The 8 best hotels in Yorkshire
Yorkshire won a place in Conde Nast Traveller’s Best Places to Go in 2024. Why? For its superstar chefs and their food revolution. Yorkshire has upped its game, not only in the culinary stakes but also in terms of hotels. Once a region where it was either bling or chintz; a new wave of hoteliers with style and sass has landed. The proof in the pudding? The mod-lux, considered, design-driven hotels with experience-led, sustainably-focused dining experiences, now cropping up in Yorkshire. It makes the idea of a UK trip more tempting than ever before, as great food is a key component of a sensational stay.
Selecting the best hotels in Yorkshire is no easy feat though: we only include what we think are the very best stays, so we’ve chosen not only hot hotels but, retreats, pubs or restaurants with rooms. Read on for the hotels on our radar this year…
Grantley Hall, Ripon
For a fairytale affair, book Grantley Hall – Cinderella will go to the ball. A stay at this beautiful hotel and estate is a once-in-a-lifetime treat. What are the magic ingredients though? Firstly, start with a chauffeur-driven arrival to the lush, sweeping grounds and grand hall. Then, add a fabulous lunch at old-school Fletchers — go for the roasted king scallops and the Himalayan salt-aged beef fillet. Afterwards, it’s time to spa. Go for a dip, or sauna, or just gaze at the glass-like pool. The citrus facial is a must-try, inducing bright, glowy skin, and the tangerine-infused facial mist is summer. Finally, round off the day by dining in Shaun Rankin’s Michelin restaurant – opt for the exceptional 10-course tasting menu, Taste of Home, with the wine pairing. Centred around the region’s abundant larder, each artfully crafted course served by whip-smart professionals (standouts include the aged beef, turbot and caviar, and Yorkshire Rhubarb cream slice) just gets better and better: it’s an experience that lives on, well after the meal. Finally, sink into your (turned down, while you were at dinner) bedsheets in your beautiful bedroom. Top tip: book the presidential suite for a wow experience, it comes with a bling lounge, bar, private dining space, huge sleeping quarters and a private steam room. Wake up to the sleepy Yorkshire Dales, with the best breakfast spread you’ve ever encountered – delivered to your private dining table. Then, it’s back in the pumpkin Cinders, things this good can’t last forever.
Address: Grantley Hall, Ripon, HG4 3ET
Price: From £575 per night with bed and breakfast for two; Shaun Rankin Taste of Home menu £160 per person
Middleton Lodge, Richmond
A recent Michelin winner for its outstanding tasting menu at restaurant Forge, Middleton Lodge is a gorgeous country pile and a handsome health retreat near Richmond – it's worth a spa day in its own right, never mind a sleepover. The estate has been beautifully designed by creative director Rebecca Tappin – who has thought of everything when it comes to creating a perfect pampering stay in the countryside. It really couldn’t be more perfect: so-cosy cottages blanketed in wisteria with queen-size beds and all the home comforts, a world-class spa, theatrical tasting menu experiences at Forge and hearty, casual eats at The Coach House. The ritzy outdoor pool area and health suite at Forest Spa is a newer, bonus attraction — book well ahead. There’s a menu of bespoke treatments to choose from, set among the lofty forest trees, to the soundtrack of nature. Go for a weekend, as it’s a destination in itself, and ditch the devices – you won’t want to return to your tech anytime soon on this blissful escape.
Address: Middleton Lodge, Kneeton Ln, Middleton Tyas, Richmond, DL10 6NJ
Price: From £200 per night for two including breakfast
No.1 by GuestHouse, York
There are some gorgeous York hotels, but, until No.1, there wasn’t a Georgian luxury stay that got all the fundamentals right. It feels more like a residence than a hotel, and the little wonder-filled touches throughout the hotel add a cheeky twist. There’s a sweeping, statement staircase on entrance and saffron-hued Marmalade Lounge to take afternoon tea or imbibe in, while restaurant Pearly Cow serves up a delicious Sunday roast with friendly banter. Just like all the best hotels, there needs to be high-grade snacks. Visit the pantry on the landing – it’s restocked with jellies, crisps, chocolates, and ice creams – it proved popular with kids (and adults). Grown-ups will swoon over the lavender-scented basement spa, pretty four-posters and breakfast in bed – not to mention the retro Crosley record players and impressive vinyl selection. Go without kids, grab a martini in Marmalade and tune out to The White Album.
Address: No.1 York, 1 Clifton, York YO30 6AA
Price range: from £200 per night with bed and breakfast for two
The Alice Hawthorn, Nun Monkton
A trip to The Alice, a practically perfect country pub with rooms, never disappoints. The idyllic, chocolate-box village of Nun Monkton itself will have you checking Rightmove. It’s not easy to blend high-style and fantastic food so effortlessly into a pub stay – but The Alice has nailed it. The petite pub is a place you’d happily hunker down in and nurse a pint over a good book. The room to book is – ahem, The Alice – the pub was named after the famous racehorse. It’s a pampering country bolthole, think sultry low beams, warm cream-hued, cosy linens and blankets, and deep, standalone tubs with all the lotions and potions by Bramley. As for the food, try the Portuguese prawns swimming in garlic-chilli balm; the pan-fried cod is supremely succulent and flaky – leave room for a sharing cheeseboard with plenty of British blues. Sunday roast is served in the main dining room: don’t miss the roast beef. After breakfast, journey to nearby Beningbrough Hall for a peek inside the grand house, or the rooms have guides to lesser-known walking trails – a nice touch.
Address: The Alice Hawthorn, The Green, Nun Monkton, York YO26 8EW
Price range: from £225 per night with bed and breakfast for two
The Black Swan, Oldstead
The Black Swan is a Yorkshire icon: a well-established, coveted restaurant with a Michelin star and a green star helmed by new head chef Alice Power – booking well ahead is essential – the famed lunch or evening tasting menu can be booked with an overnight stay. The focus on sustainability at BS is impressive: Dexter beef is reared at the Banks’ farm, vegetables and fruits are grown in the kitchen garden, and foraged ingredients are used consistently – also in cocktails and other tipples. A sample menu can feature smoked eel, turbot with razor clams, and the Swan’s own Berkshire pigs – pork belly and black apple. Epoch is the recently launched private seasonal dining space available for a lucky five to eight guests. Afterwards, just slope off to your peaceful room; there are nine luxurious rooms named after dales and woodlands around the hamlet. Book the two-night stay for The Abbey and Black Swan and experience both restaurants for a special occasion.
Address: The Black Swan at Oldstead, Oldstead, York YO61 4BL
Price range: from £600 per night for a room, dinner and breakfast
The Talbot, Malton
The Talbot, a 17th-century coaching inn in the market town of Malton – is ripe for a culinary-focused weekend break in the ‘food capital of Yorkshire’. Everything about the warm inn is welcoming; once inside, there are blonde-wood tables, inky-blue walls, orange-bright seating, crackling fires and an ample crowd of regulars in attendance – it’s also one of the best hotels in Yorkshire for dog-friendly visits. Go for a deluxe double room with a super king-size bed decked in red pinstripes. When dinner time comes, Talbot’s epic menu of classic pub fare is spot on, formidable fish and chips, homemade pies and burgers – as is the Sunday roast – don’t skip the sticky toffee pudding. They also have a decent children’s menu if you’re bringing little people.
Address: The Talbot, Yorkersgate, Malton YO17 7AJ
Price: from £155 for tworoom only
The Abbey Inn, Byland
Tommy Banks’ latest pub with rooms – a stylishly converted former Monk’s farmhouse – has gained many excellent reviews, far and wide. Perhaps it’s the winning blend of delicious, sustainably-focused dishes served at the pub’s chic-country tables and its cosy-cool bedrooms overlooking the idyllic surrounding countryside? There is a lovely trio of cosily-crafted bedrooms with all the luxuries and spoilings for a night away with your beau. Then there’s the location directly across the road from the luminous arches of Byland Abbey, enveloped by the refreshing greens of farm and forest. Go for the epic Sunday lunches: try the rolled pork belly or roast leg of lamb and one of the signature sundaes – hint, the spiced pear, ginger parkin and calvados butterscotch sundae is memorable. Hike it off, high up, at Kilburn White Horse – with inspired patchwork views of the countryside landscape. When it’s time to get some sleep, a quiet night’s slumber at The Abbey is just the tonic.
Address: The Abbey Inn, Byland, York YO61 4BD
Price: from £375 per night, including a £100 dinner allowance and breakfast
Myse, Hovingham
Finding Mýse, a new Michelin-star restaurant with rooms in Hovingham – a tiny village on the way to Helmsley – is a bit of a surprise at first. Hovingham is more a place you might pause after a country walk, being close to Castle Howard, so it’s fitting that the restaurant's characterful, honey-stone building was once the local pub. Mýse was awarded its Michelin star after being open for just seven months – and it’s not hard to see why. Joshua and Victoria run a tight ship as a chef and sommelier couple and their deep knowledge shows: what is truly evident is their passion for what they do. The 15-course lunch or supper tasting menu is a culinary extravaganza and pays homage to Yorkshire’s finest produce, it features braised ox cheek in Yorkshire pudding batter, roasted Thirkleby duck, and broad bean porridge. The beautifully caramelised medlar cake with malted ice cream is a dreamy ending. Another wonderful thing is that service is perfectly timed and two hours is enough to experience lunch at a steady pace. So much consideration has been put into every fine detail here: there’s an impressive non-alcoholic wine pairing too (try the rose wine), and the restaurant logo shows the village tree in all four seasons – a nod to the food ethos here. There are three luxurious rooms with calming natural colour palettes, locally sourced antiques, so-snug features, and extra special touches such as personalised Yorkshire parkin welcome gifts – rush to book them – there will be a further three rooms to book from summer this year.
Address: Mýse, Main Street, Hovingham, York, YO62 4LF
Price: from £500 for dinner, bed and breakfast for two