Little ones will love these luxury spa hotels as much as you do
Our favourite family-friendly hotels are about getting the balance right: not only do they make sure children don’t get bored, they ensure adults can unwind and enjoy themselves too. All the places we’re featuring here provide Ofsted-registered childminders, so parents know that their children will be looked after by professionally qualified carers. But they also include first-class restaurants, spas and accommodation.
Call us to make bookings or for more suggestions on child-friendly hotels around the globe, and for available offers.
Ickworth Hotel
Horringer, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP29 5QE
Ickworth House is a magnificent stately home with a long and aristocratic history that dates back to the 15th century – but the modern hotel in its east wing is anything but stuffy. Older children have free reign to explore 1,800 acres of Suffolk parkland, take swimming lessons or perfect their backhand with a tennis coach, while nannies at the on-site crèche will entertain babies and toddlers during the day. This gives parents plenty of time to visit the Aquae Sulis Retreat – a spa in the hotel's cellars that uses products from high-end brand Yon-Ka (a favourite of Madonna and Kate Moss).
The Grove
Chandler's Cross, Hertfordshire WD3 4TG
The Grove, a short drive from London, epitomises grown-up sophistication. Its suites have four-poster beds and open fires, while the tasteful contemporary rooms in its west wing come complete with roll-top baths and walk-in showers. The golf course is considered among the best in Europe, while its Sequoia Spa has won praise from The Times, The Good Spa Guide and Elle magazine for its vitality pool, crystal steam rooms and ‘tropical rain’ showers.
Given its impeccably glamourous credentials, it’s somewhat surprising that The Grove is just as suited to exuberant children as it is to urbane adults. Its kids’ club offers activities such as tennis, swimming, painting and craft lessons from 9.00am to 5.00pm, and the hotel can also arrange babysitters for parents who want the night to themselves.
Moonfleet Manor
Fleet, Weymouth, Dorset DT3 4ED
This Georgian manor overlooks the rugged beauty of Chesil Beach and, like its sister hotel Ickworth House, has been designed with families in mind. The free crèche is staffed with professional childminders, junior portions are available in its award-winning Mediterranean restaurant and the hotel can provide all manner of cots, highchairs and sterilisers on request. Even pet dogs are welcome.
This child and canine-friendly approach does not come at the expense of luxury: the Victorian-style suites are lavishly furnished with Egyptian cotton and Aquae Sulis toiletries, while the spa offers massages, facials and holistic therapies that will ease the tension from even the most frazzled parent.
Calcot Manor
Near Tetbury, Gloucestershire GL8 8YJ
This medieval farmhouse is a boutique option for families looking for a rural retreat among the Cotswolds' lilting meadows. Each of its rooms is different, though all have been sympathetically decorated to suit the building’s history, and the hotel offers 10 suites specifically designed for families. There’s a crèche for small children and a play zone suitable for young teenagers – plus plenty of outdoor activities to keep them busy while the adults enjoy a pint of real ale in the hotel’s traditional country pub.
The Calcot Spa offers a huge range of treatments – from reflexology and aromatherapy to Swedish massages and marine algae wraps – while a modern restaurant makes use of the best produce that the Gloucestershire countryside has to offer.
The Bath Priory
Weston Road, Bath BA1 2XT
The Bath Priory is all about refined elegance. This gothic manor, minutes away from Bath, seeps with romance – from the sumptuous furnishings of the rooms to the tranquillity of its verdant award-winning gardens. Importantly, parents don’t have to forfeit the romance when they visit. Professional childminders free up the adults for an invigorating Kodo body massage in the spa or sample chef Michael Caines’ celebrated cooking in Bath's only Michelin-starred restaurant on site.
Family suites with kitchenettes are available, and the hotel can provide toy boxes to keep children entertained, though young explorers will want to investigate the hidden nooks of the hotel’s walled Victorian gardens.
