beattitude the newsletter of the Bespoke Hotel Company
Edition 19
inside East. West. Bespoke’s best.
behold the front page… Off the peg? Never. Run of the mill? No thanks. Generic? You cannot be serious. We’re bespoke, and proud of it.
becoming soon Spring 2015 sees the opening of the spectacular new Hotel Gotham a 60-bedroom, luxury, 5-star hotel at 100 King Street – one of Manchester’s grandest buildings designed by Edwin Lutyens. Read more about Hotel Gotham on page 15. Go to bespokehotels.com for the latest information on this exciting new venture.
The Hallmark of a great partnership We’re delighted to welcome Hallmark Hotels to the Bespoke group. With 19 four-star hotels this new Bespoke Collection expands our coverage into a number of major cities. Hallmark Hotels have state-of-the-art function, meeting and conference rooms, and many have modern spa and leisure facilities, making these hotels particularly popular for celebrations and business events.
Find your way round the world With more than 100 hotels worldwide, there’s a Bespoke Hotel out there for you. The easiest way to find it is via bespokehotels.com – our website is designed to help you search by place, name, hotel type or by facilities (spa, golf club, function rooms for example).
A token of our affection Front cover, main picture: The Gotham, Manchester Bespoke Hotels 14 The Coda Centre 189 Munster Road London SW6 6AW
A Bespoke voucher makes a wonderful gift for a loved one. Buy one online at www.bespokehotels.com/pages/vouchers
Can we be friends?
www.bespokehotels.com · t 0844 815 9833 · e info@bespokehotels.com
Wedding bells? We’d like to propose to you too
When you book your wedding and a week’s holiday at a participating Bespoke Hotel, the first and last nights of your honeymoon are on us. Do you accept our proposal?
Privilege has its membership.
belong your bespoke privilege card
See www.bespokehotels.com/weddingbells for more information.
000213459
The Bespoke Privilege Card means it’s better to belong. We have a wide range of partners and offers for our members. If you’d like to become a Bespoke Privilege Card holder, just go to: www.bespokehotels.com /privilegecard
take a BITE BITE has been organising food festivals and events across the UK, and particularly the Cotswolds for many years. There are breakfasts, brunches, lunches, teas and dinners; pop-up restaurants; cocktails and
fine wines; talks and tastings; meet the chef and book signings; food fairs and farmers markets. BITE off as much as you can chew with a voucher from www.thebite.co – the perfect gift for a foodie friend. Sign up for the newsletter if you want to keep up to date with the latest programme and events. www.bespokehotels.com
East. West. Bespoke’s best.
The Cotswolds An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and possibly England’s most iconic visitor destination outside of London, the Cotswolds is 800 square miles of picture-perfect villages, nature reserves and ancient monuments. It’s the setting for some wildly eccentric events such as the Cooper’s Hill cheese-rolling, more conventionally enjoyable pastimes such as cycling, walking and eating scones, and three wonderful Bespoke Hotels – the Noel Arms, Cotswold House and Stonehouse Court.
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The Noel Arms Don’t leave the Cotswolds without: * Visiting at least one of these villages: Chipping
Charles II stayed here during the English Civil War, but things are a bit more relaxed these days. The Noel Arms is a traditional Inn with rooms in a beautiful location on the Cotswold Way that is perfect for keen walkers. Put your feet up in front of the log fire in the bar, read the papers and treat yourself to a homemade cake in the excellent coffee shop.
Campden, Bourton-on-the-Water, Burford * Walking or cycling part of The Cotswold Way National • 28 bedrooms Trail • Restaurant • Bar, conservatory, coffee shop Taking your binoculars to Birdland Park * • befriend * Picnicking at Kilkenny Viewpoint and Nature Reserve You check in 0844 815 9833 * Seeing history at Belas Knap Long Barrow
We check out
Cotswold House Hotel & Spa
A lovely townhouse hotel and spa just over the road from the Noel Arms in Chipping Campden. The fact that under 18s aren’t allowed in the award-winning spa is all the hint you need that this is a place for grown-ups to get away for a sophisticated, revitalizing break. Book the Hot Tub Cottage for indulgence beyond the call of duty. Walk, eat, drink, repeat. • 28 bedrooms • Two restaurants • Terrace bar and gardens • Spa, swimming pool, treatment rooms • beloved
You check in 0844 815 9833
Be yourself. Book a ‘prickly pear and sugar cane facial’ at Cotswold House Spa.
From Berkshire to Bermondsey. Dog days are far from over. The Lambert Arms in Oxfordshire was listed in Crufts Magazine’s ‘Open for Dogs Guide to Britain’. ‘A perfect pit stop for a visit to the Chilterns. Friday nights are ‘Fabulous Fish’ nights at the Lambert Arms. The restaurant was fully booked and it soon became obvious why – the food was exceptional. An ideal hotel for foodie dog lovers everywhere!’
London and southern England Don’t miss Margate: * Picture-postcard beach, organic cafés, independent galleries, vintage shops * The iconic Turner Contemporary Gallery (turnercontemporary.org) * Lovely coastal walks and cycle routes According to
The Times, ‘A flamboyant, stylish new hotel in a wonderful spot….no wonder JMW Turner was so inspired by the scenery.’
We check out
The Crescent Victoria, Margate The Crescent Victoria Hotel in Margate opened in June 2014. Described by the Daily Telegraph as ‘a delightful and welcome addition to Margate’s regenerating tourist scene, with a team of extremely warm and accommodating staff who provide everything with genuine smiles’. • 14-bedrooms • On Margate’s seafront • Restaurant, bar • Terrace, gardens • beloved
You check in 0844 815 9833
We check out:
Hide & Seed at the Lodge, London The team at Hide & Seed – the restaurant and bar at The Lodge Hotel, Putney – has worked with the country’s leading specialist and artisan suppliers to create an extremely popular destination in Putney.
Coulsdon Manor, Surrey Coulsdon Manor is an old manor house 15 miles from the centre of London, with a great golf course, tennis, squash, sauna and steamroom. Set off for central London, or relax here on the Terrace Bar or Orangery Restaurant. • befriend
La Suite West, London The latest creation of British designer Anouska Hempel – a luxurious temple of black and white, with individually-crafted, four-poster beds and black rubber chairs set off by whitewashed rooms and marble bathrooms. • 80 bedrooms • RAW vegan restaurant • Private terrace • Close to Hyde Park • beloved
Masterchef returns Steve Barringer, a finalist in MasterChef the Professionals, has returned to Flitwick Manor in Bedfordshire as head chef. Steve began his career at Flitwick Manor in 2001, as a potwasher!
Wivenhoe House, Colchester A luxury 4* hotel near Colchester, Essex and also home to The Edge Hotel School – the first hotel school of its kind in the UK. • 40 bedrooms and suites • Brasserie • Private dining and lounges • 18th century grade II listed main house • Large grounds, parkland • beloved
You check in 0844 815 9833
Be romantic. Stay a night at the Grosvenor Arms in Shaftesbury and then head for The Lugger. You’ll traverse some of Britain’s most beautiful countryside and coastline. Gold Hill, Cerne Abbas, Lyme Regis, Dartmoor, Polperro, Megavissey.
South West
We check out
We check out
The Grosvenor Arms
The Lugger
The recently refurbished Grosvenor Arms is the heart-beat of the Dorset hilltop, market town of Shaftesbury. This ancient coaching inn with some very modern standards of comfort has 16 stylish bedrooms, restaurant, courtyard and private dining rooms. It’s just 100 metres from the top of the famous Gold Hill.
It’s been a good year for The Lugger Hotel in Cornwall. It was named ‘Best Seaside Hotel’ by the Sunday Times. The Financial Times told its readers, ‘For traditional Cornish charm and a waterside location, The Lugger is hard to beat’. And the Daily Telegraph called ‘Storm watching at the Lugger’ one of the UK’s 10 best ways to make the most of winter nights’
Conde Nast Traveler were wowed by ‘the elegant, colonnaded building’, the ‘laidback luxury’, ‘seriously cosy bar’, ‘bathrooms with deep roll-top bath or a shower big enough to host a party’, ‘superb dishes, delicious fresh breads and the best farmhouse butter I have ever tasted’.
Now it’s even harder to beat. There’s a new terrace area with magnificent sea views. The Hideaway is a self-catering cottage for those who want a bit more space and freedom with all the benefits of a hotel and two AA Rosette restaurant next door. And the Lookout is a double-bedroom in a converted boathouse next to the main hote,l with breath-taking views of the coast.
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good, better, bespoke · www.bespokehotels.com · t 0844 815 9833 · e info@bespokehotels.com
Lifehouse Spa & Hotel Admit it… you’ve occasionally sat in the lounge or restaurant of a hotel and wondered why that nice couple over there went and brought their kids with them. Lifehouse has a minimum age for guests of 16. As the old saying doesn’t go: ‘Children should be seen (in photographs) and heard about (occasionally), but not brought away when you’re trying to completely and utterly chill out’. • • • •
89 bedrooms 13 acres of listed gardens Water Lilies Restaurant Swimming pool, sauna, steamroom, hydrotherapy pool, fitness suite
Midlands and East Anglia It’s not entirely true that we only invite hotels with the letters ‘be’ in them to join our group. But it’s better for our head-line writers if they do. And especially if they are as bespoke as these three beauties.
Welcombe to the Humber and the Clumber. The Welcombe Hotel Spa & Golf Club in Stratford-upon-Avon • • • • • •
85 bedrooms 2 AA Rosette restaurant Luxury spa 18-hole championship golf course Tennis courts
beloved
The Humber Royal Hotel, Lincolnshire • Right next door to Grimsby Golf Club and a few minutes’ drive from Cleethorpes Golf Club. • Spacious, contemporary bedrooms • Brasserie and alfresco dining • Functions for up to 280 people • befriend
Clumber Park Hotel and Spa • • • • • •
73 bedrooms Gastro cuisine in the Normanton Inn Courtyard Restaurant New Leaf Spa Gymnasium
befriend
All roads lead to Leeds. Across the Pennines, you’ll find another of Bespoke’s great city hotels – The New Ellington – a gloriously sophisticated boutique in the heart of the buzzing city of Leeds.
Begin with a gin In The New Ellington’s Gin Garden, you can choose from over 120 varieties of gin!
• • • • •
34 bedrooms Digby’s Leeds Restaurant The Gin Garden Private dining and meeting rooms
beloved
North by North West
The cycle of life.
After the success of Yorkshire’s leg of the Tour de France, cycling has never been bigger. And cyclists are made more than welcome at the 111-bedroom Sheffield Metropolitan. It’s in the city centre, but an easy ride from the Moors. •
befriend
cManchester is one of the UK’s liveliest cities with shopping, night clubs, music venues, bars, restaurants and museums, not to mention two premiership football clubs.d
Got to go to Gotham Welcome to Manchester’s most spectacular hotel – Hotel Gotham. The completely new, 5 star hotel is set in one of the city's grandest, listed buildings - a former bank premises at 100 King Street designed by Edwin Lutyens and referenced in Pevsner’s Architectural Guide. The Art Deco building was dubbed the ‘King of King Street’, due to its grandeur, size and the castle-like design. Of Hotel Gotham’s 60 bedrooms, four are inner sanctum suites complete with their own gardens. There is a restaurant, a prohibition style bar and a roof-top members-only club.
We check out. You check in 0844 815 9833
cKing Street shops include: Hermès, Whistles, Emporio Armani, Agent Provocateur, Mulberry, Thomas Pink, Reiss and Crombie.d
There is actually only one official ‘lake’ in the Lake District – Bassenthwaite. All the others are ‘meres’ or ‘waters’. There are also many ‘tarns’ (an Old Norse word for 'pool'). Tarns are usually mountain lakes or pools. But some tarns are larger than lakes. Confused? In need of a lie-down? Well, we know a few nice spots where you can relax. This distinctive selection of seven hotels includes 4-star luxury, traditional coaching inns, lakeside locations and market towns. Six of them are within the Lake District National Park and the seventh, the George Hotel is in the pretty town of Penrith.
Lake District Bespoke Hotels in the Lake District LAKESIDE Lodore Falls Hotel, Derwentwater • Dramatic gardens with waterfall • Swimming, hot tub, tennis, beauty Inn on the Lake, Ullswater • Pub in the grounds • Orangery with 360º views of gardens COUNTRYSIDE
Row, row, row your boat across the district’s largest lakes - Windermere, Ullswater, Derwentwater, Bassenthwaiteand Coniston Water
Borrowdale Hotel, Borrowdale • 19th century house with original features • Exceptional valley setting MARKET TOWN Skiddaw Hotel, Keswick • Plenty of family bedrooms • Cosy lounge and conservatory George Hotel, Penrith • Restaurant and bar • Great value 3-star hotel Kings Arms Hotel, Keswick • 13 en suite bedrooms • Pizzeria and sports bar Queens Hotel, Keswick • 19th century building • Fully refurbished in 2014/15
You check in 0844 815 9833
Before you go. Jam-packed with spectacular scenery, incredible heritage and vibrant culture, Scotland is a wonderful place to visit and tour. There are Bespoke Hotels all over Scotland, from Glasgow and Edinburgh right up to Caithness on the northern most tip. We’re on the islands of Skye and Mull, the Kyle of Lochalsh and Argyll. Here’s just a few of the Bespoke Highland highlights: The Championship Golf Course at Carnoustie Golf Hotel. The views of Loch Fyne from The Argyll Hotel. The Quaich Bar at The Craigellachie Hotel with over 1,000 malt whiskies displayed. A boat trip on the Moray Firth near Newton Hotel where bottle-neck dolphins can be seen. The full-size snooker table at Stonefield Castle.
Scotland Come to Scotland and check out: Golf courses, of course. Baronial castles. Loch-side locations. Ghillie-accompanied trout and salmon-fishing. Wreck-diving. Dolphin-watching. Horse-riding. Rock-climbing. Hill-walking. Comfy armchairs and fireside lounges. Whisky tasting.
L’Instant Champagne, with Vitalie Taittinger.
Vitalie Taittinger is an active member of the family Champagne House.
Champagne for the Independently Minded
For further information please contact sole UK agents: Hatch Mansfield on 01344 871800 or Email info@hatch.co.uk @TaittingerUK · www.taittinger.com
Beats working for a living. We’re in Australia, Barbados, Denmark, France, Grenada, Hungary, India, Italy, Jamaica, South Korea, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, USA.
Around the globe We check out three Bespoke Hotels around the world. One by the beach. One in the city. One in the mountains.
Mount Hartman Bay Estate, Grenada This luxury boutique hotel on Grenada, one of the Caribbean’s most unspoilt and beautiful tropical islands, is just about the perfect wedding and honeymoon venue. There are stunning suites, an infinity pool overlooking the bay and Mount Hartman’s very own private beach.
Lanchid 19 Design Hotel, Budapest This 4-star boutique hotel in the centre of Budapest has 45 unique bedrooms and three suites with panoramic views. It’s a fascinating contemporary building in a neighbourhood of predominantly 19th century architecture with wonderful views over the Danube, and next to the World Heritage listed Buda Royal Castle.
Maloja Palace, Switzerland This exclusive resort is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, 10 miles from St. Moritz. Built in 1884 in neo-renaissance style, it offers an alluring combination of nature, relaxation and outdoor sport all year round, including sailing, rowing, mountain biking, tennis and football. There’s a ballroom, spa and cinema room and magnificent views of Lake Sils and the Engadine mountains.
NO ORDINARY RACE. NO ORDINARY TEAM.
FREE TEAM FLASK WITH TWO DRAMS OF GLENFIDDICH. VISIT THE HOTEL BAR TO ‘JOIN THE TEAM’. Over 18’s only, subject to availability, one deal per customer, no cash alternative, please ask in hotel bar for details of qualifying purchase.
SKILFULLY CRAFTED. ENJOY RESPONSIBLY.