From cool country houses to chic coaching inns and eccentric hideaways, this report tells you our favourite English love nests – listing the highs and lows of each. So read on for the best places to enjoy rest, relaxation and of course, romance.

Babington House, Somerset

When Babington House opened in 1999, it reinvented the country-house experience, injecting a sense of fun into what had become an outdated institution. Ten years on, it’s retained its sense of style but matured into a place that effortlessly mixes catwalk and comfort food. Decor is now charismatically retro, with floral prints reminiscent of granny’s parlour and tassles on the chairs. Chefs (ex River Cafe) raid the gardens to produce unfussy rustic cuccina that perfectly reflects the laidback ambience. Book one of the prized suites at the new, thoroughly British spa. Spread over three levels, each has outdoor tubs overlooking the original Victorian walled garden, a woodburning stove and a massage area to ensure housewives are anything but desperate.

Highs

The new spa is a triumph

Has pre-release screenings of big-name movies

Lows

Midweek can get a little over-run with members’ children

No chance of spontaneity – you have to book months ahead

Details: Somerset, BA11 3RW; 01373 812266; no email
Doubles from £195, distance from London: 2hr 30min drive

Gidleigh Park, Devon

First impressions of Gidleigh Park are satisfyingly fairytale, its mock Tudor exterior being cuter than a hundred weight of chocolate boxes and set in glorious river-runs-through-it grounds where you wouldn’t be surprised to see Little Red RIding Hood picking her way across the stepping stones. Inside, however, Gidleigh has been subtly primed and plasma TV’d for the 21st century with an assured hand so it’s as high-tech and trendy as those Johnny-come-lately rivals, while retaining the gravitas of heritage. The furniture is antique rather than Ikea, the paintings are ancestral rather than abstract and the respectful ticking of a very old grandfather clock is preferred to piped music. Best of all, its excellent celebrity chef, Michael Caines, actually cooks here most nights rather than just lends his name to the menu.

Highs

Direct access to Dartmoor means easy and excellent walking

There is a pantry where you can help yourself to treats

Lows

The approach is down a very long, twisty lane

There is no spa, and a massage might prove welcome after a long walk on the woolly moors

Details: Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon, TQ13 8HH; 01647 432367; gidleighpark@gidleigh.co.uk
Doubles from £310, distance from London: 3hr 30min

Hotel Endsleigh, Devon

Hotel Endsleigh really is that over-used adjective: unique. Regarded as our greatest Regency stately home, it was built in cottage-orne style with the most heart-stoppingly romantic architectural features including huge fireplaces with built-in stone seats and a sun-drenched terrace, supported by rose-clad tree trunks and with a floor made from sheeps’ knuckles – even the chimneys were positioned to ensure their smoke would rise in a beguiling pattern. There are original handpainted wallpapers, bedside tables with built-in chamber pots but best of all the general manager is Alex Polizzi, Rocco Forte’s grand-daughter, which means hospitality runs in her viens. She runs the place with charm and deceptively efficient informality. And not only is the house Grade 1 listed so are the magical, moss-covered gardens. You will never find a better glade in which to stroll with your beloved.

Highs

Amazing location: overlooking a minty green stretch of the River Tamar

Tavistock is five minutes away and is a great little foodie market town with one of the UK’s best cheese shops, Country Cheeses

Lows

Keeping things simple means no room service or wifi

It’s a shame there is no spa

Details: Milton Abbot, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 0PQ; 01822 870 000; mail@hotelendsleigh.com
Doubles from £200, distance from London: 3hr 30min

The George in Rye, East Sussex

Sometimes you want the timbre of tradition but not the tie-and-jacket trimmings, in which case The George provides the perfect compromise. It is a 16th-century coaching inn where the oak beams and open fires have been Farrow & Ball’d with lashing of theatricality by the owner, a former set designer. Rooms are sexy and modern, some with roll top baths, others tucked into the eves. All have Vi-sprung beds and frette linen as well as cute little surprises such as Tivoli clock radios. Flap out your newspaper, curl up in an oversized leather armchair by the roaring fire and enjoy a proper pint. And if you can’t be bothered to change for dinner, the maitre d’ won’t reach for the smelling salts.

Highs

Rye’s cobbled lanes are a joy to wander around

The inn has a deal with the nearby excellent Rye Retreat spa, which uses eco-trendy Aveda products

Lows

No onsite parking

Off season, the menu doesn’t vary much and the kitchen doesn’t make enough use of local produce

Details: 98 High Street Rye East Sussex TN31 7JT T; 01797 222114; stay@thegeorgeinrye.com
Doubles from £125, distance from London: 1hr 40min

Miller’s at Glencot House, Somerset

Idiosyncratic doesn’t even begin to describe this box of deights. The creation of Martin Miller of Miller’s Antiques Price Guide, Miller’s at Glencot House is so crammed full of his eclectic curios, it’s basically a warehouse with rooms. One wall is completely covered in Victorian china dolls, the cinema is an all-black, late-night assignation, the secret plunge pool is guarded over by a row of plastic ducks and glass dishes, overflowing with sweets, are dotted about everywhere. It is never knowingly underswagged and oozes an extraordinary, English eccentricity, delivered with great humour and such down-to-earth service that you almost end up thinking it’s normal to see peculiar objet d’arts dangling from the trees.

Highs

Despite its quirkiness, the attention to detail includes an overhaul of the plumbing so you won’t be woken by pipes

Bedrooms are lighter and less theatrical than the public areas

Lows

The food is perfectly nice but nothing particularly special

It’s hidden down a warren of lanes and very difficult to find

Details: Wells, Somerset, BA5 1BH; 01749 677160; relax@glencothouse.co.uk
Doubles from £165, distance from London: 3hr

Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, Oxfordshire

Raymond Blanc offers the art of French seduction in a brilliantly bucolic setting. Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons is impossibly cliche’d in all the right ways: the quaint village setting, the cobbled courtyard, afternoon tea by the croquet lawn. The operation is almost as smooth as its owner because M Blanc is nothing if not passionately meticulous. He once conducted a survey of how often waiters approached diners during a meal to ensure staff were being attentive without becoming intrusive. Rooms are themed with the 15th-century dovecote and the Opium Suite with its private garden the most popular. Don’t miss a kitchen tour before dinner to see the army of chefs at work and discover the precision planning required to produce the restaurant’s stunning two Michelin starred dishes.

Highs

The food is amazing

Service is very suave and fabulously French

Lows

It’s a bit over-logo’d which can feel a little conference hotel-ish

Some of the rooms are a bit of a hike from the main house

Details: Church Road, Great Milton, Oxford, OX44 7PD; 01844 278881; no email
Doubles from £410, distance from London: 1hr

Barnsley House, Cotswolds

This is the Dita Von Teese option where burleseque meets boutique: Barnsley House is unashamedly in your face. Rooms have glitterballs, dinosaur egg-size baths at the end of the beds and in some rooms, jacuzzis centrestage in the sitting rooms. The hotel’s tagline is “Don’t be afraid to indulge yourself”. In fact, it’s difficult to do anything else, particularly with complimentary champagne and homemade icecream filling up the minibar. Dine al fresco in its gorgeous gardens (it was formerly the home of internationally renowned gardener Rosemary Verey and the borders are beautiful), book into its sexy spa where the Ren treatments are top-notch, or reserve the cinema for a private screening of your favourite film. Yes, of course, the seats are the softest Italian leather… and bubblegum pink.

Highs

The vincigrassi maceratsese baked pasta dish of parma ham, porcini and truffles is indecently delicious

The hotel owns the pub across the road, perfect for a more casual lunch or pint

Lows

It’s all about the bedrooms so there is very little public area

The high-tech white goods in the bedrooms can be difficult to fathom

Details: Barnsley, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7; 01285 740000; info@barnsleyhouse.com
Doubles from £295, distance from London: 2hr

Stapleford Park, Leicestershire

Stapleford Park is a magnificent throwback to an age of elegance. The reception hall has wallpaper that is not only hand painted but hand stitched with the finest silk, the saloon is presided over by an impressive number of mounted stag’s heads, decor in the library would make even the most rabid anti-smoker want to light up a cigar and Jeeves would surely have approved of the polite request that gentlemen do not wear collarless shirts after 7pm. Rooms are luxurious but quaintly staid – there is a decanter of complimentary sloe gin rather than champers and old-fashioned boxy TVs and, as befits such traditional upper-class values, country pursuits are the order of the day. Fish for trout, canter across its 500 acres or try your hand at archery and falconry.

Highs

The grounds, designed by Capability Brown, are perfect for a lazy stroll Despite its grandeur, the atmosphere is decidely unstuffy

Lows

The spa in the former stables is let down by poor execution of treatments

The atmosphere in its AA two rosette restaurant can border on pretentious

Details: Stapleford, Nr Melton Mowbray, Sunny Leicestershire, LE14 2EF; 01572 787000; reservations@stapleford.co.uk
Doubles from £288, distance from London: 2hr 30min

The Crown Inn, Buckinghamshire

It’s an enticing combination: The Crown Inn was a location for our best ever rom-com Four Weddings and a Funeral and it has recently been Cinderella’d by the doyenne of British designers, Ilsa Crawford, turning it into the most modern of coaching inns. First a warning: the chintz is still in the process of being chucked (sadly, the suite where Andi finally fell for Hugh’s fringe remains a taste-free zone for now) so ensure you get a revamped room. These are understated and chic: using good, unfussy fabrics with a hint of hardwearing horseblanket about them, think Roberts radios rather than Bang & Olufsen and a brown Tetley teapot rather than an unworkable frappuccino-maker. Downstairs, there are low-flying blackened beams, walls with traditional plaster made from lime and horsehair, a hotch-potch of local Ercol chairs and plenty of pewter for a sense of the 16th century. The restaurant is presided over by the exuberant Rosie Sykes, the Guardian Weekend’s ex Kitchen Doctor, and is delicious and oh so British.

Highs

Old Amersham is incredibly cute, with plenty of browse-ability including a sweet shop that stocks old-fashioned favourites such as sherbet fountains and love hearts

You can take the Tube there, Amersham is the last stop on the Metropolitan Line

Lows

It’s difficult to sound proof a 16th-century inn adequately so it can be noisey, particularly at the front.

For an inn, its range of beers is pretty disappointing

Details: 16 High Street, Amersham, Bucks HP7 0DH; 01494 721 541; crownreception@coachinginn.co.uk
Doubles from £99, distance from London: 1hr

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