If you haven’t started booking your holidays, have you considered skipping the expensive getaway abroad this year? Splash the same cash (or probably even less) on a much nicer hotel in the UK instead. Staycations are all the rage these days – which is why The Times has put together a list of the 100 Best Places to Stay in the UK for 2024.
We couldn’t spot a single hotel from the entire West Midlands region on the full list (what on earth!?), but one nearby place did crack the Top 10. About an hour from Birmingham, The Greenway Hotel & Spa near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire came 9th among the Best Places to Stay in the UK – where you can get B&B doubles from £245, and main meals start at £24.
Despite being located inside of a 16th century, Elizabethan manor house – set in eight acres of grounds – The Greenway Hotel and Spa feels like a pretty modern hotel. On the outskirts of the Cotswolds, you’ll find a state-of-the-art spa (£25pp) and a 3AA Rosette fine dining restaurant on your visit. Plus, each spacious bedroom has been painted with a unique colour palette – to give it its own special personality.
The Times said: “You might not guess from the tan stone frontage and modern reception area that this Cotswolds manor house on Little Shurdington Estate dates back to the 16th century. It’s been a hotel since 1947 and was a family home for 200 years. A £1.2 million refurbishment in 2023 enlarged the rooms and gave them a thorough refresh, though plenty of Elizabethan-era details remain.
“The lovely views over the surrounding Cotswold hills (from the rear of the hotel) remain reassuringly the same. The relaxed restaurant serves seasonal specials and there’s a spa with a restful indoor pool. It’s in eight acres, and guests are encouraged to wander the grounds, helping themselves to fruit from the pear and apple orchard.”
Where else featured on The Times’ 100 Best Places to Stay in the UK for 2024?
You won’t find anywhere from the West Midlands here – and yes, we’re counting Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire here too – which feels like a massive oversight from The Times. Or just a dig from the newspaper. But there are still a few hotels easily accessible from Birmingham.
Estelle Manor in Oxfordshire (2nd) – about two hours from Birmingham – was named
‘Central Hotel of the Year’. The Jacobean mansion features “elaborate bedrooms”, a heated outdoor pool, views over 3,000 acres of countryside and a Chinese fine-dining restaurant. Elsewhere, The Peacock at Rowsley in Derbyshire (4th) and Cowley Manor Experimental (12th) in the Cotswolds also make the list.
To see the full list of The Times’ 100 Best Places to Stay in the UK for 2024 head here.