These are unusual times, and the state of affairs can change quickly. Please check the latest guidance before travelling. Our writer visited these hotels prior to the pandemic.
Parts of Somerset are becoming rather fashionable these days, with sleepy pockets such as Frome and Bruton establishing themselves as in-vogue retreats for well-heeled city-dwellers in search of a rural idyll. In keeping with this gentle move towards a certain below-the-radar trendiness is the growth in the number of smart places to stay that appeal to style-conscious weekenders. Even Bath, long a bastion of staidness, now has a good choice of enticing boutique hotels, both in the city itself and in the nearby countryside. Here’s our pick of the loveliest boutique hotels in Somerset, including the best for stylish interiors, luxurious rooms, top-notch spas, fine dining and swimming pools, in Bath, Bruton, Barwick, Park Corner, Minehead and Backwell.
Cross Lane House
Allerford, Somerset, England
This snug, boutique hotel offers an intimate escape for anyone who appreciates gorgeous interiors, good food and easy access to the coast and Exmoor National Park. The Grade II-listed house dates back to 1545 and is charming throughout, from the cobbled paths and linhay decorated with fairy lights, to the notches in the centuries-old timber walls, large stone fireplace and restaurant decorated with bunches of dried hops. The bar provides a cheery evening welcome, with a roaring fire and velvet armchairs dotted about the flagstones. Bedrooms are decorated in a cosy, vintage style.
From
£
137
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Backwell House
Backwell, Somerset, England
A grand Georgian manor that’s been wittily renovated, with plenty of unique design features to lend it a sense of fun quirkiness. Accommodation is limited to just nine luxurious rooms, complemented by glorious countryside views and an ornamental garden outside. Expect interiors full of quirky touches – bathrooms sinks made out of old suitcases, or deer antler chandeliers. The five rooms at the front are slightly larger and have baths (copper, free standing) and showers but all display style and imagination with each room featuring the works of a particular artist.
From
£
99
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
At the Chapel
Somerset, England
Ecclesiastical elegance meets boutique verve at this former 12th-century chapel that has been stylishly repurposed into an eight-bedroom hotel in the arty village of Bruton. Rooms are different but share features such as cowhide rugs, leather butterfly chairs, mid-century seats, Egyptian cotton-dressed bespoke beds, modern art and monastic-like, grey-marble bathrooms – all but two rooms have a freestanding oval-shaped bath. Original features abound: double-height arched windows bathe the main dining hall in natural light and room two has mullioned windows with 1930s stained glass.
From
£
125
per night
• The best hotels in Bath
Little Barwick House
Somerset, England
This quiet, white-painted, country restaurant-with-rooms offers guests top-quality food, an old-fashioned afternoon tea and a pretty garden for relaxing underneath a huge cedar tree. Tim and Emma, the owners, have worked for Relais and Chateaux in the past and bought the wide, Georgian house with the intention of giving it a refined but homely feel, “somewhere where guests feel they can put their feet up”. With stacks of magazines, family photos and interesting little tables and chests placed here and there, they have succeeded. Interiors feature lots of cream and pastel tones, muted stripes and checks.
From
£
120
per night
Homewood
Somerset, England
At first glance, this gabled mansion and its 10 acres of well-kept grounds looks like a conventional country-house hotel. But survey the lawns closely and you’ll spot a life-size giraffe and outsize teddy bear covered in fake grass, while inside you’ll find Art Deco rooms, carriage clocks in reception, and shiny copper pots, dog figurines and framed Picture Post magazine covers in the lounges. Most striking of all is the restaurant, with its cluster of frilly chandeliers and arresting photographic portraits of locally based musician Peter Gabriel, taken in Bath in the 1970s. The appealing spa has a heated outdoor pool.
From
£
208
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
No.15 Great Pulteney
Bath, Somerset, England
A well-appointed and imaginatively designed boutique hotel set in a Georgian Grade I-listed building on one of the loveliest streets in Bath. Owners Ian and Christa Taylor (who also run The Abbey Hotel nearby) have blended the original fittings and features with some quirky, idiosyncratic and creative touches, from the artworks by students at Bath Spa University to hand-blown glass lights, chandeliers made out of earrings, collections of kaleidoscopes and other odd curios. The result is chic and witty, epitomised by the large dolls house in the reception area. The 40 rooms are just as individual.
From
£
145
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Queensberry Hotel
Bath, Somerset, England
Spread over four interconnected Georgian townhouses in an upmarket part of town, this privately owned, contemporary styled hotel, is run in hands-on fashion by owners Laurence and Helen Beere, who have been here for two decades and have a clear vision of what makes a hotel good and different. The drawing room has an enticing air of relaxed informality, while a likeable jauntiness to the enterprise is in evidence in the slick-looking Old Q Bar, where the hotel’s own fun Queensberry Rules are on display. The Olive Tree restaurant holds Bath’s only Michelin star.
From
£
121
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Pig near Bath
Pensford, Somerset, England
Pig hotels are all about dining and drinking and this, the third in the group, is no exception. The house was a family home until the 1970s and brass chandeliers, some of which were left by the previous owners, have been kept and rusted up, while portraits of the hotel’s “adopted” family adorn the walls. There are three lounge areas next to fireplaces and a rustic bar room that is flanked with shelves of coloured glass. Eating here is about enjoying a fun, buzzy evening tasting dishes made with super-fresh ingredients before rolling into one of the 29 rooms with their freestanding bathtubs, deer park views or little gardens.
From
£
199
per night
Rates provided by
Mr & Mrs Smith
The Bird
Bath, Somerset, England
Formerly the County Hotel, The Bird offers excellent, good-value food, first-rate service and individually designed bedrooms – many with expansive views. Experienced hoteliers Ian and Christa Taylor have given the property an imaginative overhaul with avian-themed styling (think crockery depicting birds in reception and a wall of stuffed birds set around a large tapestry of a cat in the lounge). Other visually pleasing aspects include a collection of kaleidoscopes, a display of oyster shells, Winston Churchill memorabilia and Victorian silhouette portraits. Food in Plate uses West Country ingredients where possible.
From
£
116
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Number One Bruton
Bruton, Somerset, England
Medieval elegance meets boutique panache at this former 12th-century forge, townhouse and row of cottages, which have been beautifully renovated as a 12-bedroom hotel with an outstanding farm-to-table restaurant headed up by Michelin-starred chef Merlin Labron-Johnson. He’s committed to local organic, biodynamic vegetables and low waste, and his menu pays homage to the produce of the county (think wild duck and partridge pie paired with colourful purple cauliflower). Interiors exude a moderately traditional look built on cosiness and cossetting comfort with a 21st-century touch.
From
£
130
per night
• The best restaurants in Bath
Combe House Hotel
Holford, Somerset, England
Dating back to the 1600s, the property in which Combe House Hotel occupies was originally one house and a small water wheel. As a Grade II-listed building, all of the charm and character of an era bygone can still be found today. Additional cottages were added on the hotel site and surrounding area for the tannery and mill workers to live in, with the current mill built in 1820. The interiors have been enlivened with a modern country style featuring contemporary rustic and quirky touches. Colours are kept fresh and light in an array of heritage pastel shades whilst mirrors and quality lighting keep the rooms cosy.
From
£
105
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Contributions by Jade Conroy, Lydia Bell, Simon Horsford, Natalie Millar-Partridge & Natalie Paris