A Summer of Distinction

A Summer of Distinction with Elite Hotels

Spread your wings on a long-awaited summer staycation with Elite Hotels, a privately-owned collection of four luxury hotels in prime locations across the South of England.

Located in Bedfordshire, Hampshire and East Sussex, each family-friendly hotel provides high-quality service and distinct experiences, stunning gardens and views, award-winning dining, splendid afternoon teas, and a chance for some much-needed luxurious escapism. Each hotel reopens for overnight stays from 17th May.

Choose from one of four summer staycations of distinction:

Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa, Bedfordshire

Less than an hour north of London, Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa, in Bedfordshire, is a grand, Grade I listed mansion house hotel dating from 1601. Sitting in the midst of over 1,000 acres of countryside, including Capability Brown-designed grounds, the hotel features 144 beautifully-furnished bedrooms and suites - some with four-poster beds - formal gardens, a 50-acre lake, tennis courts - including one grass court - an 18-hole championship golf course and a spa with pool housed in a carefully-restored stable block.

The hotel has some very prominent fans, including the Queen and Prince Philip, who spent part of their honeymoon at Luton Hoo in 1947, and Winston Churchill, who famously addressed 110,000 people in a major speech at the hotel at the end of World War II. It has also featured in several films, including Eyes Wide Shut, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Surviving Picasso and others.

Overseen by Executive Head Chef Christopher Mouyiassi, there are two restaurants; the award-winning 2-AA- Rosette Wernher Restaurant, which is reminiscent of the Palace of Versailles and serves seasonal British cuisine. Guests also have the option of dining in Adam’s Brasserie, or to enjoy casual fare and drinks at The 19th.

BOOK IT

Enjoy 10% off stays of two nights or longer, from £442.00 per double room for two nights (two sharing)*

www.lutonhoo.co.uk

Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club, East Sussex

Set in 186 acres of lakes, secret gardens and woodland trails, Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club is located in the heart of Ashdown Forest, the inspiration for A. A. Milne’s delightful Winnie The Pooh stories. Pooh Bear celebrates his 100th anniversary in 2021.

This opulent forest mansion was built in 1815, and features 106 bedrooms and suites, with each room named after a tree species found in the grounds or in the forest. Ashdown Park’s grounds include acres of grazing land where wild deer roam free, plus a lake with fountains and a jetty from which to view both the forest and the grounds sloping down from the hotel’s

wide, flagstoned terrace. There is also a peaceful walled garden with herbaceous borders, a grand old greenhouse, apple trees and mature shrubs. The recently refurbished Country Club boasts a Fitness Studio, indoor pool, six treatment rooms and a nail salon. Guests can also enjoy use of the two tennis courts, a putting green, jogging trails and cycling routes, not to mention a wide variety of paths to walk in the extensive woodland forming part of the hotel grounds and beyond, into Ashdown Forest itself. Dogs are welcome at the hotel, with dog-friendly bedrooms.

The hotel’s new Forest Brasserie provides an informal dining experience for guests, with a menu of burgers, salads, pizzas and sharing boards, inspired by local produce and suppliers, with views over the 18-hole par 3 golf course and grounds/forest beyond. For more formal dining, Executive Head Chef Andrew Wilson oversees the award-winning menus at the Anderida Restaurant, which holds 2 AA Rosettes and features seasonal à la carte options. Afternoon Tea (from £26 pp) is served in the cosy lounges, on the terrace or as a picnic in summer months, and children can enjoy a Winnie-the-Pooh Afternoon Tea (£10.95 per child) with delights such as Tigger’s sponge and ‘hunny’ sandwiches.

BOOK IT

Enjoy 10% off stays of two nights or longer, from £358 per double room for two nights (two sharing)*

www.ashdownpark.com

Tylney Hall Hotel & Gardens, Hampshire

Sitting in 66 acres of countryside near Hook, Hampshire, Tylney Hall Hotel & Gardens is a grand Victorian Grade II listed house with the longest uninterrupted view in Hampshire, lined by giant Redwoods.

The hotel has 113 individually-designed bedrooms and suites, with some dog-friendly rooms available. Afternoon Tea (from £29 pp) is served in the decadent lounge or outside on the elegant terrace. The stunning Gertrude Jekyll-designed gardens boast striking water features and lakes, an Italian Garden, a wild orchid meadow plus azalea and rose gardens. There are walking and jogging trails, and garden tours in the summer months with Head Gardener Paul Tattersdill. Dinner is a grand affair in the 2 AA-Rosette The Oak Room Restaurant, overseen by Executive Head Chef Mike Lloyd, with a British twist plus seasonal specialities.

The hotel’s Health Suite features an indoor pool, five treatment rooms with a Manicure & Pedicure studio plus a gym. There is a superb outdoor heated pool (MaySeptember) set within a private walled garden, plus croquet, a hard tennis court and a snooker room. Archery and clay pigeon shooting can be arranged, and there is a golf course adjacent to the hotel, too.

BOOK IT

Enjoy 10% off stays of two nights or longer, from £352 per double room for two nights (two sharing)*.

www.tylneyhall.co.uk

Il Sereno Lake Como Launches New Penthouse Suite

Il Sereno is delighted to announce the evolution of what has become a contemporary icon of Lake Como and one of the most celebrated hotel launches of the 21st century so far. Winning coveted awards across the globe since it launched four years ago, as well as a Michelin Star in its first year, this is a game changing hotel for a previously neo-classically dominated region.

Patricia Urquiola and hotelier Luis Contreras, named the ‘super-duo’ by Wallpaper*, are back to design a stand-out new Penthouse Suite in a building adjacent to the hotel, launching in June this year. This project aims to top their creations to date, by making what local mainstay La Provincia di Como has referenced to be the best Penthouse in the world.

Design Concept While the design language is inspired by Il Sereno, with the same materials, artisans and proportions, the concept is totally unique. The existing Penthouse has been rated consistently amongst the best in the world, ranked as one of the best suites in Italy by The Times and one of the best in the world by Elite Traveler. However, the duo decided that this was not enough, they wanted to surpass it with their new vision. The interiors are inspired by classic post-war Italian glamour, ‘La Dolce Vita’, modernist Italian designers, the much-loved Como silks, for which the region is famous, and the design icon of Il Sereno itself.

The choice of furniture is a tribute to the emblematic pieces of Italian design, the tradition of their local production and the architecture of the post-war years. This will be a mixture of new bespoke pieces by Patricia Urquiola, as well as some of her latest design projects, such as the fabulous Lariana bathtub designed for Il Sereno and now available from AGAPE or the Ludo lounge chair from Capellini, mixed with classics from the likes of Franco Albini and Gio Ponti. This will be a shoppable suite, with all furniture available for sale.

Like Il Sereno, the design will be timeless, with a strong sense of place and use of natural materials from the region. For Urquiola, it was particularly important that everything was locally sourced. The Penthouse will showcase innovative use of rich materials, including fantastic Canaletto walnut ceilings, Verde Alpi stone walls and Ceppo di Gre local stone floors. Since the opening of the hotel, with Ceppo di Gre façade and use throughout the hotel, brands from Oliver’s People to Valextra to Valentino have also been

inspired to use this stone in their boutiques, which was rarely seen before. Here, it will be incorporated in an innovative way: Venetian terrazzo floors will be combined with geometric tiles of Ceppo for a new and classic look. The bedroom wall is also made of Ceppo, specially grooved to provide additional texture. Continuing with local stone, rich, green Verdi Alpi stone was chosen to cover the living room wall.

With Como being the first place in the Western world where silks were woven after Marco Polo brought them over from China, and still the world’s centre for high-end production, this beautiful fabric is celebrated within the design. Urquiola designed silks are already used for the uniforms in existing hotels and here, additional patterns are used to produce decorative cushions, foulards and other products on sale. Fabrics take inspiration from 1950s scarf fashion and the landscape motifs of Lake Como.

Accessed by a separate elevator, there will be almost 150 square metres (1600 sq ft) of living space, including a 30 square metre terrace, plus an additional 50 square metre grass garden around the perimeter. The Penthouse will have a large living room, dining space, two bathrooms, main bedroom, sleeping up to four and spectacular views of the lake from all the rooms.

Leading French botanist Patrick Blanc is also back adding a vertical garden to the new façade below the suite. After executing three pieces in the exiting hotel (Le Canyon, Les Racines Echasses and Le Mirroir du Lac), Blanc will once again design a living wall that will be seen from the lake and interact with the façade of the building and the neighbouring Mirroir du Lac.

The brand ethos of Sereno Hotels is always to amplify the beautiful surroundings the hotels are situated in. And here, an important design aspect is the framing of the panoramic views on all sides from the suite, the atmosphere of life on the lake and the omnipresent relationship with the lake in front and the mountain behind the hotel.

The new Penthouse Suite costs from €3,500 per night Bookings: www.ilsereno.com