Britain’s best castles for an overnight stay include Hedingham Castle. Photo / Supplied
Britain’s best castles for an overnight stay include Hedingham Castle. Photo / Supplied
There are few things more enticing than a hotel stay in an authentic castle. Think four-poster beds, ornate fireplaces, turrets, towers and gastronomy fit for a king, writes Jane Knight
Best for romance
Hedingham Castle, Essex
It doesn’t get much more romantic than having an entire Norman castle to yourselves. Right at the top of the 34m keep and reached by a spiral staircase, The Royal Chamber is the only bedroom at Hedingham. It’s romantic with a capital R: a carved four-poster bedecked in red and gold fabrics stands on a raised wood dais, in a capacious room with armour on the walls, beamed ceiling and deep window recesses. At the foot of the bed, an enormous carved wooden chest opens to reveal a deep bath for two, perfect for enjoying the complimentary bubbly.
It doesn’t get much more romantic than having an entire Norman castle to yourselves, such as Hedingham Castle in Essex. Photo / Supplied
Best for foodies
Mingary Castle, Scotland
Medieval feasts in this 13th-century castle on Scotland’s Ardnamuchan peninsula might have been good, but they can’t have been a patch on chef patron Colin Nicholson’s eight-course tasting menus. Don’t be tempted to eat too much of his delicious homemade sourdough; you’ll need as much room as possible for the procession of dishes that arrive in the contemporary-styled dining room, perhaps including spiced monkfish tail with pak choi and an incredible Valrhona chocolate cremeux. Sated, you can head off to sleep in one of just four bedrooms, characterised by four posters, opulent fabrics and deep baths.
Turrets, crenellations and arrow slits in metre-thick walls are all on show in this 16th-century pile, but so too are palatial rooms with superb oriel windows, a double-height drawing room and an enormous ornate fireplace, carved with the emblem of its original owner, Edward Stafford, the third duke of Buckingham. Henry VIII had Stafford executed for pretensions to grandeur before nabbing the castle for himself. You can stay in the bedchamber in the octagonal tower which Henry shared on a visit with his second wife Anne Boleyn before she, too, was beheaded. A gastronomic dinner is served in a restaurant with arrow slits in the wall.
Gaze out at the castle keep while you’re washing up in the fully equipped kitchen in the two-bedroom Neville Tower at Bamburgh, a medieval castle set on a craggy volcanic plinth high above the beach on the Northumberland coast. Both the keep and the sandy shore can be seen from the top-floor sitting room, with far-reaching views across the sea to the Farne islands and Lindisfarne. The three-floor apartment in the medieval castle walls has been beautifully decorated in country-chic style, as has the castle’s Clock Tower apartment, which sleeps four in three bedrooms.
Three-night weekends for four from £1229.50, self catering ($2563); bamburghcastle.com
A Victorian folly of a castle, Augill comes with all the requisite towers and battlements but also has an uber-relaxed air in its wood-panelled rooms with ornate ceilings. Between the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District, it makes a great base for activities ranging from fell walking and mountain biking to canyoning and potholing. Back at the castle, bedrooms might have wardrobes in turrets, a modern four-poster, or floor-to-ceiling Gothic windows. There’s even a castle within the castle – an apartment for four converted from the old stables, which also has turrets and crenellated walls.
Gather the clans to stay in this 16th-century fortified defence tower, which rises starkly from the surrounding lowland 32km east of Edinburgh. It may look austere but the interiors have been completely overhauled, with underfloor heating and water pressure that would have left the original owners marvelling. Eat in the vaulted dining room on tartan-upholstered chairs before retiring to the double-height Great Hall, with beamed ceiling, tapestries and oil paintings. Bedrooms have the feel of an upmarket ski chalet about them; one bathroom holds an enormous copper tub.
B&B doubles from £375 per night ($782), on an exclusive-use basis for 13; dinners can be arranged with in-house caterers; fentontower.com
Fenton Tower in Scotland sits 32km east of Edinburgh. Photo / Supplied
Best for unusual architecture
Star Castle Hotel, Isles of Scilly
It’s not just a name – the walls of this Elizabethan artillery castle were built in the shape of an eight-pointed star to defend St Mary’s, one of the Isles of Scilly off the Cornish coast. You can take tea on the ramparts as you gaze out to sea, dine on seafood in the officer’s original mess room and sip a St Agnes gin in the Dungeon Bar. The castle’s boatman will take you island hopping during the day; you can also play on the local golf course. Bedrooms within the castle itself are more characterful than those in a garden annexe.
The walls of Star Castle were built in the shape of an eight-pointed star to defend St Mary’s, one of the Isles of Scilly off the Cornish coast. Photo / Supplied
Take an 11th-century castle and give it the theme-park treatment with more activities than you can shake a knight’s sword at and you’ll have happy kids. Watch jousting, visit the dungeons, try the interactive maze, and see shows that feature falcons or siege weapons. There’s everything from archery to afternoon teas here, and you can stay overnight in medieval-themed glamping tents and wooden lodges too. Or really make them feel like little lords and ladies in a tower suite, with vaulted ceiling, four-poster and two pull-out beds.
B&B for four from £319 ($665) in a lodge and £675 ($1,407) in a tower suite, with castle entry; warwick-castle.com
Take an 11th-century castle and give it the theme-park treatment and you get the UK's Warwick castle. Photo / Supplied
Best blend of past and present
Roch Castle, Wales
Giving a Norman castle a modern makeover requires skill and care, and that’s exactly what owner and architect Keith Griffiths did in this Pembrokeshire pad. A glass sunset terrace is now the hub of the six-bedroomed castle, with spectacular views over St Brides’ Bay and the Preseli Hills. The original courtroom has been converted into a welcoming sitting room, where modern furnishings rub shoulders with the traditional Gothic windows. And the castle’s 1.5m-thick walls are decorated with specially commissioned contemporary art and tapestries. The bedroom to bag is Ap Gruffydd, right at the top, with double-aspect views.
