Capital Escapes

Staying somewhere special has never felt so appealing. Here’s our pick of the best hotels within easy reach of London

- NATASHA FOGES

For much of the last year, we haven’t been able to travel in the way we used to, but the longing to stay somewhere new, to escape the everyday for a day or more, hasn’t abated. We’ve compiled a wishlist of special places to stay once restrictions are eased, all set in tranquil countryside within an hour of the capital. Which would you choose? For a country-house hotel with history, Cliveden reigns supreme. There’s been a house on this site since the 17th century, playing host to every monarch from George I onwards, and home to three Dukes, an Earl and Frederick Prince of Wales. The hotel prides itself on its historic pedigree, and the interiors are wonderfully in keeping – everywhere you look are suits of armour, tapestries, portraits and statuary. Whether you’re having a cocktail in the wood-panelled bar, relaxing in your antiques-filled room, or dining in the ornate French Dining Room – transported in its entirety from France’s Château d’Asnières by one-time owner William Waldorf Astor in 1897 – you can’t fail to be transported to a bygone era.

The hotel is surrounded by 376 acres of National Trust parkland on the banks of the Thames – meaning uninterrupted views of the gardens and leafy Berkshire countryside from your breakfast table. Make time for the Cliveden Spa, whose focal point is an outdoor pool in the walled garden. It’s famous as the scene of the first meeting of Christine Keeler and John Profumo, which ignited the scandalous Profumo Affair that rocked the Establishment in 1960s Britain. Yet another layer of history that makes a stay here unique.