The coolest new UK hotels
From a duo of new Welsh hideaways to a brace of rewilding retreats, here are the beds to book according to hotel expert Ianthe Butt
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Your support makes all the difference.As the tourism industry continues to recover after the effects of Covid, people are once again looking for new and exciting travel experiences.
While the destination is always important, the setting and quality of your hotel plays a crucial part in any successful trip. Often, it can even be the focal point of the holiday.
But forget foreign shores – those looking to travel in style this summer need look no further than the UK, where a brace of new openings means there’s more choice than ever when it comes to prime places to stay.
“Getting back to nature” is the name of the game with the latest hotels to fling wide their doors, from a rewilding project in Gloucestershire, to a collection of cabins on the edge of a loch on the Isle of Skye.
So dig out your walking boots, switch off your laptop, and check-in to one of these stellar pads that combine luxury with making the most of the British countryside.
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Rewild Things at Elmore Court, Gloucestershire
Trends come and go, but rewilding – allowing land to return to its natural, uncultivated state to boost biodiversity – is one that’s hopefully here for the long haul. Upmarket wedding venue Elmore Court, a 13th-century mansion in Gloucestershire, has earmarked a quarter of its 1,000-acre estate for rewilding since 2020, adopting regenerative farming and embracing leave-to-flourish unkempt grassy fields and buttercup-sprinkled meadows.
Just-bloomed are Rewild Things, six high-spec cedarwood-clad treehouses – sleeping two to four – positioned along higgledy-piggledy boardwalks in the Elmore’s woodland. Spoiling is the watchword; bedrooms have fluffy sheepskin rugs, super-king Jamie Fraser wooden spindle beds, and mossy and butterscotch fabrics. Bathing options – using essential-oil rich Commune toiletries – include rainforest showers, or in-balcony bathtubs, which look out to a new wetland scrape where Canada Geese glide.
Self-catering is a breeze, thanks to mod-conned cooking areas (all outdoors but sheltered, bar in Wren, where it’s tucked inside) stocked with blush pink Our Place crockery, a Neff combi-oven, hob, Breville toaster and fridge. But guests can also pre-order prepped gourmet ready meals from the Elmore Court Kitchen for restaurant-quality sweet potato and coconut curry, chargrilled veggies and slabs of bakewell tart.
Guests have the run of the grounds, bar those directly surrounding the wedding venue, to reconnect with nature. Wild swimming experiences at nearby Madam’s Pond can be booked with the ReWild Swims Club, and WWT Slimbridge is around half an hour’s drive away, where keen birdwatchers can ogle flamingos and cranes.
Two-night stays (minimum) from £580; rewildthings.com
Birch (Selsdon), Croydon
Bringing creativity and Green-Fields-at-Glastonbury ambience to Croydon’s Selsdon is the second outpost from Birch, who made their hotel-meets-members’-club debut in Cheshunt in 2020. Selsdon’s 19th-century red brick mansion has been reimagined with slick millennial stylings, with 181 pared-back, pleasant bedrooms decorated with terracotta, ochre and forest green licks, recycled glass lampshades and psychedelic-hued Weronika Marianna prints.
In line with Birch’s nature-focused ethos, existing buildings have been adapted and repurposed, meaning some aspects do feel retro – the roughly-painted corridors broken up by safety glass doors, which lead to bedrooms, for example, and tiled ground floor bathrooms which channel 1980s school loos – but it’s more than made up for with a leafy Orangery room, peach and raspberry sorbet-toned bar, co-working space and pottery studio.
As well as a family wing and kids club, Birchlings, another draw is Lee Westcott’s Vervain, for fiery chilli, wild garlic, olive, caper and Spenwood pasta followed by nostalgic white chocolate and rhubarb trifle. A suntrap terrace comes with views of a sunshine-yellow Richard Woods house installation and the 200-acre grounds – another rewilding wonder. Much of the land used to be a golf course, but now rewilding is under way thanks to an ambitious project spearheaded by designer and environmentalist Seb Cox. During rewilding walks, he points out recent rootled-up ground created by badger activity, bluebells in the ancient woodland and shares wildflower facts aplenty. This summer, Elodie Restaurant, also Wescott-helmed, and an Art Deco-inspired outdoor swimming pool, will arrive.
From £153, room only; birchcommunity.com
The Bracken Hide, Isle of Skye
With the appeal of wilderness escapes still on the rise, the opening of The Bracken Hide on Scotland’s Isle of Skye from Miranda and Charlie Garton-Jones, the team behind Skye’s popular Cowshed Boutique Bunkhouse, couldn’t be more timely. A four-star number with blade-of-grass inspired architecture, and 27 pod-like timber cabins with views out to Loch Portree and the Sound of Raasay, are scattered through 53 acres.
Fusing rustic luxury with hotel touches such as valet parking and straight-to-cabin luggage delivery, rooms (some of which are dog-friendly) have underfloor heating, Skye Skyn rugs and en-suite showers stocked with sea kelp soap. A dry-stone-walled central building houses a whisky bar, screening room and Fraser’s – where Highlands hospitality veteran George Fraser serves up best-of-the-best island fare including the likes of Skye mussels steamed in white wine and garlic, goat’s cheese and pistachio mousse wrapped in nori seaweed, and a chocolate and Talisker delice.
Grass-roofed Estonian saunas and a stream-fed plunge pool offer hot-and-chilly wellness hits and, come night time, the sky comes alive with stars, with several areas in Skye designated as ‘dark sky discovery sites’.
From £140, B&B; brackenhide.co.uk
The Georgian, Swansea
Following in the footsteps of Spanish-inspired Parador 44 in Cardiff, The Oyster House in Mumbles, nautical-inspired The Albion in Aberteifi and design-led Y Seler in Aberaeron, Wales continues to bolster its roster of appealing boutique hotels. Newest is The Georgian, a 12-room bolthole in Swansea’s Maritime Quarter.
Close to the arena, Swansea Museum and less than a kilometre from Swansea Bay, it’s ideal for on-the-doorstep city and coast (with even more beaches to bask on in the Gower, just 15 minutes’ drive away). Bedrooms, named for ships mentioned in log books of the Swansea Port Authority, riff on the building’s Georgian heritage, mixing original fireplaces, sash windows and stout four poster beds with fringed carpets and Molton Brown-stocked bathrooms with rolltop tubs or double showers.
Breakfasts take place over the road at the hotel’s big sister property – the plush Morgan’s Hotel – while El Pescador on Swansea Marina is a good option for seafood suppers with a Spanish twist.
From £135, room only; thegeorgianswansea.com
The Elan Valley Hotel, Rhayader, Wales
Another Welsh property making waves is The Elan Valley hotel, a quaint nine-room hotel on the outskirts of Rhayader, given a design revamp, and new lease of life courtesy of husband and wife Lyn and Rachel Morgan (and border terrier Rufus). Not only are the couple natural hosts with heaps of local tips, they also run an acclaimed furnishing and upholstery studio, and communal areas in the adults-only property double up as showrooms, meaning there’s always a comfy sofa to sink in to.
Now sporting a slate blue facade, and cosy bedrooms with colour-pop scatter cushions, In the wood-clad lounge, where well-worn leather armchairs perch in front of a woodburner, Rachel whips up charred brie with red onion marmalade, lemon-garlic spaghetti and bread and butter pudding. Cosy bedrooms, meanwhile, are furnished with colour-pop scatter cushions.
Keen-eyed nature lovers can spot bullfinches and blue tits in the garden, and there are plenty of walking and cycling trails nearby – including those to the Elan Valley’s impressive reservoirs. Plus Gigrin Farm, birthplace of the UK’s pioneering red kite conservation programme, where hundreds of the fork-tailed birds of prey can be seen, is a 10-minute drive away.
Rooms from £130, B&B; elanvalleyhotel.co.uk
Hort’s Townhouse, Bristol
Touching down on Bristol’s Broad Street, Hort’s Townhouse is a classic Grade-II listed Young’s pub done-good. Fresh from a top-to-toe revamp, its upper levels have been converted to create 19 bedrooms offering a new place to stay 10 minutes’ walk from Cabot Circus and the harbourside.
High-ceilinged rooms range from cosy to loft, with some interconnecting and dog-friendly, and have Hypnos beds and rainfall showers. Personality comes in the form of inky blue or sage green wood panelling, a sprinkling of chandeliers, brass finishings and scalloped-velvet headboards.
The food offering sees breakfasts of Burford Brown dippy eggs with sourdough soldiers and treacly buttermilk pancakes, and classic pub grub lunches, from Ploughman’s to panzanella salads, alongside hearty South Coast plaice with shrimp, samphire and caper butter, or pea pappardelle with wild garlic pesto. On Sundays, it’s all about the roasts – think West Country beef or celeriac wellington – accompanied by double egg Yorkshire puddings and seasonal veg.
From £120, room only; hortstownhousebristol.co.uk
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