UK openings: Seven new luxury country hotels

Following on from our recent blog featuring the best new UK city hotels opening in 2021, we round up the hottest countryside properties set to make their debut this year.

From boutique boltholes to grand country estates, we think these seven new hotels will make ideal backdrops for a range of events, from memorable meetings to inspiring incentives…

Fairmont Windsor Park

Located adjacent to Windsor Great Park, this new property from the Accor-owned Fairmont brand will appeal to both meeting and incentive groups. Set to open this Spring, Fairmont Windsor Park will offer 13 meeting rooms including an 800 sqm pillar-free ballroom with capacity for up to 700 guests, as well as landscaped gardens for outdoor functions, making it suitable for a broad range of events, from small meetings to larger conferences, product launches, dinners and celebrations.

It will offer over 200 bedrooms and suites and a 2,500 square metre spa and wellness area, while F&B options will include a tea lounge, specialist dining restaurant, a champagne bar and an all-day dining venue offering dishes prepared with locally sourced ingredients, incorporating a private dining space and a gin bar.

The Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset

This summer, The Newt in Somerset is set to open The Farmyard – a former farm on the estate which has been converted into hotel accommodation. The Farmyard will have 17 bedrooms spread between a former farmhouse, cider mill, apple loft and cheese barns plus a swimming pool and dining facilities, all separate from the main hotel.

The Newt in Somerset is a 23-room 17th century Grade II-listed country house which nestles amongst gardens, orchards, lakes and woodlands in the Somerset countryside.

The Pig in the South Downs

The luxury Pig brand is launching its seventh hotel, The Pig in the South Downs, in the Grade II-listed Madehurst Lodge near Arundel in West Sussex. As with every PIG, the kitchen gardens and restaurants will be the beating heart of the new 30-room property. Anything that can’t be grown in the gardens will be sourced from the best producers within a 25-mile radius.

As well as using its 20 acres to rear livestock and grow produce for its country kitchen, founder and hotel pioneer Robin Hutson has also planted a vineyard in the grounds – his first foray into wine. Ideal for secluded board meetings and incentive retreats, the property will feature a study and snug complete with open fireplace and inviting sofas and armchairs, plus two further lounge areas and a private dining room within the restaurant.

The Harper, Norfolk


A contemporary country escape, this new boutique property is set in Langham, a pretty village just a mile inland from the coast at Blakeney, Norfolk. Housed in a former glass blowing factory, the 32-room hotel will showcase bespoke glass features and natural materials throughout its luxurious laid-back interiors.

The property will feature a bar, restaurant and an outdoor barbecue area known as The Shack, with menus changing daily, whether you’re sampling a local speciality at the bar, grazing al fresco in the courtyard or settling down to a five-course feast in the dining room. There’s also a serene spa with pool and pampering treatments.

Cameron House Hotel


Up in Scotland, Cameron House Hotel is finally set to reopen this spring after restorations following a devastating fire there in December 2017. The luxury resort in Loch Lomond is also adding a new extension, expected to be completed by early 2022.

This will add a further 68 new bedrooms, the majority featuring large balconies with loch-facing views, bringing the resort’s total offering to 208 bedrooms including 28 suites, and a grand, loch-facing ballroom.  

Callow Hall Hotel, Derbyshire


A Victorian country house hideaway, set in 35 acres of beautiful grounds and woodland at the gateway to the Peak District, Callow Hall Hotel is the first hotel from new brand The Wildhive Collection. The new company has a mission to offer aspirational hotels, which are relaxed, sustainable, vibrant and affordable, in peaceful and natural locations across the UK. 

Currently undergoing an extensive refurbishment, interiors are being designed by Isabella Worsley, who previously worked with Firmdale Hotels, so expect a quirky yet cosy take on countryside-chic.

The Star, Alfriston


Due to open in March, The Star in Alfriston will be the first joint property for renowned hoteliers Olga and Alex Polizzi. Olga – Sir Rocco Forte’s sister and director of design for Rocco Forte Hotels – and her daughter Alex (better known as TV’s The Hotel Inspector) – have been busy renovating the Grade II-listed, 15th-century building, which once belonged to Alex’s grandfather. 

Olga Polizzi already owns Hotel Tresanton in Cornwall and Hotel Endsleigh in Devon, but The Star is the first official joint venture for the mother and daughter duo. When it opens, the hotel will have 30 rooms, an all-day casual dining space, a more formal restaurant and will cater for events and weddings.