Looking for some interiors inspo, a spot of pampering and a bit of respite from the city? All three?
These minibreak options offer achingly-cool design cred and fabulous amenities in equal measure. Sure, you might think you’re signing up to a meal, a spa treatment or a chic getaway, but these interior designed-hotels are sure to send you home with bags of renovation ideas, too.
Distance from London: around one hour
Having designed the 21-bedroom ‘village’ and The Garden House restaurant at Beaverbrook — the luxurious country-house hotel near Leatherhead, Surrey — interior decorator Nicola Harding knows how to add five-star magic.
It’s the former, a recent addition to the sprawling estate once owned by late politician and newspaper publisher Lord Beaverbrook, that has discerning Londoners flocking in their droves. Differing to the grand design of the main house, the rooms are cuter and quirkier with vaulted ceilings and four-posters complemented by a playful Victorian cottage vibe complete with colourful gingham and striped fabrics.
Nicola Harding also designed Beaverbrook Townhouse on Sloane Street, Chelsea
Paul Massey
For food, there’s Mrs. Beeton’s — a modern take on a traditional London café — while the surrounding woodland sets the scene for wholesome countryside pursuits. For something a little closer to home, Nicola also designed the equally-sumptuous Beaverbrook Townhouse on Sloane Street, Chelsea, which opened its doors in 2021.
Distance from London: 90 minutes
Opened last month in the South Downs is The Alfriston with gorgeous décor courtesy of local interior designer Georgie Wykeham. Inspired by the countryside location and its rich history — the area once being home to the Bloomsbury Group, a prominent intellectual and artistic circle that included the likes of Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster — the interiors are warm and colourful with 38 bedrooms featuring the likes of copper baths, upcycled antiques, luxurious fabrics, snazzy wallpapers and upholstered headboards.
Warm, colourful interiors on show at The Alfriston, Sussex
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Downstairs, there’s the 1554 Brasserie with a menu that champions local suppliers for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the sun-soaked Orangery for quintessentially British afternoon tea and the Signet Spa with heated outdoor swimming pool and steam room.
1554 Brasserie at The Alfriston
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The Four Seasons, Hampshire
Distance from London: 40 minutes
The design powerhouse that is Martini Brudnizki — the man behind the décor at Instagrammable London hangouts such as Annabel’s and Bacchanalia — has lent this Midas touch to some of the public spaces at The Four Seasons in Hampshire, as well as the Royal Suite. From the reception and drawing room to the restaurant and lounge, his design is inspired by the 500-acres of pastoral countryside that surround the 18th-century manor with contemporary features providing flair and comfort.
Elsewhere, London-based RPW Design was enlisted for the bedrooms, again nodding to the rural environs with natural palettes and materials cleverly teamed with mod-cons like headboards with USB ports and TVs that blend into the wallpaper when not in use to avoid disrupting the design.
Distance from London: 90 minutes
Also designed by Nicola Harding — the talent behind the décor at Beaverbook – is The Rose in the quintessentially British seaside town of Deal. This time around, Nicola took her design cues from the fact that the great-grandson of the brewery’s former owner bought the freehold with his wife, the couple’s connection to its past inspiring her to evoke the whimsical charm of the 200-year-old building’s heyday.
One of the eight bedrooms at Nicola Harding-designed The Rose in Deal
Seth Carnill
The resulting spaces for the hotel, pub and restaurant are remarkable with eight characterful bedrooms complete with playful touches – think record players with vinyl collections and vintage sanitaryware in sugary colours with original fixtures and fittings replaced and meticulously restored – alongside unexpected colour pairings, rich textures, floral patterns and Mid-Century furniture.
The Rectory Hotel, Wiltshire
Distance from London: two hours
Want a slice of the Cotswolds but don’t have the budget (or the adjoining barns) of the Beckhams? The Rectory in the village of Crudwell in Wiltshire is a country-house hotel and restaurant that’s all about low-key luxury. The generous proportions of a Georgian building provide a surprisingly spacious backdrop to an interiors scheme by designer Natasha Hidvegi that incorporates original flagstone floors, ancient beams and inglenook fireplaces rather than ignores them.
F&B-coloured walls, opulent velvet sofas that simply beg to be sunk into
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F&B-coloured walls, opulent velvet sofas that simply beg to be sunk into, statement table lamps and well-curated accessories you’ll have to stop yourself from pinching abound in the bar, pub and restaurant, while the 15 bedrooms offer the likes of freestanding tubs, dramatic wallpapers, upholstered beds and sisal carpets. The Biggest Room – its official name – comes with a beautiful four-poster.
The George, Isle of Wight
Distance from London: Two-and-a-half hours
Martin Waller, the designer behind luxury furniture brand Andrew Martin, has added a sprinkle of his signature aesthetic to The George Hotel in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, recently reopened and reimagined. Whether through wallpaper, paint, furniture or cushions, every space throughout the boutique stay has been given a refresh ahead of the summer season to complement uninterrupted views of the sparkling coastline.
The 17-century townhouse, which features a quirky Italian-inspired beachfront garden, serves up a light and airy restaurant plus a driftwood-clad beach bar. Upstairs, there’s a raft of individually-styled rooms that range from bold to subtle with walls saturated in Andrew Martin’s classic prints such as Hedgerow and Psycho Sprig — the best of which comes with a private terrace. Better still, you can buy the Mythical Land wallpaper that envelops the four-poster bed in the Prestige Room.
Distance from London: two hours
Drawing on design inspiration from South Beach, The Nici on Bournemouth’s West Cliff has had a whopping £25m spent on the first phase of its mega refurbishment.
There’s a Delano-esque 30-metre outdoor heated pool, an award-winning luxury spa, a second restaurant in Old Harry Rocks alongside the South Beach Restaurant, Bar & Terrace, plus 88 slick and sexy bedrooms including Garden Hot Tub Suites (the surrounding grounds dotted with aesthetically-pleasing eucalyptus trees).
The interiors come courtesy of the Nicholas James Group, a Southampton-based studio, where Anthony Rudolph is brand director. His vision was to evoke overseas escapism in the design complete with vibrant colours, palm motifs and a whole lot of crisp, glossy white.
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