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The Best Luxury Hotels
Historic Luxury Hotels
Brown's Hotel (London; tel. 020/7493-6020; www.brownshotel.com): All Chippendale and chintz, Brown's was launched by the former manservant to Lord Byron in 1837, and it has been going strong ever since. Today, it occupies 14 historic houses just off Berkeley Square and coddles its well-heeled guests in luxury.
Chewton Glen Hotel (New Milton, Hampshire; tel. 800/344-5087 in the U.S., or 01425/275341; www.chewtonglen.com): This hotel is the best place to stay in southwest England. Service, taste, and quality are its hallmarks. The health club has a stunning design, with a centerpiece swimming pool and 28 hectares (70 acres) of manicured grounds. Guest rooms feature period furniture. And the meals served in the Marryat Room Restaurant are prepared with first-rate ingredients.
The Lygon Arms (Broadway, Cotswolds; tel. 01386/852255; www.thelygonarms.co.uk): Dating from 1532, this fabled inn in the Cotswolds has hosted many famous guests -- Charles I used to drop in, and even Oliver Cromwell spent a night here, on the eve of the Battle of Worcester. Some of the inn's antiques are listed in The Dictionary of English Furniture. Request a room in the Tudor Wing with its tilted oak floors and wooden beams. Number 20, with its massive canopied bed, is our favorite.
Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel (Lake Ullswater, the Lake District; tel. 01768/486301; www.sharrowbay.co.uk): This gem is known as much for its cuisine as for its accommodations. The location alone would justify checking in: a 4.8-hectare (12-acre) site, with several gardens, in a national park on bucolic Lake Ullswater, beneath Barton Fell. The lakeside dining room offers panoramic views of the water, and you can always find something delectable on the menu.
Bodysgallen Hall (Llandudno, North Wales; tel. 01492/584466; www.bodysgallen.com): One of Wales's greatest country-house hotels, this 17th-century mansion lies on 81 hectares (200 acres) of gardens and parkland. Even though an antique, it oozes with modern comforts while retaining its charms in elegantly furnished suites.
Modern Luxury Hotels
The Sanderson (London; tel. 800/697-1791 or 020/7300-1400; www.sandersonlondon.com): Ian Schrager, king of New York hip, took an office building near Oxford Street and turned it into a bastion of modern luxury living -- or, as they call it, an "ethereal, transparent urban spa." The menu and concept for the restaurant were the creation of the great Alain Ducasse.
Jonathans (Birmingham; tel. 01214/293757; www.jonathans.co.uk): This modern hotel looks like an antique -- but it's not. Set within a classic 19th-century country house outside Birmingham, it's been recycled and brilliantly converted into a hotel. Although it's filled with Victoriana, including four-poster beds and fireplaces, its facilities are up to date. The bedrooms are all suites and furnished individually.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
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