I want to holiday like Poirot

[summergreens]

OK, not the murders. Ignore the murders. But I am looking for an English hotel with charm and elegance where everyone chats nicely and maybe there's a morning tennis match or boat trip and we all have afternoon tea or cocktails on the lawn. Interesting strangers and ideally also a library in case I need a bit of book time. Potentially the option of kedgeree?

Does this sort of place still exist? Have you stayed there? Could I do it on a budget of less than say £150 a night? If there's no mobile phone signal I could live with that.

I loved The Royal Hotel, Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight.
https://royalhoteliow.co.uk/

Beautiful views, has a pool & lawn to relax on, nice restaurant, old-fashioned feel.

in August I am going on a train trip through South Africa and Zimbabwe

Agatha herself did a similar trip and put it in The Man in the Brown Suit.

I wonder if anyone has ever recreated all the journeys In Agatha's books, staying all the places her characters stayed, as far as possible. Unfortunately, most of the Middle Eastern travel probably isn't possible these days.

I stayed at The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate whilst attending a conference nearby. Agatha Christie hid here when she disappeared in the 1920s. Very old fashioned but quite lovely. https://www.classiclodges.co.uk/the-old-swan/

Another vote for Palé Hall! It is expensive but we booked a more reasonably priced 2 night package with dinner incl in low season - we went in January.

Go to Torquay where all things Agatha Christie are celebrated. I know you can book a room in her house Greenway but we go here every year. Garden bowls, tennis court, indoor and outdoor pools.

https://www.mullion-cove.co.uk/

Never stayed but had one of the best cream teas ever there

You've just given me an idea for when we visit the Isle of Wight on holiday later this year. We've already got our accommodation booked, but an afternoon tea or cream tea there would be fun. We'll have to pack our posh frocks.

Le Manoir aux’ Quatre Saisons. Croquet, afternoon tea on the lawn, and your tea dress would fit in beautifully. Silly money, though - we went a couple of times pre-Covid and have regretfully decided we can’t do it again.

https://www.polurrianhotel.com/our-hotel

Also another amazing cream tea and spectacular views

They've got a murder mystery evening there in November, to use the little grey cells!

I always think it has a Christie air about that hotel when I pass it. What’s it like inside?

https://perapalace.com/en/about-us/
This is a but further afield, but worth mentioning I think on this thread.
Stayed here in a tiny room about 20 years ago. Agatha Christie stayed here and it was a popular choice for visitors at the end of the Orient Express. Lovely faded glamour.

Agatha Christie spent a lot of time at the Burgh Island hotel and she used it as the setting for her novel: Evil Under the Sun - where it was loosely disguised as the Jolly Roger hotel! The 2001 Poirot episode of that book was set in the BI hotel for authenticity.

I would like to stay there myself, but at £1890 for two nights in May it’s a bit beyond my budget😹😹😹.

However, I think you can visit the hotel-owned 14th century Pilchard Inn on the island for the price of a drink and see the hotel from the outside, (dependent on the tides, as there’s a causeway).

Knoll House used to offer ‘bargain rates’ on the last weekend before they closed for the season. Stayed there several times and always loved it.

they ran out of dime dinner options but always had something I did want to eat.

@LunaTheCat I've just disembarked off Rovos Rail in Zimbabwe this morning having spent 5 glorious days on the train; it was superb however considerably more than £150 a night plus you have to get to Pretoria first! Enjoy the trip.

I've stayed at The Winter Palace in Luxor, and the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan before and after a Nile cruise and they had exactly the ambiance and style you'd expect from the books.

Others with the same style:
Browns Hotel, London
The Cumberland Hotel, Bournemouth
The Midland, Morecombe
The Imperial, Torquay
The Grand, Brighton
Whitecross Hotel, Eastbourne

We stayed at the Midland in Morecambe in March this year, the building is lovely and the staff charming, but wouldn't describe it as luxurious. They have a dining room with fabulous views over the bay, but no table cloths and wooden boxes with cutlery and condiments like a Spoons. It could be so much better.

Yes you want Burgh Island, but not if you’re on a budget.

Ooh they sound good, have you any links/ where did you see them?

@Genandlime this kind of thing… augustwren.substack.com/p/italy-workshops-fall-2024

I've only read the OP and the first 3 posts so apologies if already mentioned- The Royal Hotel in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. We have afternoon tea there a bit and its very Poirot.

https://royalhoteliow.co.uk/

Fabulous thread - right up my alley. Am taking notes!

You need to be careful what you wish for - what you are describing is what Miss Marple had at Bertram’s .

I was just going to mention this. Lovely place.

Isn’t Bertram’s modelled on Browns?