The UK’s hottest new hotels
The arrival of spring brings with it a whole host of new hotel openings, selected by hotel expert Ianthe Butt
From a trio of London hotels – including the capital’s “sexiest new rooftop swimming pool” – to a Georgian property in the New Forest, here are six of the best new hotel openings in the UK.
Location: Ashford, Kent
Bringing a debonaire, down to earth restaurant with rooms to oft-overlooked Ashford – 15 minutes from Folkestone – are first-time hoteliers Brad and Kristie Lomas. The couple, he the former operations director at the East London Pub Co, and she the co-founder of creative King’s Cross hotspot Drink, Shop & Do, have – along with friends and family – transformed a leaky-roofed, chop-and-changed usage Jacobean manor into an appealing food-focused getaway.
At its heart is the handsome 70-cover oak-beamed dining room, lit by willow-wicker lampshades and bookended by a roaring fire and antique mirror-backed bar. Since opening last autumn, chef Shane Pearson’s seasonal, cooked-over-fire dishes, such as butternut squash gnocchi with salted ricotta, steak and stilton pie, and apple crumble soufflé have deservedly caused a stir among local foodies. Now, those from further afield can get in on the act, with the opening of seven bedrooms (and three more to come), meaning full-bellied guests can patter upstairs to slumber after supper.
Each bedroom is named for a character from Boys Hall’s past, and decor weaves history with a touch of contemporary, rather sumptuous escapism. Stone mullion windows, heraldry motifs and original hall-house beams rub up against velvet sofas, Pelegrims toiletries, Lost Sheep Roastery coffee and James Kirkpatrick ceramics. Eaves room, Banks, is named for former tenant, wool smuggler Lawrence Banks, while Sovereign nods to a hoard of gold coins discovered here in the 1970s.
While boutique hotel hallmarks – licks of green and burgundy Farrow and Ball, Roberts Radios and photogenic bathtubs – are present and correct, layering of antique furnishings – a stout Charles II dresser here, a walnut four-poster there – give each room a distinct personality. Other draws include clandestine-feel, low-lit wood-clad pub, with burgundy walls and ceilings, and gardens, which have been transformed from a mess of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids brambles to reveal a formal lawn, geranium and salvia-filled borders and a fledgeling rose garden.
From £160, B&B, Weds-Sun (with a two-night minimum stay at weekends).
Read more: The best hotels in Kent
Location: Aldeburgh, Suffolk
With its rich musical and artistic heritage, shingle beach, pastel beachfront houses, family-run fish shacks and wind-whipped walks to Slaughden’s marshes and Martello tower, Aldeburgh has long been a summer staycation classic. Adding to its out of season magnetism is a new destination restaurant with six rooms, The Suffolk. It’s the brainchild of George Pell, formerly of beloved French restaurant L’Escargot in Soho, who’s swapped the city for the Suffolk coast and has injected new life into a former inn, set one road back from the shore on Aldeburgh’s high street. Here, chef James Jay’s provenance-focused plates of Butley lobster with garlic butter, BBQ monkfish and samphire, cheese soufflés, panisse dusted with seaweed salt, and Pump St chocolate delice, pull in punters to the welcoming mid-century, Scandi vibe restaurant, which has a smoked herringbone oak-floored dining room, coral and blue beachy touches and scallop lighting.
There’s also a home away from home feel vinyl-soundtracked lounge, ideal for post-swim warm ups, or to settle with a glass of French wine, a Fisher’s G&T or a sea buckthorn margarita. Staff are a friendly bunch who are tapped into local happenings, and as for slumbering, six serene bedrooms with bird-and-plant adorned upholstery, marshy green and heather palettes and cork-floored bathrooms sit upstairs, as well as a terrace which will be a delight come summer. In-room minibars have been upgraded to a communal pantry stocked with Ploughman’s platter goodies and pre-mixed cocktails – just the thing for midnight feasts.
From £180, room-only.
Read more: The best hotels in Suffolk
Location: Battersea Power Station, London
Serving up a colour-popping stay in the urban swell of the new Battersea Power Station development, inside a portion of the Foster and Partners-designed Battersea Roof Gardens, comes the first UK outpost from art’otel. True to the brand’s rooted in art approach, bold interiors at the 164-room hotel have been dreamt up by Spanish artist-designer Jaime Hayon and are as striking as the views out to the neighbouring Power Station. Eye-catching is the watchword decor-wise; in the lounge, a crimson cabinet’s lined with ceramics and curio, and surreal photographs pair playing cards with bowler hats, while at ground floor TOZI Grand Cafe, diners nibble zucchini fritti underneath a mobile-style chandelier. Tongue-in-cheek touches in colourful bedrooms include spectacle-shaped mirrors, Catch chairs in bumblebee yellow and salmon and Hayon’s striking prints. Showers are stocked with Kevin Murphy toiletries, and in a fitting touch, top suites have record players with Pink Floyd’s Animals – sheathed in its famed Power Station and floating pig jacket – ready to spin.
On the 14th and 15th floors is two-level Russell Sage Studio-designed bar and restaurant JOIA – a Wes Anderson vision in sugared almond shades with floor to ceiling views. Enjoy Esmeralda cocktails (basil-infused gin with mint and matcha) before heading up the Gatsby-esque staircase for tasty Iberian fare – grilled leeks with almond romesco, bumper two/three serving plates of wild mushroom rice with Azorean cheese, or monkfish and red prawn stew – from acclaimed Portuguese chef Henrique Sá Pessoa, of Lisbon’s two Michelin-starred Alba.
The piece de resistance? Up top is London’s sexiest new rooftop swimming pool – only bookable by residents – a heated number with a jacuzzi at one end. The Power Station views are properly pinch-yourself. As for the Power Station itself? Don’t miss booking in to new sky-high attraction, Lift 109, which, after an interactive introduction to the industrial powerhouse’s history, whizzes up the northwest chimney for a rather special 360-degree “reveal” of the city.
Location: Shepherds Bush, London
For their fourth London outpost, zeitgeisty brand The Hoxton have touched down in west London. In a prime location next to Shepherd’s Bush Green, the 237-room property is close to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, and just a short walk to the likes of boundary-pushing Bush Hall and The Bush Theatre.
The hotel’s characterful communal spaces are already heaving with laptop tappers and caffeinating co-workers settling into 1970s-style mustard tub chairs by day, and after-work dates sipping watermelon coolers by the wraparound reeded maple bar. Thai-Americana restaurant Chet’s has been decked out in Wes Anderson meets 1950s diner style, with peach columns and arches, banquette seating, glass-topped tables (complete with retro napkin holders) neon signage, and potted plants aplenty. Informal and fun, highlights include Kris Yenbamroong’s lemongrass-tofu larb fritters, pleasingly garlicky served in the pineapple rice and mushroom and provolone roti.
Whether a 14.5sqm “snug” or a 35sqm “biggy”, attractive bedrooms all have touch of apricot walls, wave-shaped headboards and rainfall showers. Other flashpoints include the first physical shop for online zero-waste store Plastic Freedom, a “takeaway” tips board for guests to pop local discoveries on and, at Chet’s, diners can add a £1 donation to The People’s Kitchen – which provides those in need with a hot dinner – to the bill.
Location: Richmond, London
Hot on the heels of the revamped Richmond Harbour Hotel, another long-standing property in this leafy London suburb has a new look. The former Quinn’s Hotel, a budget crashpad on Sheen Road close to Richmond Station, has been smartened up from a two-star number to a 50-room property far more in keeping with its beautiful Victorian townhouse bones (the front of which comes alive with violet wisteria in springtime).
Pleasant and practical rooms with tasseled throws, bitesize Green & Blacks chocolate and Zero% toiletries are dressed with cantaloupe-adorned cushions and black and white Porsche prints, while corridors are hung with arty coffee table-style photography – think fashion shots by Richard Avedon, and line drawings of brightly feathered tropical birds.
A chequerboard-floored lobby – with reception often staffed by history enthusiast, Andrea – leads to The Paisley Room, a small restaurant bar with red banquette seating, where simple buffet breakfasts and no-fuss hot food – such as fluffy ham and cheese omelettes – are served without unnecessary flourish.
Close to Richmond’s pretty cobbled streets, shops and the riverside, the property’s already a hit with business travellers, particularly the smallest cabin rooms, as well as rugby fans looking for a home from home close to Twickenham.
Read more: The best hotels in London
Location: Lymington, New Forest
Also looking sharp after a multimillion pound refurbishment is the 27-room Stanwell House Hotel in New Forest market town Lymington. Offering convenience for both land and sea adventures, this Georgian property sits in the middle of the High Street, a short walk from the Quayside, the Keyhaven Marshes and Lymington Station.
Behind a smart monochrome frontage are 27 bedrooms, split between the original house – and its jigsaw of higgledy-piggledy corridors – and those in a more modern extension. Those in the oldest part of the house marry Regency and 21st century style wonderfully, with elegant powder blue palettes, statement headboards, heaps of embroidered bolster cushions, oil paintings, retro-style telephones and bathtubs or showers lined with refillable Land & Water toiletries. Some have added charm thanks to exposed fireplaces and window seating. Cosy loft rooms are decked out in navy paisley, while a whimsical bridal suite pairs barley-twist bedposts with gentle cornflower hues.
Aside from the tasteful bedrooms, Stanwell House has three different restaurants, and it’s here where interiors whizz Jojo Macnamara has gone full throttle on the design front. Walking into Samphire, walls wrapped in hot pink and orange florals, frothy white feather artwork, mirrored details and jazzy empire chandeliers feels like dining in the centre of a colourful spring bouquet. The menu comprises three sections – think artichoke tagliatelle with crispy kale (“the garden”), 28-day Sirloin steak (“the land”) and pancetta-wrapped turbot (“the sea”) – alongside bowls of tangy lemon samphire, with salted caramel fondant and green apple sorbet for afters.
The more casual Salt Bar has posh pub grub and comfy corner sofas, while The Orangery, a striking conservatory space, has curtains of hanging fauxliage and botanical paintings which create a Med-garden meets English manor spot which works as well for afternoon tea spreads, as it does for Champagne toasts.
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