To ask for your recommendations for a super romantic holiday

[joysexreno]

My boyfriend and I are trying to play a long weekend away from East London in March, Thursday - Sunday

We want to be in a beautiful country house style hotel with traditional/very tasteful furnishings, a great restaurant, and large grounds or directly next to an area of natural beauty so we can have lots of walks and hikes literally at our doorstep and not deal with the outside world.

This is for a big relationship milestone, so I'm looking for something super special that hasn't a whiff of conference centre, IKEA, or laminate flooring about it, iyswim.

Our max budget is probably about £650/night but would really prefer less if at all possible (and only that much if it's close enough to keep travel costs down)

Would love any recommendations!!! I have done lots of searches and everything seems to be very far away (a compromise we may be willing to make), out of budget, or just sort of average in quality.

Pennyhill Park here or one of their other hotels.

Or maybe Chewton Glen here

Depends how far you want to go!

I’d probably go for ‘The Pig’ in either the New Forest or Studland.

If you fancy something a bit more city focused then ‘the Royal Crescent Hotel and Spa’ in Bath would be lovely.

Babington House and The Newt in Somerset both have lovely grounds (I’ve not stayed at either though). I’m not sure what their prices are like but they might be worth looking into.

Also, for a romantic weekend would it be worth getting the Eurostar to Paris?

For Pennyhill you could get the train from London to Sunningdale and then get Ascot cars (taxi firm based at sunningdale station) to drive you to Pennyhill Park.

Oooh these are lovely ideas so far!

www.grantleyhall.co.uk

Was also coming along to say Grantley Hall.

@Kissedbyfire1 - adding Grantley Hall to my list!

Has anyone been to Endsleigh Hotel? It looks beautiful but is so very far away

www.amberleycastle.co.uk/hotel/rooms

I stayed here for my honeymoon in the Herstmonceux room which is a premier deluxe room.

The Pig in the Downs might fit the bill.

Within your budget so you can splash out at dinner!

Meeting your criteria, I've been to and loved:

Hartwell House in Bucks - a National Trust property, huge gardens, fantastic spa treatments, very formal dining. Really quick from London.

The Norfolk Mead outside Norwich - haven't been since the spa reopened but lovely grounds and dining and the new spa looks amazing.

Whatley Manor in the Cotswolds - really beautiful, great spa facilities and treatments, lovely gardens and walking.

Abbotts Grange in Broadway - again, beautiful historic building, not many facilities on site but right in the village and loads of walking.

Good luck - jealous!

Personally don't rate the Pig. Burgh Island?

https://middletonlodge.co.uk/forest-spa/

I absolutely loved Soho Farmhouse. I thought it might be over hyped but it was just gorgeous and the lodges are really romantic. I got a friends membership for £100 so that we could book and the rooms are reasonable. The Japanese restaurant is really special, the pool is stunning and the grounds are lovely to walk around or cycle for a bit of fun.

We loved Hambleton Hall in Rutland. Fab restaurant and real individual country house hotel feel.

This is a bit different but amazing and very romantic...the Scarlett in Cornwall.

I would go to Paris.

The Painswick is fab, in the Cotswolds. Super quiet, lovely rooms, amazing food

How far are you prepared to travel (either in miles or total travel time) and driving or mix of taxis, trains etc?

Chewton glen, lucknam, or heckfield.

If you don't want to travel too far west

The Gallivant in Rye
Gravetye manor
Pig near Canterbury

PennyHill Park is very special.

Not sure if it's too far away but Gilpin in the Lake District is amazing.

Maybe 4 hours?

And willing to do some driving if needed.

I think we would prefer something like one train + short drive rather than loads of transfers, for example. The main thing is we are hoping to avoid spending the whole time travelling! We are coming from near Mile End.