10 posh country retreats in the UK

By Nikki Racklin

If city life is dragging you down and you're in need of a few creature comforts, a luxury countryside retreat will help you recharge your batteries in the style of a real 'lady of the manor'. Find some of the best across the UK here.

The Ickworth Hotel (pictured)
Horringer
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
Tel: 01284 735 350
www.ickworthhotel.com

The scene: Home from (stately) home becomes family-friendly contemporary hotel
Ideal for: Margot from The Good Life and sundry duchesses manquées

The east wing of the Marquess of Bristol's 18th-century home is a welcoming 27-bedroom hotel, with 11 adjoining self-contained apartments plus indoor pool, stables and a spa. The Four Bear's Den offers a supervised haven for your little Lord Fauntleroys, and you can play master and servant in either the marquess's bedchamber or the butler's cosy retreat.

Hurst House
East Marsh
Laugharne
Carmarthenshire, South Wales
Tel: 01994 427 417
www.hurst-house.co.uk

The scene: Celeb-owned hotel set in isolated Welsh village
Ideal for: Moneyed slackers tired of urban existence

This four-room hotel is tucked away in the seaside village where Dylan Thomas wrote Under Milk Wood and is part-owned by Neil Morrissey and Billy Bragg. The restaurant is run by an ex-Orient Express head chef and the bar has a grand piano so you can tickle the ivories into the early hours.

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