Wivenhoe House Hotel

Surrounded by beautiful parkland, yet just a few minutes from the centre of Britain's oldest recorded town, Colchester, Wivenhoe House is a unique and exciting hotel in many ways. Firstly it’s home to Britain's only hotel-based hospitality school, whose dedicated undergraduates work alongside Wivenhoe House's professional team, ensuring a superb level of service for all their guests. Second, it's an elegant eighteenth-century country house, painted by Constable, that has been considerably extended in recent years, with a slick and very successful modern wing which has not only added to the hotel's size but to its charm and comfort too.

Above all it's a very comfortable place to stay, with excellent and attentive service throughout and rooms that range from the more traditional accommodation of the main house to the more contemporary rooms of the modern wing, many of which have floor-to-ceiling windows and big balconies overlooking the park. Interestingly, some are sponsored by the well-known chains the hotel school works with – you could stay in a top-end ‘Hilton’, ‘Marriott’ or ‘Exclusive’ room – and all are very spacious, with an unusual ratio of suites to regular doubles, and large, luxurious bathrooms with White Company toiletries. All rooms have tea and coffee-making facilities, complimentary water, robes, slippers and Freeview TVs.

The hotel has a small bar and lounge where you can order afternoon tea, and a brasserie-style restaurant with a bar and outside terrace for the summer months. This is a deliberately relaxed yet lively place to eat, with a menu that offers Modern British cuisine with a nod to France, all using  fresh, locally sourced ingredients. It's also where you eat their excellent breakfast. There are also several function rooms throughout the hotel, split between grand rooms in the old house and others in the new wing, some of which host regular weddings, parties and conferences, and best of all guests have access to the university’s excellent sports and leisure facilities, across the park, which include a gym, squash and tennis courts.

The rest of Wivenhoe Park provides lots of nice spots for a stroll, stretching out towards the university campus and two nearby lakes, and there are plenty of things to see nearby: the Boho riverside town of Wivenhoe and renowned Beth Chatto Gardens are each just a five-minute drive away, while the busy city centre, shops and castle of Colchester are all well worth a look – and the city's zoo is rated as one of the best in the world (2nd-best in the UK)! A perfect place, in short, for a lazy and maybe surprising weekend break from London.