Charlton House, Somerset
Where is it? This privately owned country-house hotel is in Shepton Mallet, amid the rolling hills of Somerset, in southern England. Charlton House is also 15km from Glastonbury, so it attracts rock royalty when the Glastonbury Festival is on. Gwyneth Paltrow, in her rock-wife guise, has signed the guestbook.
Contemporary or classic? The property has been standing for almost four centuries. There are no formalities nor a reception desk; guests are greeted personally and escorted through cosy, low-ceilinged hallways decorated with family photographs, racing memorabilia and curios brought back from around the world by owner Roger Saul - founder of the Mulberry design company - and his wife, Monty. Each guestroom is individually named and each has a distinct ambience. Chesterblade, for example, is decorated in red and gold with velvet flourishes and features a freestanding bath, separate shower room and adorable private terrace.
What's on the menu? The Michelin-starred Mulberry restaurant features modern British cuisine prepared using mainly local produce, which is supplied by West Country farms, including the Sauls' Sharpham Park estate. The restaurant is in the conservatory, so the feeling of being in the home of an Englishman (albeit an extremely rich one) is never far away.
Anything else we should know? Monty's Spa is a New-Age delight, offering face, body and hair products handmade from natural oils chosen for their therapeutic benefits. In addition to the heated hydrotherapy pool with built-in massage beds, six varieties of massage and the usual facials and other beauty treatments, there are complimentary Free To Be workshops. These include three-day courses on transcendental meditation, hypnotherapy, qi gong and other enlightened diversions.
What else is there to do? If croquet and tennis don't appeal, visitors can drive the 30km to Bath for its Roman baths and excellent shopping, or the 35km to Sherbourne Estate, which comprises 1,600 hectares of countryside. Wells, 10km from Charlton House, is technically a city because it features a gothic masterpiece of a cathedral, but you would be hard pressed to find more than a few sets of traffic lights, never mind a traffic jam.
What's the bottom line? Rates start at #170 ($2,350) a night for a small double room, including use of Monty's Spa, a full English breakfast and a morning newspaper.
