The Exposha Guide to Most Elegant Stays in the UK

Not every great hotel is in a city. Some of the best places to stay in Britain right now sit on working farms, inside nature reserves, and on historic estates where the land around you shapes the whole experience. These five properties stand out because they each offer something you can only find in that specific place. Here is what you need to know about each one.

1. Elmley Nature Reserve, Kent

Photo Courtesy: Elmley Nature Reserve, Kent

The Story

Forty years ago, Philip and Corinne Merricks set out to restore a vast stretch of marshland on the Isle of Sheppey in North Kent. They farmed with wildlife in mind at a time when very few people did. Their daughter, Georgina, and her husband Gareth moved to Elmley in 2013 and have kept that work going. Today, Elmley is the only family-owned National Nature Reserve in the UK, and the only one in the country where visitors can actually spend the night. It sits just an hour from London, though it feels like a completely different world.

Where You'll Stay

The accommodation ranges from shepherd's huts and cabins to a restored farmhouse and a traditional cottage. The huts are warm and well-fitted, with wood-burning stoves and views straight out into the reserve. The Saltbox cabin has a fully gl see azed wall on one end and a bath set up outside. Kingshill Farmhouse, an 18th-century property with six bedrooms, is available for exclusive group hire. Elmley Cottage sleeps up to ten across four bedrooms. Bell tents are added during the summer months.

Experiences

Two types of guided safaris run throughout the year. The Land Rover safari takes small groups into parts of the reserve that are off-limits to the public, with binoculars included. The walking safari covers a two-hour route at an easy pace, getting guests close to marsh harriers, peregrine falcons, and bearded reedlings. Both are led by guides who know the land and its wildlife in detail, the kind of wildlife-led experience our Luxury Safari Retreat trips are built around. A yoga studio with wide views over the reserve is available for sessions, and a range of creative workshops and wellness treatments can be arranged. Elmley also hosts corporate and wellness retreats.

Food and Drink

Everything is made in the farm kitchen. Breakfast arrives at your accommodation each morning in a hamper. From October through May, two-course evening hampers are delivered to your door. In summer, wood-fired pizza is served in the farmyard under string lights. The Linhay is an open barn with a wood burner, stocked through the day with coffee, tea, and snacks. Guests help themselves and settle up at the end.

2. Restaries, Suffolk

Photo Courtesy: Restaries, Suffolk

The Story

Gem Boner and Thom Scherdel founded Restaries on Paradise Farm, a 16th-century Suffolk property that has been used over the years for cider production and music distribution. The two come from hospitality, PR, events, marketing, and fashion backgrounds. That mix shows in how the place is run. Every detail has been considered, from the products in the rooms to the local makers and businesses they work with. The farm sits between three of Suffolk's most popular areas: town, woodland, and coast. Pygmy goats, Valais Blacknose sheep, and Kune Kune pigs live on the farm. A full day-by-day stay here is laid out in our Luxury Farm Stay in the Suffolk Countryside.

Where You'll Stay

There are six separate properties, sleeping between two and twelve guests. The Cider Store has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, a log burner, and a private terrace looking out over the goat field. The Farm House is a large three-floor property sleeping up to twelve, with an Aga, log fires in multiple rooms, and a twelve-seat dining table inside and a fifteen-seat one outside. The Gate House is a one-bedroom retreat for two, with a mezzanine bed, roll-top bath, and a wood-burning hot tub on the terrace overlooking the alpacas. The Cart Lodge sleeps four adults and two children and has a Japanese soaking bath and a terrace by the pool. The Log Store and Tack Room are smaller one-bedroom options, each with a Japanese soaking bath and rainfall shower. All six properties have fully fitted kitchens, Gozney pizza ovens, and outdoor fire setups. Underfloor heating runs through every property year-round.

Experiences

The team arranges a long list of add-on experiences. Yoga is available by the pool at sunrise or in the Events Barn with a private instructor. A private chef can be brought in for any occasion, from a casual pizza night to a four-course dinner in your accommodation. The team handles restaurant bookings across the region, covering everything from fine dining to seafood spots with ocean views. Clay pigeon shooting can be set up on the farm or nearby. Horse riding along the coast is available on request. A VW camper is on-site for morning beach trips, and the team can have breakfast ready when you get back.

Food and Drink

There is no restaurant on the property. Instead, the team connects guests with the best places to eat nearby and handles all reservations. A sommelier is available to put together a wine selection before you arrive, and guests have access to the wine cellar during their stay. In-room beauty treatments, including massage and reflexology, can also be arranged.

3. Osip, Somerset

Photo Courtesy: Osip, Somerset

The Story

Chef Merlin Labron-Johnson opened Osip in 2019 and moved it to a restored 18th-century former country inn outside Bruton in Somerset. The restaurant holds a Michelin Star for its cooking and a Michelin Green Star for its approach to sustainability. In June 2025, four rooms were added above the dining room, turning Osip into a place where guests can stay the night. Around 85 percent of ingredients come from Dreamer's Farm, the restaurant's own organic plots nearby.

Where You'll Stay

The four rooms are named after Somerset rivers: Avon, Brue, Somer, and Pitt. Avon is a duplex with a freestanding bath on the upper level and a super king bed and walk-in shower below. Brue flips the layout, with the bedroom and bathroom upstairs and the bath in the lounge on the ground floor. Somer and Pitt are calmer rooms with super king beds, walk-in showers, and stone floors. All four have exposed beams, oak floors, live-edge wood furniture made locally, handmade jute rugs, and solid brass fixtures by Studio Ore. Toiletries are made by Maison Osip.

Experiences

Guests who book a room get priority access to the restaurant's dinner reservation, which is otherwise very hard to secure. Private tours of Dreamer's Farm can be arranged so guests can see where their food is coming from. On arrival, guests are welcomed with house-made pastries, barrel-aged cider from Maison Osip, and fresh-pressed apple and sorrel juice. The bar area is open for drinks before dinner. Nearby, Bruton has the Hauser & Wirth gallery, Durslade Farm Shop, and a Grade II-listed historic building called the Dovecote, worth visiting.

Food and Drink

Dinner is the main event. There is no printed menu. The kitchen serves around eight courses built entirely around what is ready that day, moving through small snacks, savory dishes, desserts, and petit fours. A chef's table for two is available on request, set right at the kitchen counter. The drinks list focuses on small sustainable wine producers and low-intervention bottles, with locally made ciders and spirits also available. Breakfast is included and features black cardamom buns, honey from Osip's own bees, hay-smoked trout, local cheeses, and house-roasted ham.

4. Fowlescombe Farm, Devon

Photo Courtesy: Fowlescombe Farm, Devon

The Story

Caitlin Owens spent years working in luxury hospitality, including time at Four Seasons London and a Relais & Chateaux property in Zermatt, before taking on Fowlescombe. The 450-acre estate in South Devon has been farmed organically for over twenty years. It raises English Longhorn and Beef Shorthorn cattle as registered pedigree herds, along with the largest flock of Manx Loaghtan sheep in the country, Tamworth pigs, Boer goats, and sixteen hives of honeybees. National Geographic Traveler named it one of the thirty best hotels in the world. Conde Nast Traveler and The Times have also featured it.

Where You'll Stay

Ten suites are spread across restored stone barns and the original Victorian farmhouse. The buildings were put together using stone quarried on the farm and hand-carved Welsh Pennant. Mattresses are made by Devon supplier Natural Mat using wool from Fowlescombe's own sheep. Every stay is full board. That means a long breakfast, lunch on full days, cake at 3 pm in the farmhouse, and a four-course dinner each evening. Transfers from Totnes Station are included in the rate.

Experiences

On-site activities come with every stay. Guests can collect eggs in the morning, bake bread with the kitchen team, pick wildflowers, forage plants for a gin session, or spend time feeding and learning about the animals. Morning yoga runs in the Greenhouse. Personalized schedules are put together with each guest before arrival and adjusted over drinks in the Map Room on the first evening. Off the farm, the team can arrange stargazing on Dartmoor, wild swimming, coastal foraging by kayak, gravel biking, and a paddleboard trip to The Millbrook Inn, the farm's sister pub in a nearby village.

Food and Drink

Chef Elly Wentworth and Head Gardener Shelley Hutcheon plan each day's menu together based on what the farm is producing. The Refectory seats sixteen guests around a communal table facing the open kitchen. Dinner is a set four-course menu that changes daily. Breakfast includes a buffet of house-made pastries, charcuterie, yogurt, smoked trout, and fresh juices, plus a hot option featuring eggs collected that morning.

5. Thyme, Gloucestershire

Photo Courtesy: Thyme, Gloucestershire

The Story

Caryn Hibbert and her husband, Jerry, moved to Southrop Manor in 2002 and began restoring a group of run-down farm buildings on the property. Caryn worked on the project alongside her father, Michael Bertioli, who focused on making the buildings as energy-efficient as possible, installing ground source heat pumps, wood chip boilers, and advanced ventilation systems. The estate goes back to Roman times and appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. A cookery school opened in 2009, and the hotel followed from there. Today, the business is very much a family operation. Caryn leads the creative direction, her son Charlie runs the kitchen, and her daughter Camilla manages the hotel day-to-day.

Where You'll Stay

Thirty-one rooms are spread across 17th-century houses, cottages, and converted farm buildings, all connected by gravel paths through the gardens. Every room has a botanical theme, with colors and decor tied to the room's name. No two are the same. Caryn's hand-painted prints appear throughout. Each room comes with quality linen, a welcome basket of house-made goods, teas, and coffee. Options range from smaller cozy rooms to larger cottage suites. Whole-estate hire is available under the name Thyme Exclusively.

Experiences

The cookery school runs two types of classes. The two-hour option focuses on one dish. The four-hour class starts in the kitchen garden, where guests harvest ingredients, before moving inside to cook and eat together. Both are led by Thyme chefs. Floristry classes with head florist Sophie Witham run from May through September. Private painting classes in botanical still life and portraiture are available year-round. The Tithe Barn hosts art exhibitions throughout the year. Currently showing until November 2026 is Modern Muralists, featuring work by Lucinda Oakes, Melissa White, and Tess Newall. Guests can also borrow bikes, grab a pair of wellies, and use the hand-drawn maps to explore the surrounding area at their own pace. There is a tennis court on site, along with badminton and boules.

Food and Drink

Charlie Hibbert leads the kitchen at the Ox Barn, cooking with produce from the estate's kitchen gardens and farm animals. The Swan at Southrop, the family's village pub, is a short walk from the hotel. The Baa Bar is a residents-only space in the converted lambing sheds, serving cocktails made with herbs and flowers from the garden. Its interior includes hardwood floors, velvet sofas, and custom seating made from the estate's own sheep wool. The Meadow Spa offers treatments in the Meadow Cottage and the Botanical Bothy. Poolside food and drinks are served at the Orchid House.

Plan Your UK Stay

Each of these properties takes a different approach to the same idea: building a stay around the land it sits on, whether that's a marsh, a working farm, or a kitchen garden. If a UK countryside escape sounds like the right next trip, plan your escape through us, and we'll help you put together an itinerary around what makes most sense to you.