A big summer vacation is a double-edged sword: the glimmer of hope on the horizon, but also the bringer of stress (the last-minute handovers, the knowledge that an out-of-office message won't scare off the boss). Regular weekend getaways are easy resets. But where to? Below are 12 of our favorite restaurants with rooms that will reward any traveler, tired or not.
Ugly Butterfly
Some restaurants are about the food they serve; others are about the setting. It's hard to say which impresses more at Ugly Butterfly, the first Cornish outpost from recently appointed MBE chef Adam Handling. Butterfly overlooks Carbis Bay, as romantic a stretch of sand as you can imagine, and Handling's £135 set menu is astonishingly good: you'd expect lobster to have been caught that morning, or lamb from nearby fields. Seals and dolphins frolic in the waters below the dining room; keep an eye out for them from the beachside lodges (which have hosted Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden). There's also a cheaper bar menu.
Carbis Bay Estate, Carbis Bay, St Ives, TR26 2NP, uglybutterfly.co.ukThe Suffolk
152 Main Street, Aldeburgh, IP15 5AQ, de-suffolk.co.ukAmong the blue-and-peach-coloured houses in the seaside village of Aldeburgh - picturesque but not so picturesque, as it's full of retired spies - stands the Suffolk. It comes from George Pell, a name familiar to Londoners from his work at L'Escargot. Do dreamcatchers exist? It seems so; when he left Soho, a different life beckoned for Pell, who came here, bought an old inn, refurbished it and now serves up great platters of oysters, garlicky lobsters, twice-baked soufflés and monkfish cutlets. Pell sources his seafood locally, knocking on fishermen's huts to find his favourites. The martinis are first-rate; have a few, waddle gently upstairs to the comfortable rooms (from around £135) and wake to the sound of the sea lapping over the shingle.
West Hatch, Tisbury, SP3 6PA, pythousekitchengarden.co.ukPythouse Vegetable Garden
Church Road, Great Milton, Oxford, OX44 7PD, belmond.comAmidst the winding streets of Wiltshire lies a nine-acre Georgian-style walled garden, Pythouse. There's usually a fire burning. On it might be cooking pork cheeks or mackerel, vegetable kebabs, venison shanks (at £37.50 for four courses, it's a bargain). Seasonality is taken very seriously here, as is sustainability: owners Piers and Sophia Milburn have three stars from the Food Made Good Standard, which is hard to achieve. That said, guests come here for the peace, for the sunny afternoons and candlelit evenings, for the dogs sleeping under the tables, for the families having a good time. City dwellers can feel like they're outside here, especially if they go glamping.
Cliff Road, Burton Bradstock, Bridport, DT6 4RB, theseasideboardinghouse.comLe Manoir aux Quat'Seizoenen
Shadowbrook Lane, Solihull, B92 0EN, hamptonmanor.comThat Raymond Blanc, whose Le Manoir turns 40 this year, has held two Michelin stars since 1985 is an impressive feat in itself; it becomes astonishing when you consider that he is entirely self-taught. Le Manoir, now owned by the Belmond Group, feels like another time, another country. The sense of occasion is clear and heartening. Luke Selby, formerly of Evelyn's Table in Soho, now heads the kitchen: he is an unusual talent and the fine, delicate French food is exceptional, with much of the produce grown on the land. It is an hour's drive from Marylebone and the rooms are beautiful. It all costs a small fortune, but they are delightfully clumsy with the pours, so after a while the financial blow begins to soften.
Main Road, Stanton Harcourt, Witney OX29 5RJ, theharcourtarms.comThe guest house by the sea
Grantley Hall, Ripon, HG4 3ET, grantleyhall.co.ukIt's hard to imagine a more picturesque setting than overlooking the sea, shingle and sand of Lyme Bay. The owners here are Mary-Lou Sturridge and Tony Mackintosh - both of the Groucho in its heyday (the pair founded it together) - and their dedication to a joyful time continues. They keep the recipe simple: local fish and meat, classic dishes (prawn cocktail, steak tartare, sole), a heavily French but reasonably priced wine list. It's not cheap, but it's not expensive either (mains are usually in the £30s, but start at £22). It's all just... good. The guest chef series, where big names from London come to cook (Jeremy Lee of Quo Vadis, Anna Tobias of Café Deco, Abby Lee of Mambow and so on) only adds to the huge appeal. Rooms seem reasonable at £235.
Coworth Park, Sunningdale, SL5 7SE, dorchestercollection.comSmoking at Hampton Manor
Moor Hall, Prescot Road, Aughton, Ormskirk, L39 6RT, moorhall.comThe Midland locals probably wanted to keep Hampton Manor to themselves. Alas, the secret is out. The Warwickshire estate was once owned by former Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel and is now home to a Michelin-starred restaurant in Grace & Savour, and a more casual fireside spot in Smoke, which offers an £85 set menu alongside interesting, mostly natural wines (if the South African El Bandito is available, order it). Guests can stay in the manor house (rooms from around £230) - which is grandly old and elegant - or in one of the outbuildings dotted around the grounds. Free wine tastings and an artisan bakery are bonuses.
Upward Road, Betteshanger, Deal, CT14 0EF, updownfarmhouse.comHarcourt Arms
1 Customs House Quay, Weymouth, DT4 8BE, @catchattheoldfishmarketThe Harcourt Arms is the last remaining pub in Stanton Harcourt, a quaint Oxfordshire village less than two hours' drive from London. Run by brothers Will and Olly Oakley, the comfortable setting has a local pub feel but also offers upmarket food, cocktails and fine wines. Most impressive of all is the commitment to value for money: starters are barely over a tenner; a superb steak frites costs just £24. Rooms, from £150 a night, include a superb breakfast made using produce from local farmers.
Grantley Hall
Though their timbre is different, Grantley Hall in Yorkshire can rival Le Manoir for a sense of occasion (though it is cheaper; rooms start at around £600 a night). It is an old stately home of a place, all ornate wood panelling and finely detailed cornices inside, idyllic streams and a Japanese garden outside. They have no shortage of places to eat and drink, but the place to go is Shaun Rankin's. His kitchen garden makes its way onto the £160 menu, with vegetables gently praised, but elsewhere there is a mix of high-lo: beef tea with bread, butter and drippings (heavenly), for example, and then sole with scallop, oscietra caviar, champagne and sorrel. One to dress up for.
Woven by Adam Smith
At the five-star Coworth Park - part of the Dorchester group, to give an idea of both standard and price - is the cleverly named Woven: chef Adam Smith has strung together all sorts of influences, as well as stories. This is fine dining in a fine dining setting, but the staff keep it light and the food is served with finesse. Smith, who made his name at the Ritz, does things like Cornish crab with a Thai green dressing and lemon verbena. He occasionally adds unusual little twists, but nothing that would frighten the horses. Which is just as well, given that Coworth Park is famous for its polo fields.
Moorish Hall
The twin mysteries of Mark Birchall's Moor Hall: first, it's in Lancashire, yet somehow only two and a half hours from Euston, and second, it has a reputation for seriousness but is actually more of a laugh. Don't get me wrong, the food here is as spot-on as they come, and the place has twice been voted National Restaurant of the Year. But they read every table, leaning into whatever mood you're in. The 16th-century bar is a picture, while the dining room is more modern, perhaps a touch Scandinavian. What comes out is the blockbuster stuff - turbot, lobster, duck - for £125 for lunch and £235 for dinner. Ouch. But Moor Hall is for those who seek theatre. These are meals to be remembered elsewhere, at another time, in other expensive dining rooms.
Updown Farm
Updown is an endless summer: a refuge, a respite, a place of human recuperation amid its sprawling gardens. Oliver Brown and Ruth Leigh run the place: in a conservatory, under vines, they serve dishes with a Mediterranean slant - things like lamb with sweet cipollini onions and artichoke and mint, or hake and mussels cooked in the Italian "acqua pazza" and served with courgettes and tomatoes. The food is reasonably priced, especially the summer menu (three courses for £40), while the rambling old farmhouse where the rooms are is teeming with good taste: decent art, stylish decor. A delight.
Catch at the Old Fish Market
Admittedly, it doesn't have rooms, but it's such exceptional value that it's worth arranging a nearby B&B. The menus (lunch £45, dinner £75) are devoted to the daily catch of the day: chef Mike Naidoo can tell you, down to the name, who caught the stuff and when. He then decides not to mess with it too much. The result is, in many cases, staggeringly good. Barbecued lobster to dream about, crab dumplings to mumble vaguely about, too lost in the memories to really come up with any descriptions (can you see it?).
