With more and more of us discovering the joys of holidays in the UK, there is intense demand for family-friendly hotels where children are positively welcomed, and parents can relax. Here is The Good Hotel Guide’s pick of the places where a good time can be had by all.
These are the best family hotels in the UK:
Best for water babies : Bedruthan Hotel and Spa, Booking.com
Best for book lovers: Fowey Hall, Booking.com
Best for sea dogs: Tresanton, Booking.com
Best for fossil hunters: Moonfleet Manor, Booking.com
Best for spa: Calcot Manor, Booking.com
Best for egg hunts: Woolley Grange, Booking.com
Best for sea life: Congham Hall, Booking.com
Best for mucky pups: The Blakeney Hotel, blakeney-hotel.co.uk
Best for active guests: Augill Castle, Booking.com
Best for spotting dolphins: Porthtocyn Hotel, porthtocynhotel.co.uk
The Independent’s hotel reviews are unbiased, independent advice you can trust. On some occasions, we earn revenue if you click the links and book, but we never allow this to affect our coverage.
Best for water babies: Bedruthan Hotel and Spa
Neighbourhood: Mawgan Porth, Cornwall
Welcome to the house of fun – a hotel on the cliffs above the sandy beach, with floor-to-ceiling windows and Scandinavian-style décor. There are indoor and outdoor play areas and pools, child and baby-care, kids’ lunches, clubs, family spa days, a games room, teenage room, Jungle Tumble room…and the Wild Café serves burgers and wood-fired pizza. At night, book a babysitter and dine in the Herring, overlooking the sea.
Price: Doubles from £305 including breakfast
Best for book lovers: Fowey Hall
Neighbourhood: Fowey, Cornwall
"There’s Toad Hall…" said the Rat. "Toad is rather rich, you know, and this is really one of the nicest houses in these parts." Whether or not Kenneth Grahame – a frequent visitor – took this Victorian baroque mansion as his model for Toad Hall, it really is one of the nicest hotels for families. There is the estuary for messing about in boats, a breakfast club, a complimentary Ofsted-registered creche, kids’ meals, library, games room, indoor pool and plenty of wide open space to run around in and explore. Part of the Luxury Family Hotel chain, it is all things to all ages.
Price: Standard double room £210, family double room (sleeps three) £325, includes dinner for two adults and breakfast
Best for sea dogs: Tresanton
Neighbourhood: St Mawes, Cornwall
Olga Polizzi has created a magical hotel from a cluster of houses clinging to a steep hillside, with sea views from all bedrooms. Choose a family suite or one of several interconnecting rooms. There’s a playroom, a children’s garden with a Wendy house, cinema, baby-listening, babysitting by arrangement, and children’s tea (but children aged six plus can eat with you in the restaurant). In school holidays there are art and craft activities, but just below is the beach, for exploring rock pools, paddling and swimming.
Price: Family suites from £540 with breakfast
Read our review of the restaurant at Tresanton
Best for fossil hunters: Moonfleet Manor
Neighbourhood: Weymouth, Dorset
Since 1898 children have been gripped by Moonfleet, J Meade Falkner’s tale of smuggling, which centres on this Georgian manor overlooking the sea. Another Luxury Family Hotel, it continues to fire young imaginations, with pools, play facilities, a crèche and breakfast club for little ones. Older children will enjoy fossil-hunting on Chesil Beach. You can eat an early supper together, or there’s high tea for little people; more sophisticated dinner and spa treatments for adults.
Price: Family rooms, B&B from £22
CLOSED FOR REFURBISHMENT FROM JANUARY 2022 UNTIL SPRING
Best for spa: Calcot Manor
Neighbourhood: Tetbury, Gloucestershire
In the heart of the Cotswolds, this 14th-century manor house is a haven for all ages. There are large family rooms and suites, a crèche, babysitters, play zones, bikes to borrow, high teas, pools, a nature trail, woodland gym, tennis, assault course, pirate play ship – and an in-house spa. Enjoy modern cooking in the Conservatory restaurant, superior pub fare in the Gumstool Inn.
Price: Double rooms from £384
Read our review of Calcot Manor
Best for egg hunts: Woolley Grange
Neighbourhood: Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire
From hand-written notes at breakfast to a 5pm high tea or an early family dinner, young guests are made to feel cherished at this Jacobean stone manor house, the first in the Luxury Family Hotels group. The grounds are a veritable adventure playground, with ducks and hens, a Good Life garden, a grass maze. There are swimming pools, a crèche, junior spa treatments, and baby-listening and babysitting so you can eat in peace in the fine-dining restaurant.
Price: Small family double (sleeps three) from £170, includes breakfast
Best for sea life: Congham Hall
Neighbourhood: Grimston, Norfolk
Pretty gardens surround this Georgian country-house hotel, where children up to 12 sharing your room are charged only for breakfast. There’s high tea and a kids' dinner menu, while kids aged seven plus can dine with you. Babysitting and child minding by arrangement. Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary and the bright and breezy North Norfolk coast are near at hand.
Price: From £159 B&B
Best for mucky pups: The Blakeney Hotel
Neighbourhood: Blakeney, Norfolk
This traditional family hotel stands right on the quay, overlooking the estuary, in a picture-postcard coastal village. Kids sharing your room are charged only for breakfast. Children’s lunch and tea menus, and half-portions at dinner, are available. Diversions include a games room and an indoor pool, but the best fun is outdoors, with seal trips, mud sliding, cycling, nearby sandy and pebbly beaches.
Price: £154pp inc B&B
Best for active guests: Augill Castle
Neighbourhood: Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria
The atmosphere is free and easy at this Victorian fantasy castle in the Eden Valley between Lakeland fells and Yorkshire Dales. There are 20 acres of grounds to explore, a tree house, tennis court and playground, a library stocked with books and toys, a cinema. Characterful family rooms with chair beds for children, interconnecting rooms and suites, make for flexibility. Outdoor activities available in the area include Go Ape!, canyoning, fishing, mountain biking, horse-riding, archery and plenty more besides.
Price: From £200 B&B
Best for spotting dolphins: Porthtocyn Hotel
Neighbourhood: Gwynned
Run by the same family since 1948, this friendly, traditional hotel overlooking Cardigan Bay has long experience in catering for young guests. There’s a dedicated children’s area with snug, TV, videos, games room with table tennis, while high chairs and listening devices are available. High tea is at 5.30; menus are adapted for kids aged six plus who stay up for dinner, with the alternative of a light supper. There is no charge for children sharing parents’ rooms, even for breakfast. Plus, Britain's biggest resident population of dolphins live in Cardigan Bay, so bring your binoculars and cross your fingers.
Price: B&B doubles £110–£190
CURRENTLY CLOSED - REOPENING 1 APRIL 2022
