Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire was once owned by Queen Elizabeth I, and this 200-year-old Palladian mansion and 350 acre estate still makes for a grand residence. Now an exclusive boutique hotel and Members Club, Stoke Park enjoys a beautiful location just 40km from central London and 11km NW of Heathrow. Commendably still a family-run business; the boutique hotel is becoming more of a resort, wedding venue and conference centre.
The facilities
Stoke Park’s reception is warm; you’ll be ushered into a slightly imposing grand hall with a sweeping staircase where pre dinner drinks are served in style. The Orangery, a stunning conservatory room with full height arched windows overlooking Capability Brown’s grounds and Norman Stoke Poges church, is reserved for Club Members only. Full exclusivity of the Manor House is never an option. The boutique hotel’s restaurant is geared to Members and residential guests. As such the ambience is warm and friendly, a home from home for many, but rather formal (there is a dress code) and can feel elitist if you are out of the loop.
Upscale meetings have always had their place at this boutique hotel, and a variety of meeting rooms or private rooms for social occasions are on hand. The style is largely traditional and formal. Chandeliers and traditional furnishings have been meticulously restored, but there is a discrete contemporary flair and the light colours lend a warmth and elegance. Perhaps most charismatic is the old chapel, a charming wood-panelled room complete with confession box and ornate carvings beautifully transformed into an intimate sitting room. Fake fur animal print cushions rest easily on luxuriously upholstered sofas. The windows are generally huge with magnificent views. Roaring open fires dominate in winter, French windows open out to terraces in summer.
The grounds at Stoke Park are stunning. The epic duel between James Bond and Goldfinger was fought out on the 27-hole championship golf course. Bridget Jones’s romantic boating session took place on the landscaped lake nestled amongst a variety of heritage walks and the picturesque Repton Bridge.
The boutique hotel’s award winning spa is a relatively new addition, just three years old but pulling in the punters with good reason. The feel is ultra-contemporary, a great contrast to the Manor house. The gym, dreamt up by a nightclub designer, is unusual, glass walls with a mezzanine level, a 4000 square foot hotspot of energy and state of the art machinery. Next door a luxuriously serene indoor swimming pool with hydro seat Jacuzzis provides a more relaxing space. Spa and beauty treatments are also on offer.
Stoke Park’s three indoor tennis courts (as well as its grass outdoor courts) are used for the pre-Wimbledon Boodle and Dunthorpe Champions Challenge, and, unusually, a Raquets court is also available for play as well as croquet, billiards and snooker.
The rooms
Stoke Park’s 21 rooms are all individually decorated and luxurious, each boasting an open fire and even the smallest have room for 2 upholstered armchairs. Most are spacious deluxe rooms with king beds or twin beds, plump sofas, working desks and well chosen antiques and art. Colours are muted with high-quality fabrics. All bathrooms have heated marble floors, pedestal marble sinks, roll-top tubs and most have separate showers. Suites have four-poster beds. Bridget Jones fans should indulge in the Pennsylvania suite. Future plans are to extend the spa to have an upper level for more contemporary styled bedrooms.
Hotel hotlists
"Grand country house sporting retreat with a slightly elitist club atmosphere; made notorious by 007 and Bridget Jones"
