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A NEW COLLECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSE HOTELS IS INFLUENCING OUR OWN INTERIORS. WE MEET THE DESIGNERS ENCOURAGING US TO TAKE THEIR IDEAS BACK HOME WITH US

- PATRICK HAMILTON

There was a time when country house hotels were a humbler proposition. Often family run, they provided their guests with simple pleasures: newspapers by the fire, good food, a comfortable bed in a grand setting. They were homely and definitely not setting the style zeitgeist as they do today.

Their shift to modernity didn’t happen overnight, but gained momentum when the doors opened to Babington House about 20 years ago. A Georgian property near Frome in Somerset, Babington ushered in a sense of cool. In came the leather club chairs, velvets and ikat prints – influencing the way so many of us decorate today – and exciting interiors became a prerequisite to success. ‘English country houses, even smart ones, were rarely buzzy or glamorous, and they’ve had to reinvent themselves,’ says Fiona Duncan, hotel expert for Telegraph Travel. As the market for weekend breaks expanded and the clientele became younger, the experience had to change to match.

Fast-forward two decades and the scene is unrecognisable. Gone are the mahogany-panelled temples to chintz, with a new breed of sleek lifestyle destinations taking their place. New ventures over the past few years have moved the look on – greens, teals and geometrics now abound. This has influenced decorating as a whole, as hotel guests take the trends back home.