For a memorable stay in the UK, whether in a city or the country, you can count on British hospitality when it comes to the many boutique hotels there are up and down the British Isles. North, south, east, and west, the availability of luxury accommodations in Great Britain is exceptional. With room for every sort of traveler and budget, discover why the UK's reputation for luxury hotel rooms is so great and why all of your priorities, whether it is a private garden, a restaurant, or a hotel bar you can enter for some night life, can be met in full.
As soon as you enter the UK, you will notice what a remarkable country it is. This is often first and most noticeable among the many boutique hotels that now operate all over the country, not just in London and the other major cities, such as Edinburgh, Manchester, Cardiff, or Birmingham, for example, but in more rural locations, too, such as Norfolk in East Anglia. Whether you want a large, luxury hotel that can house hundreds of guests at once or something much smaller and more intimate, there will be suitable rooms you can book that have a great star rating and that are often available at surprisingly affordable prices. Read on to find out more about the boutique hotels of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Unlike some of the standard hotels you will find in England and the rest of the country, the UK has many great boutique rooms you can book in luxury establishments instead. These typically have a higher rating among visitors, as well as some of the best facilities. When you enter your boutique room, things get even more interesting. Bedrooms in boutique hotels tend to be not just larger but quirkier with one-off approaches to their style and decoration. Typically, you can expect a good view of the cityscape, local country, or beach. As well as offering comfortable bedrooms, boutique hotels tend to have contemporary art on their walls and other great fixtures and fittings. Indeed, some of the hotel rooms you can book in the UK are historic. If you fancy staying in a manor house or even an old castle during your stay, then you can. Booking a castle or room in a manor house might sound expensive but, depending on availability, the prices per night for these luxury rooms won't necessarily be out of reach.
When you enter the bar or restaurant of your luxury boutique hotel, you will notice the difference immediately. Even modern hotels that have boutique rooms have restaurant and bar facilities that are a cut above standard hotels. For one thing, the food and drink you can expect will be better. Of course, you can use your hotel restaurant for breakfast only, if you wish, and dine out elsewhere. However, with local sources of produce and well-prepared food on the menu every evening, using your boutique hotel as a bed and breakfast only would be a shame. Check out whether the hotel has a spa, too. You can often enter the hotel's spa without charge, but you may need to pay for treatments. In some cases, room prices include a spa treatment but this differs from hotel to hotel so check before you book if this is important to you. Note, too, that many boutique hotels in the West Country, Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, East Anglia, and Scottish Highlands are known for their superb gardens. If you'd like to enjoy a stroll in a great garden design in a place that welcomes every traveler with open arms, then the UK certainly has a lot to offer the length and breadth of the country. Some hotel gardens also have sporting facilities, such as golf courses, tennis courts and croquet lawns, too.
The answer to this question will concern every traveler who hasn't been to the UK before. If you enter the country through one of the major air hubs around London, then a hotel in the city or in the South of England will make sense to begin with. If you intend to head north, then there are plenty of boutique hotels you can choose on either side of the Pennines in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cumbria. Further north still, and the city of Edinburgh shouldn't be missed. It offers numerous hotel options with comfortable, well-appointed rooms. Even further north, Highland destinations like Inverness offer unparalleled natural beauty you can view at every turn. That said, the East of England, also known as East Anglia, is a good place to stay when seeking luxury hotel accommodation. Alternatively, consider the West Country. Counties in Western England, such as Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall, offer a warm welcome and some dramatic coastline. You can also find this in Wales and Northern Ireland, particularly the stretches of coast along County Antrim, on Northern Ireland's north coast, or the Gower Peninsula in South Wales. Guests often comment about just how picturesque the UK is in these parts of the country so it often works out well to get out of the city and not just visit places like London, Cambridge and Edinburgh, fine destinations that they undoubtedly are.
Although booking a hotel in a former castle, manor house, or inn might sound charming, the fact is that some of the UK's best boutique hotel rooms are now found in more modern establishments, too. When you enter a traditional hotel, whether in the north or the south of the country, you will certainly pick up on the local atmosphere. Many of these hotels are hundreds of years old, and they often have art that's been displayed for nearly as long. These are historic features you won't find in a more modern boutique hotel, of course. That said, modern rooms tend to have the best facilities with air-conditioning in the summer and climate controls in the winter. When you enter more modern boutique bedrooms, the rooms may be less characterful, but you will still often get a great view, often with your own garden or balcony to enjoy. Of course, there are style differences when you compare a historic luxury hotel in the city of Oxford to a modern hotel on the Norfolk coast, for example. That said, you'll be welcomed with open arms wherever you choose to stay, so why not choose two hotels, one modern and one traditional, in different parts of the country and sample the best of both worlds during your stay?
