The best UK hotels for a special occasion

The countryside one

Leonardslee, near Horsham, West Sussex

Celebratory creds
It’s an Italianate 19th century house and woodland gardens rescued over a period of years by South African entrepreneur Penny Streeter, with the restored Grade I listed gardens re-opening in 2019 and the house’s transformation into a hotel completed in 2021. It’s quite the destination. Plus: where else are you greeted coming up the drive by frollicking wallabies? (They were introduced by naturalist owner Sir Edmund Loder in 1889.)

The food and drink
Interlude restaurant has won chef Jean Delport a Michelin star for its 18 course menu with a ‘hunter-gatherer’ ethos of food foraged and raised on or near to the estate. That includes everything from venison and rabbit to winter # purslane and bracken (!) to sap tapped laboriously from the silver birch trees (an estate map shows you where each course came from).

The meal is an evening-long, one-sitting, occasionally bonkers adventure, the out-there cooking featuring plenty of surprising delights, from cod paired winningly with elderflower to a crisp chicken’s foot (like an avian pork scratching) to chocolate twigs and toffee leaves in an exquisite pud.

Leonardslee’s own gin is a good one, wines from the Streeters’ South African estate are excellent and they’ve even planted the UK’s first pinotage vineyard in the grounds.

The multi-course set breakfast is perhaps a bit too creative if you just fancy a bacon sandwich, but you have to applaud the sheer ambition of it all.

The rooms
They’re Netflix-period-drama beautiful, with thick floral wallpaper in yellows and apple greens. Each room was styled by a different design house, overseen by interior designer Fiona Parke, and they range from Classic (no bath but still large bathroom) to Deluxe (huge suites). There are fancy Tyneham toiletries and bottles of South Downs water (as well as the Streeter estate’s wines to buy). The Magnolia suite is a beauty if you’re splashing out.

What’s not so great?
If you demand exclusivity for your buck, you might find it a bit irritating that, outside, visitors to the gardens and café are milling about all over the place.

The cost
Doubles from £365 B&B. Estate Experience menu (Thu-Sun from 6pm) £160.

The cosy one

The Dipping Lugger, Ullapool, Scotland 

Celebratory creds
Up on Scotland’s glorious northwest coast, this tiny inn was once the parish manse. It overlooks Loch Broom, which offers stunning vistas come rain or shine. When the mist descends over the mountains beyond, the moody scene is truly magnificent.

The village of Ullapool is a worthy stop if you’re exploring the west coast, and from here you can take the ferry to the celebrated Outer Hebrides, but when the Dipping Lugger opened in 2021, it brought a new excuse to linger in the village.

The food and drink
Head Chef David Smith’s passion for the local surroundings shines through in all seven dishes of the tasting menu, which changes most days. Come with a willing-to-try-anything attitude and allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised at the inspired combinations, such as locally caught Loch Broom oysters served with champagne granita and an apple, cucumber and mirin dressing. Another standout: succulent fillet of roe deer, dusted with a liquorish root powder, served with a haunch pithivier and a gloriously sticky red cabbage purée.

A well-chosen wine pairing can be served with your lunch or dinner, and it’s almost mandatory to try the Seven Crofts gin, which is made by the owners (their other business is the Highland Liquor Company).

Breakfast is an enjoyable miniature tasting menu. Watch the morning boats set out of the harbour as you enjoy toast with freshly made preserves, cured Scottish salmon and a chorizo poached-egg muffin stack.

The rooms
There are just three, all exquisitely designed suites with more space than you could need, with enormous beds, rolltop bathtubs – and more of those panoramic views. Thoughtful touches include homemade chilli shortbread from the chef. On the way back to your room after dinner, stop off at the hotel’s honesty bar and tuck-shop, stocked with local whiskies, good wines, biscuits and sweets.

What’s not so great?
The village of Ullapool is sleepy and quiet, which is wonderful for kicking back, but not so great if you’re looking for a buzzy Saturday night.

The cost
Dinner (seven-course tasting menu), bed and breakfast for two people starts at £410. Wine flight £55.

The ultra-foodie one

Moor Hall, Aughton, Lancashire 

Celebratory creds
It’s all about the two restaurants here. The main one has two Michelin stars and several awards. When you step through the door into the 16th century entrance hall you’re made to feel special, encouraged to restore yourself with tea, slivers of pork pie and posh cake amid wood panelling and open fires, with a counterpoint of modern art and furniture.

In five acres of grounds are a pond and walled organic kitchen garden whose raised beds could win a medal at Chelsea. Many of the kitchen’s ingredients have travelled only a few feet. There’s a cheese-maturing room, and they even make their own charcuterie.

The food and drink
Head chef Mark Birchall’s kitchen, lined with jewel-like jars of pickles and ferments, is open to the main restaurant, all pale wood and glass – a modern rendition of a tithe barn. The focus is on the tasting menu – mighty fine, but there’s a serious amount of food involved so go easy on the bread.

The menu evolves constantly and dishes are layered with light-touch sauces decorated with delicate petals and herbs from the garden. Every dish is an artistic gem, book-ended by outstanding charcuterie, laminated bread (with hundreds of thin, flaky layers) and a finale of sweet morsels (exquisite macarons and the like) displayed like a sweetshop window. The wine flight goes beyond the ordinary too.

The Barn, with one Michelin star, is rustic and more relaxed. If you can stretch to a two-night stay, do Barn first, fine dining second.

Breakfast: everything local (best sausages and black pudding we’ve tasted). The pastries, preserves and bread (all made on the premises) are excellent too.

The rooms
There are seven and the beds are collapse-into comfortable. Jars of homemade biscuits were a nice touch. The bathrooms exude marble glamour, with towels so fluffy they’re almost too thick to fold.

What’s not so great?
Moor Hall is pricey – as you would expect. This is an ultra-special place with a higher price tag to match – but (important) it’s less than you’d pay at other restaurants or hotels with comparable food, setting and service.

They could cut a course from the tasting menu. It’s all so good; just a bit too much.

The cost
Fine-dining restaurant: Provenance menu £225; Dinner B&B from £700 for two. Barn: set menus from £36pp.

The traditional one

Bodysgallen Hall & Spa, Snowdonia, Wales 

Celebratory creds
Up here on the edge of Snowdonia, the 17th century house that’s the heart of Bodysgallen is so perfectly preserved, you might imagine it’s owned by the National Trust – and indeed it is. Don’t come here for flashiness – it’s refreshingly old-school: no piped music, the dining formal and an atmosphere of calm and quiet. Sounds are muffled by drapes and fabrics, and only recently did the hotel drop its jacket-required code.

The 200 acres of parkland and Arts & Crafts gardens, as you’d expect from the NT, are a delight, and you can spend an hour or two walking around them. There are views too: on a warm evening perusing the menu on the terrace, you can see Snowdonia and the Conwy mountain range in the distance. Bonus: there’s a spa with an indoor pool you can do proper lengths in. Service is formal but friendly. There are good walks from the hotel and it’s a 10-minute drive to pretty Conwy with its famous castle.

The food and drink
The dining room is all thick tablecloths, candles and polished silverware. In summer, try to get a table by the window with mountain views. Some of the handsomely constructed dishes come from the kitchen garden. It’s a reassuringly traditional three courses and there’s also an excellent vegetarian menu. Curry-flavoured bread was a hit, as were ham hock croquettes, and avocado sorbet with local crab. Conwy lamb and pork feature too. Sweet highlights included rhubarb sorbet with poached rhubarb and tonka bean parfait.

The wine list is bewilderingly huge but there are plenty of reasonably priced bottles on it, and eight house wines from £35, all available by the glass.

The rooms
The ones in the main house, with its authentically creaky staircases, have the best atmosphere, and even standard ones are a good size with huge comfy beds. Valances are of course in place and the bathrooms are charmingly old fashioned, albeit with modernity-powered water pressure and Penhaligon’s smellies. There are also more modern rooms a short walk from main house.

What’s not so great?
If you like a buzzing atmosphere, it’s not the place for you. Dinner is a hushed affair. If the wind’s in a certain direction, you may also get a little traffic noise from the A470, which is quite close.

The cost
Doubles from £240 B&B. Fine-dining three course dinner (Wed-Sun) £74. Less formal dinner Mon-Tue from £27 for two courses.

The seaside one

St Enodoc, Rock, Cornwall

Celebratory creds
Great food in a stunning setting with a laidback-to-horizontal vibe – it feels like being in a gorgeous family home. The hotel looks out over the Camel Estuary – golden sand, bobbing yachts and glittering sea (sunshine permitting), with improbably green fields in the distance.

St Enodoc has two restaurants – one fine dining, one a relaxed bistro – so if you want to stay more than one night and eat in, you have choice. There’s an emphasis on relaxed comfort in the communal rooms – lots of books and squishy sofas with big windows overlooking a garden sweeping down towards the sea. They grow some of their own fruit and veg, too.

The hotel is within five minutes’ walk of one of the country’s best beaches, at Rock, for reviving walks along the water’s edge, through dunes or round the headland – or nip across the estuary in the ferry to Padstow (best out of season) for shopping and Stein-spotting.

The food and drink
More noise needs to be made about executive chef Guy Owen, who has ably filled the shoes of Nathan Outlaw (now up the coast in Port Isaac). Guy is a serious talent. The shiny-burnished fluffy-light sharing roll is the first hint of excellence to come. The menu is set and changes constantly; memorable dishes when we visited were the freshest mackerel sashimi; seared scallop in an intense spoonful of sauce that brought to mind one word: sea; and pollock with a creamy Milanese risotto. In the bistro the burgers and fishcakes are great. Wine is reasonably priced with a broad-ranging list.

The rooms
Comfortable and light-flooded, with white walls, bright art and textiles in shades of sky blue, mustard yellow and vibrant green. Several rooms have a window seat (gotta love a window seat). Bathrooms are smart and functional rather than uber-luxury.

What’s not so great?
The fine-dining room is slightly soulless, which is a shame because the food is worth making a detour for. Intimate lighting and more art would make a difference.

The cost
Doubles from £170 B&B. Karrek restaurant: £65 for a six-course tasting menu; nine-courser, £100 (wine flight £70). Brasserie: set menu £35 for three courses.