Fancy a romantic weekend away but you want or need to take the children? It's not as ridiculous as it may sound, says Juliet Kinsman, editor of Mr & Mrs Smith hotel guidebooks (www.mrandmrssmith.com)

Babington House
Relaxed retro country club in deepest Somerset

London media hangout Soho House kick-started the march of metropolitan cool into the countryside in 1998 with the opening of this sister hotel in the West Country. Booking a room here can be as difficult as getting a table at the Ivy, but it's worth the wait (for weekends try six months in advance). There are no stately-home airs and graces as you might expect at a manor house and chapel in rolling grounds, such as this. In fact, it is as relaxed as weekend escapes get, while all the time being super-chic. All the rooms are massive, and have a music system and huge TVs that will make you want to take advantage of the CD and DVD libraries. Best of all, while the kids are being entertained in the Little House, their onsite creche, parents can take advantage of the heavenly treatments on offer at the Cowshed spa.

Rates: £225-£425
Facilities: Indoor and outdoor pools, gym and Cowshed spa, billiards room, 45-seat cinema, croquet lawn, tennis courts, cricket pitch, wellies provided.
Children: The Little House is packed full of toys and they have lots of activities, with three members of staff throughout the day. Downstairs they look after one to seven year olds, and upstairs over sevens; open 9am-5am weekdays, 9am-6pm weekends. Babysitting can also be arranged.
Babington House, Babington near Frome, Somerset (01373 812266; www.babingtonhouse.co.uk)

Cowley Manor
Funked-up stately home set in spectacular Cotswolds countryside

The interior of this Italianate stone house is a world apart from the usual country-house hotels. Cowhide window seats, red laminate tables and comical papier-mache hunting trophies give Cowley its unique designer-look an added flamboyant aesthetic. And you won't find any antiques or chintz as might be expected from a building like this, only minimal lines and a Scandinavian colour scheme. The miles of surrounding gardens not only include a lake and a river, but also a state-of-the-art spa. And as you treat yourself to your chosen pummelling or pampering experience, the little ones can get busy in the playroom, or scamper in the grounds.

Rates: £230-£455, including continental breakfast.
Facilities: Billiards room, C-side Spa, indoor and outdoor pools, gym, sauna, 55 acres of land, wellies provided.
Children: There is an unsupervised playroom with a funky decor, which is full of toys, play areas; babysitting is available if booked a couple of weeks in advance. A children's supper is served at 5.30pm (the management likes the dining room child-free by 8.30pm).
Cowley Manor, Cowley, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (01242 870900; www.cowleymanor.com)

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