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"Long the UK’s defining restaurant with rooms, this Raymond Blanc landmark opened in 1984 and has held two Michelin stars ever since, serving French cooking built on British ingredients—think Lake District lamb with sheep’s curd and basil, or Scottish salmon with apples from the on-site orchard—many of them grown just yards from the kitchen in the exquisite potager garden, which also hosts hands-on planting and growing workshops. Bedrooms sit upstairs in the main house and are scattered through the formal gardens that envelop the property; they’re good looking and, above all, supremely comfortable, designed as places to flop after a long meal. This is bucket-list eating that people plan trips around, and there’s a clock ticking: from January 2026 the property will close for an 18-month renovation, with a grand reopening slated for summer 2027, so if you don’t want to wait, make a booking in the next few months. Amenities include a restaurant, garden, gardening school, and cooking school." - Jo Rodgers