10 of the Best Romantic UK Hotels
Still not planned a romantic break for your Valentine? Allow Lizzie Frainier to play Cupid as she rounds up the best UK hotels for weekends away
The Portobello Hotel London
Some places attract all sorts of shenanigans. On a quiet, leafy street in Notting Hill you’ll find The Portobello Hotel. Most famously, it’s where Kate Moss and Johnny Depp allegedly bathed together in a Victorian tub filled with 36 bottles of champagne. Decadent. It’s also where Tim Burton and a friend flooded the room’s floor by jumping from bed to bath and back, and where Robbie Williams tried to buy the 8ft circular bed of Room 16. You don’t come here for a quiet night away, you hole up here for a romantic weekend of debauchery. Housed in two converted neoclassical townhouses, it’s a hotel that maintains an eccentric charm. There’s an enormous four-poster bed that requires steps to climb into, Moroccan bird cages, oval mirrors surrounding the bathtub, mismatched vintage teacups, and a whole host of period pieces. With Portobello Market just minutes away, tear yourself from your room to buy antiques and relics to take back home. Opening the cupboard weeks later to see the cut-glass tumbler you bought together may just inspire further romantic antics.
Travel Details
Doubles from £195, portobellohotel.com
Witchery by the Castle Edinburgh
Picture the most theatrical, romantic suite you can imagine. Now multiply that by ten and you’ll get The Witchery by the Castle. Here, extravagance is the order of the day. It’s named after the hundreds of women killed just outside on Castlehill in the 16th century witch trials. But don’t let that dampen the mood. An air of mystique and gothic magic is exactly what you’ll find inside today. Roll-top baths, four- poster beds and oil paintings are in abundance, as are oak-panelled doors that reveal hidden rooms and surprises. With nine unique suites, it’s hard to pick a favourite. The Armoury houses helmets and breast plates, while rich hues of red and gold can be found in The Old Rectory, along with frescoed ceilings. Dinnertime brings a feast of seasonal Scottish produce in the atmospheric and candle- lit dining room. It’s got the biggest wine list in Scotland with over 500 bins to choose from. Morning means pastries, fruits and charcuterie delivered to your door along with champagne for the best breakfast in bed.
Travel Details
Doubles from £325, thewitchery.com.
Lakeside Hotel and Spa Cumbria
For over 200 years, the Lake District has been synonymous with romantics. But in the time of Wordsworth and Coleridge, Romanticism had a very different meaning. It was the clash of one literary style against others that had been so prevalent; and a celebration of the power of emotion and nature. These romantic values hold true today and what better place to observe them than in the Lakes? The Lakeside Hotel and Spa sits right on the southern shores of Lake Windermere, the largest lake in England. Ducks and swans glide on the inky water that appears to stretch on for miles. There’s an old- school charm to the oak-panelled hotel, which is elegant both in its decor and its service. The location has some outstanding views and the steam cruiser that pulls up just nearby adds to the atmosphere. Hop on and explore the busier towns of Ambleside and Bowness before returning to this tranquil setting to slow down in the spa with a soothing treatment and replenish yourself in the restaurant. A candlelit live jazz evening is planned for this Valentine’s Day.
Travel Details
Doubles from from £309, including five-course dinner, lakesidehotel.co.uk.
The Cavendish Hotel Derbyshire
Possibly England’s favourite country estate for its grand limestone facade and sprawling grounds, Chatsworth House would be romantic even if it weren’t for its association with Pride and Prejudice. Its owners, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, also run the nearby Cavendish Hotel, with its historic rooms and excellent vistas, which will cast you back to Jane Austen’s day. A 250-year-old former coaching inn, much of the hotel has been decorated with furnishings from Chatsworth itself. There are oil paintings, writing desks, open fires, prints and four-poster beds. Add in that you can stroll through the kissing gate and across the fields to the main house in less than 20 minutes and your tale’s happy ending is sealed. The art collection spans 4,000 years and there are over 30 rooms to explore, with pieces from the ancient Egyptians through to artists such as Rembrandt and David Nash. Outside in the fresh air, let’s hope you get the same feeling Elizabeth Bennet did when she saw Darcy striding away from his dip in the lake, wet shirt and all.
Travel Details
Doubles from £205, cavendishhotel.net.
Seaside Boarding House Dorset
The irony here is that this place could not be further from what ‘boarding house’ conjures up. Thanks to a team previously responsible for legendary London media haunt The Groucho Club, the hotel is the perfect stylish retreat. Perched on cliffs overlooking Chesil Beach, there are just eight double rooms, a bar and a restaurant, all offering a certain vintage charm. Decor is decisively simple with pastel colours, bleached wood floors and modest furniture. TVs are available on request but all come with a radio, naturally. Art by Sir Peter Blake adorns the walls and each room has large bay windows with views of the sea or country. Catch a taste of Dorset’s Jurassic coastline in the restaurant. Fresh seafood is where the menu excels: think crab sandwiches and bowls of mussels with lashings of cider and garlic. They also do a mean nightcap in the bar, where well-muddled cocktails and fine wines are to be found. It’s the classic seaside hotel of our childhoods, but this time it’s done with genuine class and made perfect for romance.
Travel Details
Doubles from £180, theseasideboardinghouse.com
The Ducket Northumberland
From the middle of an expanse of flat fields rises a 20m-tall tower. You can’t help but hear the echoes of ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair’. This 18th-century dovecote is now a romantic holiday home across five floors, accessed by a wrought-iron staircase. The bedroom is found one level up, complete with floral bedding, bare stone walls, and under-floor heating. Snuggle together on the top floor’s library for panoramic views of Lindisfarne Castle and the Northumberland coastline. Watch as the birds soar outside, using the house binoculars to get a closer look at your neighbours: badgers, foxes, hares, deer and cows are just some of the wildlife that call the rolling fields their home. Being in the middle of nowhere has its advantages: you’ll feel lost to the world as the sun goes down. With seven historic castles nearby and plenty of coastal paths to wander along, there’s plenty to explore. But equally, you may want to return to your roost, cooing like lovebirds as the northern gales bluster around the tower.
Travel Details
From £520 for three nights self-catering, rosscottages.co.uk/theducket
Swinton Park Yorkshire
Known as the painter of light, Turner was continually inspired by the breathtaking scenery of Yorkshire and visited places like Masham, Bolton Castle and Fountains Abbey. Swinton Park has 80ha of parkland, so there’s plenty of space to stroll hand in hand through the grounds before taking in the wider area. Watch out for the replica of Stonehenge and the aviary with birds of prey. There’s even a summerhouse on a private island accessible only by cable ferry that can be rented for celebrations, adorned with flowers and illuminated by fairy lights. Don’t plan too much of a route through the rivers, moors and gardens of the Dales, because stumbling across the nooks and crannies is half the fun. Back at the hotel, expect plenty of antiques and ornate family portraits, and as the evening draws in, stretch out in the huge beds and don’t be surprised to awake to deer grazing just outside your window.
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Travel Details
Two-night Valentine’s weekend package from £625 with half-bottle of champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries on arrival, and three-course dinner each night, swintonpark.com.
Sat Bains Nottingham
First, a disclaimer: as you drive under a motorway flyover in a remote part of Nottingham, your Valentine may think your idea of romance is way off. Though that will quickly change when they realise you’ll be dining and sleeping chez Sat Bains. His two-Michelin-star restaurant is known across the UK for its exceptional modern British cuisine, with relaxed and slick service. The tasting menu tells a real story, developing the five core tastes: salt, sweet, sour, bitter and umami. It’s easy to follow along with the colour-coded menu, but equally let your senses guide you. Known for his aptitude to question how we normally pair food, you can expect excellent contrasting tastes, textures and temperatures. Rice pudding with jam and sake; aged duck with melon and feta. Go all out and order a menu created especially for the two of you with your chosen ingredients. And to top it off, you won’t have to wander far to the eight bedrooms and their carved wooden beds to really make a weekend of it.
Travel Details
Doubles from £140; seven-course dinner from £85, restaurantsatbains.com.
The Harptree Treehouse Somerset
Tarzan may have won Jane over sooner if his treehouse had been kitted out like this one. Once upstairs, cross the walkway to the threshold of this secluded room for two. Inside, the interior has wooden furniture painted in pale hues complemented by floral cushions. Look up from the king-size bed to spot stars twinkling through the skylight or watch the sunset from the veranda. There’s a huge freestanding copper bath and a stack of logs to feed the wood-burning stove. One special reason to stay is that you can hide away above the outside world without the need to touch terra firma. A hamper filled with local sausages, bacon, bread and eggs is just the ticket to make use of the kitchen, while the lemon drizzle cake – made by owner Linda herself – is excellent. She may have picked up some tips from the talented contestants of The Great British Bake Off, which is filmed in the grounds of the estate. It’s no surprise that this place celebrates more than 15 engagements every year. Could yours be next?
Travel Details
Treehouse from £260 (two-night minimum stay), harptreecourt.co.uk.
The Scarlet Cornwall
A stylish eco-spa, treatments designed for two and floor-to-ceiling windows that provide a vista of Mawgan Porth Beach are just a few ways in which The Scarlet exudes romantic relaxation. Every room in this adults-only hotel has its own private outdoor space, and some even feature a spiral staircase that leads to a rooftop sitting room overlooking the sea. Cocoon yourselves in the warm water of the log-fired hot tubs resting on the clifftop, or swim round the reed- filtered outdoor pool – a refreshing plunge to awaken your senses. Book in for the Rediscover Each Other treatment at the Ayurveda spa for time in the rhassoul (mud-treatment) or hammam, followed by a massage lesson where you learn how to take your partner to the point of pure relaxation. The experience is completed with a scented bath for two and a glass of champagne. Afterwards, head to the Relaxation Room where you can lie in one of the pods that hang from the ceiling, nodding to sleep with their gentle sway.
Travel Details
Two-night stay, with bathtub treatment, hot poultice massage and three-course dinner, from £700, scarlethotel.co.uk.
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