It’s not often that a new hotel comes along and blows every other one out of the water. That’s exactly what Beaverbrook did when the late-Victorian estate and former home of press baron Lord Beaverbrook was transformed into a stately hotel in 2017.
The hotel, nestled in 400 acres of woodland amidst the Surrey hills just 20 miles from London, has managed to uphold its stellar reputation ever since. Even my most fussy friends tell me it’s the best place they’ve ever stayed. “It’s super luxurious without being too pretentious,” one pal told me ahead of my visit.
I can confirm she was categorically right.
You’re in good company when you stay at Beaverbrook; Winston Churchill, Elizabeth Taylor, Rudyard Kipling and Ian Fleming all holidayed here - and there are tributes to each of them within the hotel’s design (credit to Susie Atkinson of Soho House fame). My husband, a total history buff, spent the vast majority of our stay absorbing the hotel’s history, exploring the bookshelves and admiring the wartime photos of Spitfires that emblazoned the corridors.
Despite the hotel’s glamorous alumni, we visited Beaverbrook with our much more feral two-year-old daughter - but any concerns we had over whether she’d feel welcome were immediately quashed. The staff were the most accommodating (and well-dressed) bunch, and our daughter was warmly welcomed with a Beaverbrook teddy that she still cherishes to this day.
A quick tour revealed the hotel is, somewhat surprisingly, hugely child-friendly. Just off reception is the kind of plush cinema rooms billionaires have in their basement - and one used by Churchill to catch up on Pathe newsreels. Today, the Private Cinema is the perfect rainy day activity and, yes, there’s a fresh popcorn machine.
Our favourite kids entertainment company, Sharky & George, also run a kids' club on site, with al fresco activities like bug hunting, den building and high-octane games in the epic treehouse on offer. There’s also kids’ swimming times for both the indoor and outdoor pools, which our daughter spent approximately 80% of her time splashing around. When the sun is shining and you’re relaxing by the outdoor pool, glass of rosé in hand, you could be in the Caribbean, not 20 miles from the city we so desperately try to escape at weekends. Weather not playing ball? Treat yourself to an indulgent spa treatment at the spa. Designed by contemporary artist and architect Brian Clark, the kaleidoscopic-coloured design makes perfect Instagram fodder and the treatments are heavily inspired by medical plants with those from the on-site apothecary garden used in treatments and teas.
The bedrooms are spoiling and flooded with natural light thanks to sash windows with views of the undulating Surrey hills. Each room is named after Lord Beaverbrook’s famous guests, from the Duchess of Windsor to Winston Churchill, and special touches like traditional British mint humbugs, Bamford toiletries and Sipsmith gin add to the indulgence. The pièce de résistance was a roll-top bath tub overlooking the incredible hotel gardens. When our daughter wasn’t in the swimming pool, she could be found causing chaos in here.
After we managed to drag her out of the bath (and out of her adorable Beaverbook mini bathrobe), we enjoyed pre-dinner cocktails in Sir Frank’s bar, which had walls lined with over 350 paintings by the Victorian botanical artist, Marianne North, a Gatsbyesque art-deco bar with topaz-blue velvet stools, a menu of Japanese-inspired tacos and light bites, and striking views on the countryside.
Next door you’ll find The Dining Room - the hotel’s iconic Japanese restaurant with a menu helmed by ex-Nobu chef, Taiji Maruyama. We ate in the Garden House, where we enjoyed one of the best lobsters we’ve sampled, served with butter-drenched new potatoes and adorned with salad picked straight from the hotel garden.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll also have seen Beaverbrook’s epic balloon dining experience all over the ‘gram. This year, our favourite just-out-of-London hotel has teamed up with luxury table dressers Summerill & Bishop to curate six stationary hot air balloons, delicately embroidered with whimsical love hearts so you can enjoy alfresco Japanese dining with a twist. With a view of the hotel’s epic gardens (those rolling hills though), you can feast on Wojciech Popow’s epic Japanese eats from the hotel’s much-hyped Grill. The main event? The Yakiniku grill interactive dining experience, where guests will grill the finest cuts of Kobe beef, Iberico pork, O-toro tuna and Madai to their taste, on an individual hot plate at the table.
Delicious dining? Kid-friendly? Sublime spa? Plush bedrooms? Incredible setting? Beaverbrook has it all.
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