The 30 acres of gardens of Hadspen House, what is now The Newt in Somerset, were at one point in their history designed by Penelope Hobhouse and later housed the walled garden of Canadian colourists Nori and Sandra Pope. The house is now a hotel and the grounds a visitor attraction. Guests can wander the themed borders, walled Parabola garden, potager, lawns, meadows and woodland. This summer, the new Roman Villa Gardens, designed by Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt, will open and will include a Roman-style planted flower meadow, heritage fruit trees and a medicinal garden.

Tel 01963 577750, thenewtinsomerset.com

Hotel Endsleigh, Tavistock, Devon

One of English landscape designer Humphy Repton’s landscapes, this was among his last projects and one that spans  a moment in garden history between the Landscape Movement and Picturesque ideals. Now a hotel, the grounds still include Repton’s flower garden and rose walk, which leads guests to explore the landscape beyond. Here you’ll find a ravine plunging down to the River Tamar, extensive tree collection planted by Repton and carefully placed rustic buildings, such as the dairy.

Tel 01822 870000, hotelendsleigh.com

The Spread Eagle, Stourton, Wiltshire

Traditional yet smart country inn situated on Stourton’s village green and just opposite the entrance to the magnificent landscaped gardens of Stourhead. Guests staying at The Spread Eagle are free to enjoy the gardens at their leisure. The temples, monuments, rare trees and plants at Stourhead are set around a magnificent lake. The gardens offer year-round highlights and Stourhead is among the National Trust’s most popular properties.

Church Lawn, Stourton, near Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 6QE. Tel 01747 840587, spreadeagleinn.com

Hotels with gardens in the south east

The Bell Inn, Ticehurst, East Sussex

Whimsical, fun and kooky, this inn has rooms in the main building but also four guest lodges in the garden. The pub is very much for the community and this extends to the garden, with a design by Jo Thompson that befits all – including pollinators. As with the inn’s interior, the garden too has unexpected quirky delights – tufts of grass and the odd banana plant protrude from the lodge roofs. A palisade of weathered timber sleepers and seating surrounds a central fire pit, encircled by borders woven through with ribbons of ornamental grasses. Pops of seasonal colour in the planting come from spring bulbs and late-summer dahlias.

Tel 01580 200300, thebellinticehurst.com

Sopwell House, St Albans, Hertfordshire

In the grounds of Sopwell House, a luxury hotel in the Hertfordshire countryside, the spa gardens by Ann-Marie Powell are designed to feel like a tropical Balinese retreat. Ann-Marie and her team designed almost everything, from the three secluded outdoor hot tubs to day bed loungers beneath the canopies of specimen Osmanthus heterophyllus, and sculptural boundary screens. Bespoke glass screens were commissioned to bounce light into the space, which has a central rill, a six-metre copper water wall and bubbling water bowls. Elsewhere around the hotel are other traces of Ann-Marie’s handiwork: the Amelanchier x lamarckii underplanted with Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ at the front of the main hotel and a botanical garden for the hotel suites.

Tel 01727 864477, sopwellhouse.co.uk

Tillingham Winery, Peasmarsh, East Sussex

Hidden away down winding lanes near Rye is an old farmstead called Tillingham, recently renovated and now home to a biodynamic vineyard and new winery, as well as 11 rooms in an old hop barn and an uber-hip restaurant. Designer Marian Boswall is responsible for the naturalistic gravel garden covering the old farmyard, her concept borrowed from the 70 acres of surrounding farmland and designed to meld into it. The grid pattern of the vines informs the arrangement of the planting beds, which include plants such as Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii and Verbena rigida chosen for their pollinator appeal. Textured concrete, recycled farmyard metals and vessels from the wine making process anchor the scheme.

Tel 01797 208226, tillingham.com

Gravetye Manor, near West Hoathly, West Sussex

This impressive Elizabethan manor was home to renowned garden writer William Robinson from 1884 until his death in 1935. Robinson’s books The Wild Garden and The English Flower Garden advocated more natural-looking plantings and he put some of his ideas into practice at Gravetye. Guests at what is now a luxury hotel are free to wander the grounds. Don’t miss the oval walled vegetable garden and the meadow that stretches down to the river – a wonderful place to pause on summer evenings.

Tel 01342 810567, gravetyemanor.co.uk

Bressingham Hall, Diss, Norfolk

Here’s a bed & breakfast for plant-lovers, open to guests from April to October. The listed Georgian-style house is set at the heart of Bressingham Gardens, and former home of the late Alan Bloom, the founder of Blooms Nurseries. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the 17 acres, including the Dell Garden, planted by Alan, and Foggy Bottom, planted by his son Adrian, who continues to develop the gardens, always with an eye to innovation.

Tel 01379 687243, bressinghamgardens.com

Hotels with gardens in London

The NoMad Hotel, Covent Garden, London

Garden designer Alasdair Cameron and his team have created magical and enticing spaces for the ultra-fashionable and artsy NoMad hotel, which occupies the Grade II-listed former Bow Street Magistrates Court and police station. Plants trail lushly and exotically from countless planters placed around the hotel’s three-tiered atrium with its magnificent domed glass roof. Lemon and orange trees are underplanted with a combination of ferns, including Asplenium nidus and Asplenium ‘Parvati’, and Pilea peperomioides. Stairs are dressed with Ficus lyrata, Monstera deliciosa and Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum.

Tel 01343 612312, thenomadhotel.com

Hotels with gardens in central England

Thyme, Southrop, Gloucestershire

At the expansive Thyme in the Cotswolds, garden designer Bunny Guinness helped owner Caryn Hibbert fulfil her vision with a series of classic country-house gardens that weave their way around the 17th-century barns, houses and cottages, all with unique bookable rooms, and feature cottage planting, including thyme, lavender and persicarias. Working gardens and orchards supply flowers for the house, fruit and vegetables for the kitchen, and herbs for the spa. In addition to Bunny’s gardens is a 40-acre water meadow, that is a site of special scientific interest, displaying a rich tapestry of wild grasses and flowers.

Tel 01367 850174, thyme.co.uk

Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire

Chris Beardshaw recently designed a wildflower meadow at Raymond Blanc’s long-standing hotel and restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, planted beneath some old apple trees. The bountiful border has the glamour and vibrancy of an herbaceous border but the informality of a traditional meadow. There is an endless succession of planting rewards throughout the seasons as Chris took inspiration from the robustness of the planting communities of native meadow. During summer, expect foxgloves mingling with goat’s beard, snow rush and brunneras under the leafy apple boughs.

Tel 01844 278881, belmond.com

Barnsley house, Cirencester

An irresistible Cotswold house, once home to gardening icon Rosemary Verey, who created one of the finest private gardens in the country. Now a boutique hotel, the gardens have been maintained in Rosemary’s spirit with formal lawns merging to ancient meadows, a productive and stylish potager and delightful architectural garden buildings.

Tel 01285 740000, barnsleyhouse.com

Lower House, Hay on Wye, Herefordshire

‘Dingle’ perfectly describes the lush, leafy dell in which Lower House is tucked, just a stone’s throw from Offa’s Dyke. The garden to this inviting bed and breakfast is divided into different areas, each based around a strong layout and using plenty of luxuriant planting. There’s quirky topiary, an impressive veg patch and a woodland garden set around a series of pools. As well as the rooms in the house, the owners have added a garden room offering more intimate self-catering accommodation amid the box garden.

Tel 01497 820773, lowerhousegardenhay.co.uk

Hotels with gardens in north England

Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate, North Yorkshire

This grand, 90-bedroom hotel with a spa, two restaurants and a kitchen garden is a stately sight, standing in 300 acres of landscaped gardens and woodland. Since 2009, Matthew Wilson has been designing the outdoor spaces, including a tree-planting project, mini gardens outside bedrooms, the kitchen garden and a rooftop spa garden. The kitchen garden is the star, with trained fruit trees and 52 raised beds made from native oak from the grounds at Rudding Park. More than 500 different herbs, salads, vegetables and edible flowers, with an emphasis on the unusual, grow here, destined for the restaurant.

Tel 01423 871350, ruddingpark.co.uk

Walwick Hall, Hexham, Northumberland

Metres from Hadrian’s Wall, this Grade II-listed Georgian country house was turned into a ten-bedroom boutique hotel and spa in 2016. The grounds sprawl to 100 acres and Alistair Baldwin created gardens to soften the landscape on all sides of the hotel building, designed to immerse guests in plants. Deep borders are thick with cottage-garden plants, such as geraniums, brook thistle, alchemillas, astrantias and columbines, while hedged rose beds and squadrons of copper beech frame the dining terrace.

Tel 01434 620156, walwickhall.com

Middleton Lodge Hotel, Middleton Tyas, North Yorkshire

The Grade II*-listed walled garden at Middleton Lodge, revived by a plan from Tom Stuart-Smith, now acts as a backdrop to the Fig House, a wedding venue on this 200-acre estate, which also has a hotel, cottages, and restaurant. Tom divided the two acres into four areas – spring, summer, prairie and kitchen gardens – with a central lawn planted with Indian bean trees and box topiary. Domed iron arbours are trained with pears, white roses and wisteria, while pathways weave and thread their way through the garden. Some rooms have direct access into the kitchen gardens, which can be explored by guests first thing in the morning.

Tel 01325 377977, middletonlodge.co.uk

Millgate house, Richmond, Yorkshire

The sheltered walled garden to this Georgian house bed and breakfast is a lesson in clever planting. At just 0.3 acres, the garden is small but festooned with old-fashioned roses, ferns, hostas and snowdrops, not to mention a magnificent Magnolia x kewensis, at its best in early spring, and evergreen shrubs for winter interest. The garden overlooks the River Swale and the Cleveland Hills.

Tel 01748 823571, millgatehouse.com

Hotels with gardens in Wales

Allt-y-bela B&B, Usk, Monmouthshire

Arne Maynard’s unmistakable terracotta-coloured medieval farmhouse rises skyward from the green of his own garden, hidden down a secluded lane in quiet Monmouthshire countryside. Arne and William Collinson moved here in 2007 and have spent the past 15 years working on the garden, which features some of Arne’s signature design elements. Built between 1420 and 1599, the house has a Renaissance tower created in the 17th century, and this romance is replicated throughout the garden – a place to lose oneself among the clipped topiary, pleached crab apples and wildflower meadow that beautify this secret valley. The tumbling roses, untamed grass and kitchen garden add to the fairy tale. Available for bed and breakfast.

Tel 07892 403103, alltybela.co.uk

Bodysgallen Hall, Llandudno

Extensive restoration over the last 30 years has brought these gardens back from dereliction. Guests at this luxury hotel may wander more than 200 acres of well-tended parkland and gardens. Highlights include a rare 17th-century box parterre, walled Edwardian rose garden and several follies and woodland walks. Themed garden tours are led by the head gardener throughout the year.

Tel 01492 584466, bodysgallen.com

Hotels with gardens in Scotland

The Fife Arms, Braemar, Aberdeenshire

Reinvented and reopened in 2018 by Iwan and Manuela Wirth of Hauser & Wirth, this 46-bedroom Victorian coaching inn has a garden by Jinny Blom, who was commissioned to weave a new story for the grounds overlooking the River Clunie. Planting takes its cues from the Victorian Scottish baronial era, plant hunters and folklore.

Tel 01339 720200, thefifearms.com

Self-catering accommodation with gardens

Cadhay Manor, Ottery St Mary, Devon

The Elizabethan house at Cadhay has been described as one of the top manor houses in the country. Up to 22 guest can stay in the big house while the Stables and Coach House overlook the Kitchen Garden. Exclusive access to the gardens is part of your stay. An area of the garden has been converted to allotments for local residents, so the gardens are productive as well as ornamental. Sleeps up to 22 people.

Tel 01404 813511, cadhay.org.uk 

Hailstone Barn, Cherington, Gloucestershire

The gravel garden surrounding this barn conversion rental property that sleeps six, close to the Cotswold town of Tetbury, was landscaped by James Alexander-Sinclair, and is designed to complement and enhance the agricultural land that spreads away from it. Once filled with cattle, then weeds, the old farmyard is now a hazily romantic place in which to find a lounger and hide away within the cocooning meadow-style planting that culminates during summer with Sisyrinchium striatum and lupins blurring with Anemanthele lessoniana, euphorbias and Phlomis russeliana.

Tel 01386 896383, ruralretreats.co.uk

Temple Guiting, Gloucestershire

Not only do you get to stay in a quintessential 15th-century manor of creamy Cotswold stone, but house guests can indulge in gardens designed by award-winning designer Jinny Blom. The 14 acres are divided into different areas of planting – all richly romantic, with frothy swathes of flowers. Sleeps up to 10 people.

Tel 01451 851862, templeguitingmanor.co.uk 

Chatsworth, Bakewell, Derbyshire

Chatworth’s vast gardens cover 105 acres and are an astonishing display of power and wealth. They also chart the changes in garden fashion over 400 years. The estate offers a choice of accommodation from hotels, bed and breakfast and self-catering, including Swiss Cottage, which sleeps six. The house was designed by Joseph Paxton (or his associate) as an ‘eye-catcher’ to be viewed from various vantage points around the estate. Its lakeside setting is significant too, as this is the water source for the magnificent cascade, built in 1690 and a central feature of the garden. Accommodation for 2-10 people.

Tel 01246 565379, chatsworth.org 

Houghton hall, Kings Lynn, Norfolk

This magnificent Palladian house was home to Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first Prime Minister. In more recent times Houghton won the 2007 Historic Houses Association Garden of the Year. The five-acre walled garden was renovated and redesigned in 2003 by Isabel and Julian Bannerman and features 130m of herbaceous borders, yew hedging, rose garden, Italian garden and water features – all designed with the Bannermans’ sense  of drama and style. Stay in the Water House, built in the 1720s on the edge of the deer park, and receive complimentary tickets to the Hall and gardens (during garden open season only). Sleeps 5 people.

Tel 01485 528569, self-catering-breaks.com

Goddards, Dorking, Surrey

Arts and Crafts masterpiece by that definitive design partnership Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll. Built at the turn of the 20th century, the house includes its original skittle alley. Out in the garden, the west-facing courtyard has recently been restored according to Jekyll’s planting plan. The property is managed by the Landmark Trust and is one of a selection of their properties with interesting gardens. Sleeps up to 12 people.

Tel 01628 825925, landmarktrust.org.uk

Audley End, Essex

© Photograph by David Goddard

This grand Jacobean house is surrounded by parkland designed by Lancelot ’Capability’ Brown and dotted with ornamental garden buildings by Robert Adam. As well as this natural-style landscape, there is a formal parterre and extensive kitchen garden. Stay at Cambridge Lodge cottage and you can wander the gardens until dusk, well after other visitors have gone. English Heritage has accommodation at other properties with interesting gardens, such as the Greenhouse Apartment at Walmer Castle in Kent, with its contemporary garden honouring the Queen Mother. Sleeps 4 people.

Tel 01799 522842, Reservations 0333 253 4139, english-heritage.org.uk 

Howick Hall, Alnwick, Northumberland

The 2009 Garden Museum/Gardens Illustrated Garden of the Year, Howick Hall Gardens hug the coast, offering everything from snowdrops at the start of the season to magnificent autumnal colours in the arboretum. Many trees were planted by Lord Howick, using seed collected on his own planthunting travels. Stay in the Bathing House or The Old School and enjoy unlimited access to the gardens. Sleeps 2-6 people

Tel 01665 577285, howickhallgardens.com Agents 01665 605541, northumbria-byways.com 

Cambo Estate, St Andrews, Fife

This Victorian walled garden with effusive plantings of perennials also includes a fountain and rose-clad wrought iron bridges spanning the Cambo Burn. Beyond the walled garden are an area of prairie planting, a bog garden and woodland extending to the sea. Cambo is renowned for its snowdrops and a visit in early spring is sure to delight. Guests can choose from bed and breakfast or a selection of self-catering options, including apartments in the Gardener’s Wing. Accommodation for 2-16 people

Tel 01333 450054, camboestate.com 

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