Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa

The arrival at Lucknam Park does half the hotel's work for it: a dead-straight, mile-long avenue of beech and lime trees ending at a 1720s Palladian mansion in golden stone, with 500 acres of Wiltshire parkland breathing around it. Six miles from Bath on the Cotswolds' southern fringe, the estate has been a country-house hotel since the late 1980s and carries its Relais & Châteaux membership with unforced ease.

The main house keeps a traditional register—drawing rooms with open fires, oil paintings, proper afternoon tea—while bedrooms range from cosy courtyard hideaways to grand front-facing suites with park views. Restaurant Hywel Jones has long anchored the estate's gastronomic reputation with polished modern British cooking, and the walled-garden Brasserie beside the spa covers relaxed meals in swimwear-adjacent dress.

What lifts Lucknam above many rival manors is the breadth of things to do. The spa is among England's best in a rural setting, with a 20-metre indoor pool flowing to an outdoor hydrotherapy pool, thermal cabins and a long treatment menu; the equestrian centre offers schooling and hacks through the park; and there is a cookery school, tennis and croquet besides. It is equally convincing as a romantic escape or a well-upholstered family half-term.