William Wolfe’s 100 best British hotels
The best hotels in South & South West
The 28 hotels in South & South West that made Mr Wolfe’s hundred: privately owned where possible, historic, beautifully placed and properly run.
C
New Forest, HampshireChewton GlenA Georgian country house on the edge of the New Forest, a short stroll from the sea, with treehouses in the woods for those who never quite…L
New Forest, Hampshire · within 90 minutes of LondonLime WoodA Regency hunting lodge deep in the New Forest, where ponies wander past the windows and the interiors are a lesson in expensive…P
New Forest, Hampshire · within 90 minutes of LondonThe Pig, BrockenhurstThe original Pig, a rambling country house with a kitchen garden that dictates the menu and a radius of 25 miles for everything else. It…H
Hampshire · within 90 minutes of LondonHeckfield PlaceA pristine Georgian mansion with contemporary interiors at once ultra-chic and soothingly low-key, set in 400 acres of parkland. The farm…C
Taplow, Berkshire · within 90 minutes of LondonCliveden HouseThe Astors’ palace above the Thames, where the Profumo affair began beside the swimming pool. Cliveden has been the scene of more political…C
Ascot, Berkshire · within 90 minutes of LondonCoworth ParkA Georgian mansion in 240 acres beside Windsor Great Park, with its own polo fields and stables. Coworth Park is where to stay for Royal…B
Leatherhead, Surrey · within 90 minutes of LondonBeaverbrookLord Beaverbrook’s country house, where Churchill, Kipling and half the Cabinet came to plot over dinner. Now a hotel of great style, with…N
Veryan, CornwallThe NareThe Oslo Court of country hotels, and I mean that as the highest compliment. Cocktails, jacketed men, sherry before dinner, coronation…A
Arundel, West Sussex · within 90 minutes of LondonAmberley CastleA 900-year-old castle with a working portcullis that is lowered each night. There is nothing quite so reassuring as being locked in with a…G
West Sussex · within 90 minutes of LondonGravetye ManorAn Elizabethan manor house set within William Robinson’s celebrated garden, the birthplace of the English natural garden. In June, the…N
Bruton, SomersetThe Newt in SomersetA Georgian house, a deer park, a cyder press and a garden of such scale and ambition that one half-expects Capability Brown to wander out…B
Frome, SomersetBabington HouseThe country house that taught London how to relax. Babington is a Georgian pile with a lake, a cricket pitch and a crowd of creative types…L
Colerne, Wiltshire · within 90 minutes of LondonLucknam ParkA Palladian mansion at the end of a mile-long avenue of beech and lime. Arriving at Lucknam Park is one of the great English experiences…W
Malmesbury, Wiltshire · within 90 minutes of LondonWhatley ManorA Cotswold stone manor with gardens divided into rooms like a very well-planned house. Whatley Manor is quietly, determinedly luxurious…R
Bath · within 90 minutes of LondonThe Royal Crescent HotelBehind the honey-coloured façade of the most famous crescent in Europe lies a secret garden and a hotel of great charm. One feels compelled…B
Bath · within 90 minutes of LondonThe Bath PrioryA Gothic house in four acres of gardens, a short walk from the centre of Bath yet as quiet as a country estate. It is a hotel for grown-ups…S
Evershot, DorsetSummer LodgeA Georgian dower house, enlarged by Thomas Hardy himself, in a village of such Dorset perfection that one expects Tess to pass by with a…E
Tavistock, DevonHotel EndsleighBuilt as a rustic retreat for the Duke of Bedford in the early 19th century, this prettiest of all country house hotels sits in 100 acres…B
Bigbury-on-Sea, DevonBurgh Island HotelAn Art Deco seaside hotel straight from the pages of Agatha Christie. At high tide, a sea tractor ferries guests the short distance from…G
Chagford, DevonGidleigh ParkA Tudor-style house on the edge of Dartmoor with a river at the foot of the lawn and moorland stretching beyond. Gidleigh Park has long…T
St Mawes, CornwallHotel TresantonA small but extremely stylish seaside hotel in St Mawes, one of Cornwall’s prettiest villages. Light, bright and airy, rooms feature…I
St Mawes, CornwallThe Idle RocksPerched on the harbour wall in St Mawes, The Idle Rocks feels like a Riviera hotel that has taken up sailing. Every window frames a boat, a…W
Newquay, CornwallWatergate BayA family-owned hotel on two miles of golden beach, where surfers and grandparents mix with great ease. It is relaxed to the point of…H
Bryher, Isles of ScillyHell Bay HotelOn the wildest edge of the smallest inhabited Scilly, Hell Bay is about as far from Piccadilly as one can travel without a passport.…S
St Mary’s, Isles of ScillyStar Castle HotelAn Elizabethan fortress built in the shape of an eight-pointed star to repel the Armada. It is now a hotel with a much warmer welcome than…P
Honiton, DevonThe Pig at CombeAn Elizabethan manor at the end of a long drive through a Devon valley, with oak panels, enormous fireplaces and the Pig’s inimitable…B
Dartmoor, DevonBovey CastleA Jacobean-style mansion built for Viscount Hambleden of W.H. Smith fame, set in 275 acres of Dartmoor National Park. There is a golf…M
Castle Combe, Wiltshire · within 90 minutes of LondonThe Manor HouseA 14th-century manor house in what is often called the prettiest village in England, and I see no reason to argue. A golf course, a river…
New Forest, HampshireChewton GlenA Georgian country house on the edge of the New Forest, a short stroll from the sea, with treehouses in the woods for those who never quite…L
New Forest, Hampshire · within 90 minutes of LondonLime WoodA Regency hunting lodge deep in the New Forest, where ponies wander past the windows and the interiors are a lesson in expensive…P
New Forest, Hampshire · within 90 minutes of LondonThe Pig, BrockenhurstThe original Pig, a rambling country house with a kitchen garden that dictates the menu and a radius of 25 miles for everything else. It…H
Hampshire · within 90 minutes of LondonHeckfield PlaceA pristine Georgian mansion with contemporary interiors at once ultra-chic and soothingly low-key, set in 400 acres of parkland. The farm…C
Taplow, Berkshire · within 90 minutes of LondonCliveden HouseThe Astors’ palace above the Thames, where the Profumo affair began beside the swimming pool. Cliveden has been the scene of more political…C
Ascot, Berkshire · within 90 minutes of LondonCoworth ParkA Georgian mansion in 240 acres beside Windsor Great Park, with its own polo fields and stables. Coworth Park is where to stay for Royal…B
Leatherhead, Surrey · within 90 minutes of LondonBeaverbrookLord Beaverbrook’s country house, where Churchill, Kipling and half the Cabinet came to plot over dinner. Now a hotel of great style, with…N
Veryan, CornwallThe NareThe Oslo Court of country hotels, and I mean that as the highest compliment. Cocktails, jacketed men, sherry before dinner, coronation…A
Arundel, West Sussex · within 90 minutes of LondonAmberley CastleA 900-year-old castle with a working portcullis that is lowered each night. There is nothing quite so reassuring as being locked in with a…G
West Sussex · within 90 minutes of LondonGravetye ManorAn Elizabethan manor house set within William Robinson’s celebrated garden, the birthplace of the English natural garden. In June, the…N
Bruton, SomersetThe Newt in SomersetA Georgian house, a deer park, a cyder press and a garden of such scale and ambition that one half-expects Capability Brown to wander out…B
Frome, SomersetBabington HouseThe country house that taught London how to relax. Babington is a Georgian pile with a lake, a cricket pitch and a crowd of creative types…L
Colerne, Wiltshire · within 90 minutes of LondonLucknam ParkA Palladian mansion at the end of a mile-long avenue of beech and lime. Arriving at Lucknam Park is one of the great English experiences…W
Malmesbury, Wiltshire · within 90 minutes of LondonWhatley ManorA Cotswold stone manor with gardens divided into rooms like a very well-planned house. Whatley Manor is quietly, determinedly luxurious…R
Bath · within 90 minutes of LondonThe Royal Crescent HotelBehind the honey-coloured façade of the most famous crescent in Europe lies a secret garden and a hotel of great charm. One feels compelled…B
Bath · within 90 minutes of LondonThe Bath PrioryA Gothic house in four acres of gardens, a short walk from the centre of Bath yet as quiet as a country estate. It is a hotel for grown-ups…S
Evershot, DorsetSummer LodgeA Georgian dower house, enlarged by Thomas Hardy himself, in a village of such Dorset perfection that one expects Tess to pass by with a…E
Tavistock, DevonHotel EndsleighBuilt as a rustic retreat for the Duke of Bedford in the early 19th century, this prettiest of all country house hotels sits in 100 acres…B
Bigbury-on-Sea, DevonBurgh Island HotelAn Art Deco seaside hotel straight from the pages of Agatha Christie. At high tide, a sea tractor ferries guests the short distance from…G
Chagford, DevonGidleigh ParkA Tudor-style house on the edge of Dartmoor with a river at the foot of the lawn and moorland stretching beyond. Gidleigh Park has long…T
St Mawes, CornwallHotel TresantonA small but extremely stylish seaside hotel in St Mawes, one of Cornwall’s prettiest villages. Light, bright and airy, rooms feature…I
St Mawes, CornwallThe Idle RocksPerched on the harbour wall in St Mawes, The Idle Rocks feels like a Riviera hotel that has taken up sailing. Every window frames a boat, a…W
Newquay, CornwallWatergate BayA family-owned hotel on two miles of golden beach, where surfers and grandparents mix with great ease. It is relaxed to the point of…H
Bryher, Isles of ScillyHell Bay HotelOn the wildest edge of the smallest inhabited Scilly, Hell Bay is about as far from Piccadilly as one can travel without a passport.…S
St Mary’s, Isles of ScillyStar Castle HotelAn Elizabethan fortress built in the shape of an eight-pointed star to repel the Armada. It is now a hotel with a much warmer welcome than…P
Honiton, DevonThe Pig at CombeAn Elizabethan manor at the end of a long drive through a Devon valley, with oak panels, enormous fireplaces and the Pig’s inimitable…B
Dartmoor, DevonBovey CastleA Jacobean-style mansion built for Viscount Hambleden of W.H. Smith fame, set in 275 acres of Dartmoor National Park. There is a golf…M
Castle Combe, Wiltshire · within 90 minutes of LondonThe Manor HouseA 14th-century manor house in what is often called the prettiest village in England, and I see no reason to argue. A golf course, a river…