20 great chef-owned hotels
ENGLAND
1. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
Sat Bains has been dubbed the most inventive British chef since Heston Blumenthal thanks to his extravagant take on French cuisine at this Nottingham restaurant with rooms. The converted farmhouse on the banks of the River Trent may be close to an industrial estate, but the ugliness ends there. The seven rooms are decorated in shades of chocolate and cream with huge wooden four posters, roll-top baths and fireplaces.
Must try Beef cheek with seaweed, oyster cream, sprouts and radish
Details Dinner, B&B from £135 per person (0115-986 6566, www.restaurantsatbains.com)
Dinner Seven-course tasting menu, £69
2. Robert Thompson The Hambrough, Ventnor, Isle of Wight
Tucked away on the Isle of Wight, this gourmet bolt hole comes as a complete surprise. Robert Thompson has worked hard with local producers on the menu — ravioli of lobster with lobster cappuccino and monkfish, and the most delicious chocolate and banana cake with banana ice cream. Considering it has one Michelin star, the food is good value, at £55 for three courses. House wine costs from £20 a bottle.
Must try Anjou squab with oak-smoked gnocchi
Details Two-night B&B breaks from £200pp with return crossings with Wightlink (0871 3760013, wightlink.co.uk). Book direct on 01983 856333, thehambrough.com
3. York & Albany, London
After conquering the French, the Americans, the Japanese and the gastropub, it was only a matter of time before Gordon Ramsay took on the humble hotel. And he’s made a pretty good fist of it too. The York & Albany, with views over Regent’s Park, is all you would expect of a boutique hotel: exposed beams, chunky dark-wooden furniture and big leather sofas; the kitchen is overseen by long-time Ramsay cohort Angela Hartnett, with Colin Buchan in tow as head chef. Nonna’s, in the hotel’s converted stable, is reminiscent of a rustic French or Italian deli.
Must try Braxted Park saddle of lamb, confit belly, Puy lentils with red pepper
Details Room-only doubles from £205 (020-7387 5700, gordonramsay.com)
Dinner Three courses from about £45
4. L’Enclume, Cumbria
Simon Rogan’s restaurant is often called the Fat Duck of the North, but that does a disservice to his magnificent creations, which are in a league of their own. The remoteness of the North’s finest restaurant means that booking one of the 13 available rooms makes perfect sense. Thanks to the age of the buildings (it is in an 800-year-old smithy) they may be a little on the small side, but they are tastefully decorated.
Must try Warm-glazed pig’s cheeks, shallot and sweetcorn with Love parsley squirt
Details B&B doubles from £148 (01539 536362, www.lenclume.co.uk)
Dinner Eight courses, £60
5. Simpsons Restaurant With Rooms, Birmingham
In an era where the phrase “boutique hotel” conjures images of minimalism and neutral tones, it’s lovely to see someone bucking the trend by bathing their chambers in a warm glow. The four rooms at Simpsons have rust, lemon and taupe-coloured walls, soft lighting and huge beds with plump pillows. Downstairs, the food’s not too bad either, thanks to former Dorchester and Ritz head chef Andreas Antona.
Must try Belly of suckling pig, creamed and grilled baby artichoke
Details B&B doubles from £160 (0121-454 3434, simpsonsrestaurant.co.uk)
Dinner Three-course set menu, £32.50
6. Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, Oxfordshire
Raymond Blanc calls himself a micro-idiot and it shows in the rooms in Le Manoir, which are as carefully crafted as the meals in his gastronomic two-star restaurant. He has saved the best for last though and has just opened four new suites, including the stunning white “Blanc de Blanc” and the sexy “Lace”. It’s worth paying extra to try the ten-course Menu Découverte in the restaurant, which shows Blanc’s masterful use of fresh produce. Don’t opt for breakfast in your room — check out Le Manoir’s impressive buffet table, with its serrano ham, nuts and berries, which Blanc spent a year perfecting.
Must try Pan-fried Cornish line-caught sea bass fillet, with Scottish langoustine, smoked mash potato and star anis jus
Details Rooms from £460 for two, B&B, suites £920. Menu Découverte, £125 (01844 278881, manoir.com)
7. Yorke Arms, Ramsgill
Frances Atkins is a rarity among British female chefs — a holder of a Michelin star (there are only five other British women who share the accolade). Her liking for tradition with a light, modern twist is evident in the 14 rooms as well: these are immaculate — plushy and traditionally decorated without being overdone — in pale neutrals and Regency stripes.
Must try Something from the hotel’s “classics” menu, such as saddle of venison with oxtail sausage, rowan jelly, anchovy, cabbage and pommes purée
Details Doubles on a Saturday night from £300, including dinner for two (01423 755243, yorke-arms.co.uk)
8. Waterside Inn, Bray
The rooms with the river views are the ones to go for at this inn, owned by Michel Roux and his son Alain. The decor is elegant with smart watercolours, colourful bedspreads and neat table lamps. Some rooms have river views. The restaurant has three Michelin stars.
Must try This week’s Menu Exceptionnel, which includes roasted Challandais duck. The full five-course meal costs £112.50
Details B&B doubles from £220 (01628 620691, waterside-inn.co.uk)
WALES
9. The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny
There are two cottages offered for overnight stays at Shaun Hill’s restaurant, The Walnut Tree — the Old Post Office Cottage and Ivy Cottage. Each has two double bedrooms and can sleep four. The style is simple and neat. The restaurant has one Michelin star.
Must try Wild sea trout with sorrel sauce
Details A three-course meal is about £40. Cottage for four people £240 a night, for two £160 (01873 852797, thewalnuttreeinn.com)
10. The Foxhunter, Monmouthshire
Matt Tebutt’s Welsh gastropub has won praise for classy, unpretentious modern British cooking. Tebutt, a regular on TV, produces beautiful, slow-cooked dishes and is devoted to local produce. The Foxhunter has two self-catering cottages — one sleeps three, and the other two.
Must try The meat is famously good. Try the lamb with buttered spinach, peas, broad beans and mint.
Details Two-course set lunches from £17, excluding wine. Doubles from £145 (01873 881101, thefoxhunter.com).
FRANCE
11. Georges Blanc, Vonnas
Legendary chef Georges Blanc has turned a family-run inn into a multi-faceted business that defines the village of Vonnas, in Bourg-en-Bresse, eastern France. Today Blanc presides over a three Michelin-starred restaurant, a hotel and spa, one of the world’s best wine cellars, with about 130,000 bottles, and boutique food and culinary shops.
Must try The crêpe parmentière au salmon et caviar
Details Five-course set menus at the Restaurant Georges Blanc from €120 (£100). Rooms from €180, or £150 (00 33 4 74 50 90 90, georgesblanc.com)
12. Maison Troisgros/ La Colline du Colombier, Roanne
Michel Troisgros comes from a famous dynasty of French chefs, and runs two restaurants with accommodation in and around Roanne. Maison Troisgros has three Michelin stars. La Colline du Colombier, outside Roanne in Iguerande, is a more rustic creation, overlooking the Loire. The accommodation is stunning — such as the striking cadoles, or cabins, designed by Patrick Bouchain. Simple, surprising and glorious, just like the food.
Must try Maison Troisgros’s fried rabbit and king prawn, with a “touch of bitterness”. At La Colline, try the fattened chicken with crayfish and Nantua sauce
Details Maison Troisgros offers a full “spring impressions” food and wine pairing menu at €340. Doubles from €290, excluding breakfast. La Colline du Colombier has three courses from €36, excluding wine, and doubles in the cadoles from €500 for two nights (00 33 4 77 71 66 97, troisgros.com)
13. Maison Pic, Valence
Take a morning train from Paris and arrive in time for lunch prepared by Anne-Sophie Pic, the first French female chef in half a century to receive three Michelin stars. Bedrooms are large and unfussy, with rich brown sycamore panelling and huge downy white sofas.
Must try Frog legs and Lapsang souchong tea, followed by raspberry and red-pepper sorbet with gold leaf
Details Doubles from £242. Weekday lunches from £71 (00 33 4 75 44 15 32, pic-valence.fr)
14. Bras, Aubrac
Built in the rugged and rural Aubrac plateau is this surprisingly modern Japanese-style building. Menus reflect Michel Bras’s love of nature and feature as many locally sourced ingredients as possible. Bedrooms have white walls and are decorated with iron artworks.
Must try Gargouillou — baby vegetables with herbs and flowers from the area cooked in a buttery sauce
Details Doubles from £209. Five-course set menu from £93pp (00 33 5 65 51 18 20, michel-bras.com)
15. La Bastide Saint Antoine, Grasse
This typically Provençal hotel is all flagstone floors and shutters; there is also a contemporary annex, with a stunning apartment for four. Jacques Chibois loves to experiment with aromas in his two Michelin-starred restaurant — specialities include turbot with artichokes in citronelle juice and wild strawberries with a mandarin sorbet with jasmine jam.
Must try Papillon of langoustine on orange pulp with olive oil and basil
Details Rooms from €315, ten-course dinner €160 (00 33 4 9370 9494, jacques-chibois.com)
SPAIN
16. Hacienda Benazuza El Bulli Hotel, Seville
Ferrán Adrià’s less well-known sister property to El Bulli is housed in a 10th-century farmhouse. This 44-room property fulfils every escape-to-Andalusia fantasy. Rooms are full of antiques and there are idyllic grounds and gardens with a pool.
Must try The tasting menu, which features 22 small dishes such as tuna ventresca with tuna mayonnaise (€115, excluding wine)
Details Room-only doubles from £260 (00 34 955 703 344, elbullihotel.com)
ITALY
17. Don Alfonso 1890, Sant Agata sui due Golfi
There are only eight rooms at this hotel in the centre of the village, close to lemon and olive orchards between Sorrento and Positano, which give it an intimate feel. Signore Iaccarino cooks with his son Ernesto, and there is a culinary school.
Must try Deep-fried lobster in a sweet and sour sauce with infusion of citrus fruit and a Julienne of summer vegetables
Details B&B doubles from £242. A three-course meal is €150 (00 39 0818 780026, donalfonso.com)
18. Villa Orsogrigio, Ronzone
Two siblings, Christian Bertol, a chef, and Renzo Bertol, a sommelier, owning a hotel could be a recipe for disaster, but here it’s a recipe for fantastic food complemented by well-chosen wines — 35,000 bottles of them. The villa has ten rooms, with a pool.
Must try Deer with blueberries
Details B&B doubles from £115. Three courses €50 (00 39 0463 880 559, orsogrigio.it)
19. Da Caino, Montemerano
More a restaurant with bedrooms (there are only three), this is one of Tuscany’s finest places to eat. Co-owner Valeria Piccini uses seasonal produce and says she learnt to cook out of sheer passion and was never formally taught, learning from her mother and grandmother.
Must try Onion soup with snails, tortelli and spring vegetables
Details The seven-course tasting menu is €130. B&B doubles from £190 (0039 0564 602817, dacaino.it)
20. L’Andana, Tuscany
Alain Ducasse and wine producer Vittorio Moretti came together to open this hotel in the Maremma region. Decadent rooms are furnished with ruby taffeta silk curtains and kingsized beds. One has a mosaic whirlpool. Help yourself to the cakes in the old kitchen, where the cookery classes are also held.
Must try Herb-crusted veal chop and gnocchi cooked in tarragon
Details Doubles from £460. A three-course dinner from £67 (0039 05 64 944 800, andana.it)
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20 great family getaways in Europe
1 Villa Pia, Lippiano, Umbria, Italy
The setting is an artist’s dream of rolling hills and cypress trees — and the food is sublime, served by white-bonneted Italian mammas on long communal tables. But you come to Villa Pia on the border of Tuscany and Umbria for the laid-back, house-party feel of it all. There are 17 simply-furnished rooms, and every family-friendly accessory you can think of. Parents can enjoy spa treatments while the children take cookery classes. If you tire of the adventure playground, tennis, two pools, trampoline and soft play room, Villa Pia is within an hour of Florence and Assisi.
Details From £70 per day for adults and £25 for children (2-12), on full board including drinks, from October to mid-May (excluding half-terms). Week-long summer stays £675-£860 per adult and £250-£430 per child; 00 39 0758 502027, www.villapia.com
2 Caserio del Mirador, Valencia, Spain
The joy of staying in one of the five apartments in this large villa halfway between Valencia and Alicante airports is that you can decide how private or communal you want to be. The simple but chic apartments have cooking facilities but five days a week the English owners, Sarah and Johnny, who live on site, cook for anyone who wants it. The delicious meals feature local produce — squid, morcilla (the local blood sausage), lentils and steak. There is an outdoor pool, a trampoline and other play items tucked into strategic corners around the grounds, along with rabbits, goats and ponies. Although the beach is about 35 minutes away and Benidorm with its theme parks about 40 minutes, you’ll want to spend plenty of time just gazing at the stunning view down the valley at the Caserio.
Details Apartments for four for £750-£1,300 a week. Meals €20-€25, children’s tea €7.50; 00 34 965 973024, villajalon.com
3 Almyra Hotel, Paphos, Cyprus
No one blinks an eye as you wheel your buggy through the sleek, minimalist hotel lobby, with its white marble floor and picture windows opening on to the sea. There are buggy ramps everywhere and the crèche accepts babies from four months old. The hotel lets you book up everything from nappies to a buggy, so you don’t have to carry it with you. There’s a fantastic slate-lined pool and a restaurant serving a Mediterranean menu with a strong Japanese influence.
Details €100pp per night, B&B, 00 35 726 888700, thanoshotels.com
4 Château Rigaud, Mouliets et Villemartin, France
Take one gorgeous château in France, kit out a 50ft gallery with toys, and add a cinema room with five sofas and chapel bar for parents, and you have one of the most chic places for family stays. The château combines boutique hotel luxury with a house-party feel — delicious meals with free-flowing wine are served on the long wooden dining table. The English owners, Anna and Andrew Barwick, who originally targeted families with toddlers, are starting to offer activities for older children, such as tennis and French lessons and the possibility of supervised camping in a wigwam in the garden. The downside is that there is no availability this year until December.
Details £350-£450 per room for two adults and two children, including all food and wine; 00 33 5 57 40 17 99, chateaurigaud.co.uk
5 Europe’s 1st Baby and Children’s Hotel, Carinthia, Austria
A long waterslide leads into the outdoor pool of this hotel, which also has a large soft play area, a bouncy castle and go-karts around the grounds. There’s a Mini parked outside the restaurant for children to play in, and a character kangaroo makes a daily appearance. The hotel features child-friendly accessories such as potties, microwaves for heating milk and free childcare. All you eat and drink, apart from aloholic drinks, is included in the price.
Details From €95 per room per night, plus €33-€40 per child, full board; 00 43 47 32 23 50, babyhotel.eu
6 Clydey Cottages, near Boncath, Pembrokeshire
One of the best cottage clusters in the UK thanks to its five-star accommodation, spectacularly scenic setting and enough facilities to keep little ones occupied for hours, from farmyard feeding and egg collecting to an indoor pool opening on to a sundeck. Because there are only ten pretty stone cottages, each with a blend of contemporary fixtures and original character, you get a fairly private feel.
Details £350-£2,000 per week (1-4 bedrooms); 01239 698619, clydeycottages.co.uk or babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk
7 Country Kids, near Montpellier, Languedoc, France
Country Kids blends the facilities of a luxury resort with the attention to detail and charm of a boutique hotel. For a price that compares very favourably with a week in a five-star resort, the hotel offers a complimentary crèche/kids club, run by qualified English-speaking staff, three activities per person per week, from kayaking and rock climbing to vineyard tours, a petting farm, most meals and two evenings of babysitting a week.
Details Two and three-bedroom apartments at £1,700-£4,400 per week, including most meals and activities; 00 33 4 67 97 18 94, country-kids.fr or babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk
8 Finca de Arietta, Lanzarote
Tucked about 300m back from the coast, this 30-acre estate is a glorious eco-retreat offering glamping at its best. Kids will adore it here: they can help themselves from the organic vegetable plot, feed the chickens, ride the donkey or splash about in a pool carved from pumice. They will especially enjoy the big adventure of camping in luxury eco-yurts. The yurts are furnished with elegant Indonesian day beds and exotic floor cushions and have decked terraces with hammocks and cushioned loungers. There are even granite worktops in the outdoor kitchens and a stylish wooden bath in the private bath house that comes with each yurt or cluster of family yurts.
Details Rentals from € 840 a week; 00 34 696 982 873, lanzaroteretreats.com or babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk
9 Number 29 B&B, Yeovil, Somerset
With the help of her daughter, who is qualified in childcare, former restaurant manager Angela welcomes sleep-starved couples with home-made tea and cakes, coos over the baby while they settle in and then packs them off for the short stroll to the local bistro while she or her daughter babysit. The pièce de résistance is the lie-in babysitting service. Parents duck back under their duvets for a well deserved lie-in followed by a long lazy home-cooked Sunday brunch.
Details Three-night breaks from £200, babysitting from £7 per hour; 01935 420046, number29.biz or babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk
10 Bedruthan Steps, Cornwall
Comfortable and unpretentious, Bedruthan Steps has the best mix of children’s facilities, activities and entertainment I’ve yet seen in a British hotel, as well as a fantastic location above Mawgan Porth beach. There’s an indoor and outdoor pool, tennis courts, soft play area, play room with games and painting; outdoor play area including trampoline, swings, mini assault course and pirate ship and a daily programme of activities which in school holidays includes survival skills and treasure hunts on the beach. Excellent children’s clubs, divided into five age groups, cost £20-£25 for a three-hour morning session.
Details “Villa” rooms with a garden start at £310 per night, half board, based on two adults and two children sharing; 01637 860555, bedruthan.com.
11 Bowood House, Wiltshire
Bowood Hotel, tucked away in the grounds of 18th-century Bowood House, opened last summer and while it attracts a big golfing crowd — thanks to the 18-hole course on its doorstep — it’s also family-friendly. Trade an hour in the stately home (stuffed with unexpected treasures such as Napoleon’s death mask, and the lab where Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen) and a gallop through the wonderful gardens for an afternoon in the adventure playground where there’s a full-size pirate galleon, high-up walkways and an almost 20ft vertical-drop slide. At the hotel, there’s a spa pool that admits children at certain times and a restaurant that does good brasserie staples.
Details Rooms for a family of four from £235 per night, including breakfast for the adults; 01249 822228, bowood.org
12 Family Resort Werfenweng, Austria
This all-inclusive eco-resort is great value for money. Superbly run and as child-friendly as it could be without turning into a crèche, it’s small enough for children to make friends but big enough to keep them entertained, with two swimming pools, playground and kids’ clubs with activities during the day and evening — they’re in German but in the summer holidays there are usually enough British kids for a posse. The big eco-bonus is a selection of electric vehicles that can be borrowed to pootle around the resort and up to the nearby lake, as well as a programme of activities — hiking, mountain biking, riding and so on — as well as excursions to the Hohenwerfen Fortress and Salzburg, about an hour away.
Details Family rooms from £192; 00 436 466 4500, werfenweng.at
13 Anassa, Cyprus
If you’re looking for five-star family pampering with gorgeous rooms, dreamy sea views, well-run children’s clubs, a clutch of London-standard restaurants and attentive staff on tap, the Anassa ticks all the boxes. Set in deliciously scented gardens, it also has probably the best location in Cyprus, near the Akamas peninsula nature reserve and away from the crowds. Children, naturally, won’t care about this — what they will enjoy are the indoor and outdoor pools, the huge breakfast buffet, coconut milkshakes at the poolside bar and canoeing off the beach. There’s also a new Hercules club specifically for teens that will include sailing, tennis, scuba diving, movie nights, kayaking and a local market trip.
Details B&B in two interconnecting studio suites costs £595 a night for two adults and two children over 6 and under 12; 00 357 26 888 000, thanoshotels.com.
14 W Barcelona, Spain
The shiny, sail-shaped W towers over the waterfront and has quickly become a Barcelona landmark. It’s a brilliant base for a summer trip — on the beach at the end of the Barceloneta boardwalk — with a great outdoor pool. Book one of the “Wonderful” rooms on one of the upper floors to wow even the most blasé child. Floor-to-ceiling windows with views over the Med; huge comfy beds, curtains that close at the touch of a button and ever-changing mood lighting will keep them happy, as will Wave restaurant, which serves an excellent burger.
Details Rooms for three from £272 per night; 00 34 932 952800, w-barcelona.com
15 Tuscan View Apartments, Tuscany
A perfect base from which to explore the hill towns of San Gimignano and Certaldo, this beautiful working estate has loads to keep families happy, from tennis and horse riding to a full-blown spa. Several trails wind through the estate, which you can explore on foot or by mountain bike. The stylish apartments are located in a dozen restored farmhouses, each group of buildings clustered around its own swimming pool.
Details Two-bedroom apartment is £440-£770 per week, including Dover-Calais ferry crossings; 01653 617004, www.inntravel.co.uk
16 Casa Olea, Priego de Córdoba, Andalusia
Halfway between Córdoba and Granada, this luxurious six-room guesthouse is surrounded by ancient olive groves. The nearby riverside woodland is teeming with wildlife — the only sounds of nightlife are nightingales, frogs and owls. Casa Olea is perfect for a walking or mountain-biking holiday exploring local villages, so would particularly suit families with older children. Home comforts include stylish bedrooms, a swimming pool and a sun terrace.
Details From €79 per B&B double, plus €10 for an extra child’s bed and €5 for a cot; 00 34 696 748209, casaolea.com
17 Gwel an Mor, Portreath, Cornwall
At this cluster of stylish timber lodges with their hot tubs, wood-burning stoves and snazzy kitchens, parents can pamper themselves at the spa while kids head for the putting green, indoor pool and adventure play area. A restaurant serves delicious Cornish produce and there is a tailor-made booking service for activities ranging from surfing to horse riding. But the best day out is at Gwel an Mor itself, where local ranger Gary Zammit leads walking safaris in search of slow worms, slugs and sparrowhawks. You can also go pond dipping, rock-pooling, badger watching and — best of all — meet Gary’s rescued foxes and fly his barn owl, Sly.
Details Two and three-bedroom lodges from £399 a week; 01209 842354, gwelanmor.com.
18 Flying Boat Club, Isles of Scilly
Tresco, in the Isles of Scilly, famous for its white sands, turquoise waters and exotic plants, has 12 beachfront cottages ideal for families. With no cars on the island, kids can roam around safely, beaches are usually empty and there is a sailing club and boat trips to the other islands. Everything’s close to hand: there’s a cycle shop hiring out bikes for all ages, a shop that’s more like a mini Waitrose, and the restaurant is just behind the cottages. There is a new spa for weary parents and a fabulous indoor pool with wide shallow steps perfect for youngsters.
Details Cottages sleep 6-10 and are priced from £197 per night. Book through i-escape (i-escape.com/flyingboatclub.php) and receive a free bottle of wine with dinner at the Clubhouse.
19 Pristava Lepena, Slovenia
This cluster of simple but comfortable chalets is in an alpine meadow in Slovenia’s Triglav National Park. It’s perfect for active children — loads to do, with much of it included in the price — tennis, table tennis, mountain biking, archery, small swimming pool, riding lessons and trail riding. The chalets are ideal for families, with extra twin rooms and pull-out beds and kids are welcomed in the restaurant in the evenings.
Details Chalets sleep 3-8 and are priced from £139 per night; i-escape.com/pristava-lepena.php
20 Casas do Sal, Portugal
Eight enormous former workers’ cottages make up this colourful rustic bolt hole down a long sandy track cutting through a vast 2,000-hectare estate, past cattle grazing beneath ancient cork oaks. Each has a terrace and kitchenette with shiny gadgetry. There’s a big games room, swimming pool and tennis court, and with horses and a boat down on the lake this place is made for kids. Babysitters can be arranged in advance so parents can slope off for an evening out to Alcácer.
Details Apartments for four from £80 a night. Book through i-escape (i-escape.com/casas-do-sal.php) to receive a basket of fruit, jar of locally made honey or a bottle of wine on arrival.