Homewood

Homewood has never been a country house hotel that takes itself too seriously. Just outside Bath, the Georgian mansion merges elegant interiors with unexpected touches, from a giant monkey that greets guests on arrival to suites with private hot tubs. Elsewhere, the spa continues the playful approach with a sauna and ice bucket showers paired with sweeping views across the Avon Valley.

This winner of the Best Hotel award also provides indulgence of the culinary kind. In Olio restaurant, chef Jamie Forman’s seasonal menus reimagine British ingredients – including those from the hotel’s no-dig garden – through a Mediterranean lens.

Roast halibut with fennel barigoule and Montpellier butter, wild chestnut and oyster mushroom gnocchi with parmesan cream, and Norton St Philip lamb rump with crushed oregano peas demonstrate the kitchen’s produce-led approach.

The hotel’s popular La Taberna experience invites guests to begin with Champagne and a stroll through the kitchen garden before sharing baked Somerset camembert, garden vegetables and breads, followed by Stokes Marsh Farm sirloin slow-cooked over the grill.