles from £62.50 on a Sunday ( from £125 on a Saturday) including breakfast. Use code WEB3 online
HARBOUR HOTEL & SPA Chichester
Sundays are elevated at this elegant Georgian mansion in the centre of historic Chichester. The Grade II-listed building is as handsome on the outside as it is indoors, with its marble bar and blue velvet stools, and bedrooms that have enormous sash windows looking out over the town. A Sunday-night stay here comes with a generous 30 per cent off the usual price tag and you’ll get dinner at the Ship, where Alex Aitken serves up fish grilled to perfection, moreish moules mariniére and a gorgeous cranberry-and-almond tart to finish. A Monday morning stroll around the harbour AONB is obligatory before you head home.
Harbour Hotel & Spa (01243 778000; harbourhotels.co.uk/chichester) offers doubles from £171 on a Sunday ( from £248 on a Saturday) including dinner and breakfast
BIRCH Hertfordshire
Just north of the M25 is Birch, a really rather good-looking hotel that doesn’t act much like a hotel at all. There are bedrooms, as you’d expect to be the minimum, but beyond that it’s all a bit different. Think workshops on pottery, talks by creative thinkers, an interactive bakery, a lido in a walled garden and a music room ripe for jamming, if that’s your sort of thing. One night simply isn’t enough to experience everything Birch offers, so book in for Friday and Saturday, and your Sunday night will be completely free.
Birch (01992 633375; birchcommunity. com) offers doubles from £170 per night, excluding breakfast. Sunday nights free when you are staying three nights
RECTORY MANOR HOTEL Suffolk
A Georgian exterior belies the medieval timber framing that makes this building such an exciting piece of history, and you can sleep in it on a Sunday for far less than any other night of the week. The decor is all very classical and in keeping with the Georgian period, and its deluxe four-poster suite has an enviable claw-foot bathtub with lovely garden views. There are tennis courts, a croquet lawn and an outdoor pool that is heated to 28C yearround, so that’s your Sunday afternoon activities sorted.
Rectory Manor Hotel (01787 372428; rectorymanorhotel.co.uk) offers doubles from £136 on a Sunday ( from £225 on a Saturday), including breakfast
THE SPEECH HOUSE HOTEL Forest of Dean
One of the last surviving hunting lodges in England, Speech House is a fascinating slice of history set within an ancient woodland near the Forest of Dean. Expect fancy afternoon teas with proper bone china, plush bedrooms and a fine-dining restaurant, Verderers, inside an old courtroom packed with hunting paraphernalia and bronze light fittings. You can save more than 30 per cent on a Sunday stay over a Saturday, and as all good hunting lodges should, Speech House allows dogs, so there’s no excuse for leaving them at home.
The Speech House Hotel (01594 822607; thespeechhouse.co.uk) offers doubles from £157 on a Sunday ( from £228 on a Saturday), including breakfast
THE GALLIVANT East Sussex
Just across the road from the expansive Camber Sands in Rye, the Gallivant has more than just beach fun on its side. Stylish bedrooms with roll-top bathtubs and private patios are a welcome retreat after a day on the sand, and a yoga studio and treatment room will see to it that you’re feeling appropriately zen by the end of your visit. Sunday-night stays come with Sunday brunch, elevenses whenever you please, English wine at 5pm and access to the wellness classes. Dinner is by Jamie Guy, who has Rye bay squid and scallops on his menus. The Gallivant (01797 225057; thegallivant.co.uk) offers doubles from £295 on a Sunday ( from £385 on a Saturday), including breakfast. Reservations must be made by phone
HOUSE OF GODS Edinburgh
Unapologetic extravagance is the modus operandi at House of Gods, and boy does it deliver. Not only do you get butler service, bedtime milk and cookies and a breakfast hamper to enjoy in your bedroom – which is better described as a boudoir with all its rich red velvet and marble – when you book direct for a Sunday stay, but you get to do it in a hotel with Gucci wallpaper and Orient Express-inspired decor. Sunday rates are so reasonable, it’s worth investing that spare cash in the “rider” offer, which gets you a host of extras, including a £50 bar tab for cocktails. House of Gods (0131 230 0445; houseofgodshotel.com) offers doubles from £89 on a Sunday ( from £295 on a Saturday), excluding breakfast
THE CHESTER GROSVENOR Chester
The Chester Grosvenor is set inside one of the city’s most attractive buildings, a half-timbered, half red-brick property right in the centre of town. Rooms are elegant, with king-sized beds and understated floral wallpaper, and dining here is a real treat. Think posh afternoon teas, a brasserie with delicate stained-glass skylights, and an exciting tasting menu at Arkle, the hotel’s finedining venue. With a two-night minimum stay during the rest of the week, Sunday nights at the Chester Grosvenor are excellent value, with bed, breakfast, dinner and champagne included.
The Chester Grosvenor (01244 324024; chestergrosvenor.com) offers doubles from £240 on a Sunday including dinner and breakfast ( from £270 on a Saturday B&B only)
While we have some guests staying up to 21
days, most tend to be with us for the weekend and then head home, so
we see a drop in occupancy of up to 30
per cent on Sunday nights. However, Sunday is a great night for those
wanting the most peaceful and relaxing
experience here, especially as our fitness classes are quieter, as is
the gym and outdoor natural swimming pond. We have noticed this
pattern and so have customised a special Sunday Sleepover offer that will launch in May. It’s a great way of setting
you up for the week ahead and includes a Germaine de Cappuccini Baobab Seed Exfoliation
treatment, which isn’t included in the other spa
packages.
Sundays are made for one thing and one thing only at the Felin Fach Griffin: roast dinners. This hotel knows how to put on a Sunday roast, and if you book for a Sunday sleepover you’ll get yours virtually for free. Meat comes from the lowland hills of the Brecon Beacons and much of the greens can be found in the garden, while the wine list is even more exciting – don’t miss the Monmouth wines from Ancre Hill. Rooms here are stylish and breakfast is smoked salmon with fresh fruit from the garden.
The Felin Fach Griffin (01874 620111; eatdrinksleep.ltd.uk) offers doubles from £230 on a Sunday including Sunday lunch, supper and breakfast ( from £225 on a Saturday – dinner and B&B only)
SLOANE PLACE London
Sundays in London are for brunch, shopping and late-afternoon cocktails, and you can do all three at Sloane Place. Located just off Lower Sloane Street, you’ve got designers such as Massimo Dutti and Lululemon around the corner on the King’s Road, while the hotel’s brunch menu provides a compelling reason to arrive early (hello, blueberry pancakes). Rooms are low key with muted tones, and dinner a refreshing mix of comfort food and healthy plates, such as burgers, artichoke risotto and aromatic coconut curry. Wake up on a Monday ready to face the week. Sloane Place (020 3928 0700; sloaneplace.com) offers doubles from £150 on a Sunday ( from £238 on a Saturday), including breakfast
Lottie Gross
Powys
‘It’s a great way of setting you up for the week ahead’ Mericia Chapman, GM at the Glass House