Bath, England: the Hotels We Chose for Our Tour
Dear Travelers,
We are very excited to be introducing a new tour to England next year, Hidden Gardens of the Cotswolds (June 2-8, 2027). I want to share a little behind-the-scenes peak at how we plan our tours and why we choose our destinations.
Bath’s Royal Crescent is hailed as the most majestic street in England.
Why Bath?
Bath is set among rolling hills of the Avon valley at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in England. It has a long architectural tradition: the city is full of well-preserved Georgian houses constructed in the honey-colored stone of the region. Much of the city was constructed in the mid-1700s and the cohesive architecture adds to the elegance of the city. Going even further back, the city Roman Baths (1st century AD) are one of England’s greatest memorials to its ancient heritage and the Bath Abbey (1499-1611) is one of the finest Gothic churches in England.
I have been a regular visitor to England for over 20 years and first visited Bath when I was living in London about 15 years ago. I have since been to quite a few English cities and I kept thinking about how perfect Bath was and how it would be a great place to include on a tour. It’s just on the very southern edge of the Cotswolds and within easy reach of many really wonderful gardens. The city has enough to keep you busy for a more than a few days and the city center is compact, making it super easy to explore.
When we first started talking about creating a new Cotswolds itinerary, my first thought was to use Bath and Cliveden House as our bases. The Cotswolds are full of lots of cute and charming towns, but they do not work well as bases on a tour. There are one or two exceptions, but generally the hotels are small and do not have air conditioning and in the case when the hotel does meet the requirements we have found that the town is not a compelling place to visit for more than a few minutes.
Bath ticks all of the boxes: there is a great hotel and plenty to do in your free time, with excellent shopping and dining (more on that below).
Bath sits above a bubbling pool of water and was first transformed into a spa town by the ancient Romans and again in the 18th century by the Georgians. The Roman Bath (pictured) combine the ancient and Georgian heritage of the city.
Scouting: Restaurants & Shops
We love to receive feedback from our travelers, and one of the most common wishes we hear is for more shopping and more time in small towns. Bath is full of independent boutiques, antique stores, and other English shops. There is plenty to do here, but the historic city center is compact enough for easy exploration. The restaurant scene is one of the best in England - there were so many tempting choices that I could not make it to them all! Here are a few of my picks:
A Few Bath Restaurants:
Hotel: The Royal Crescent
No tour is complete without hotels! For our June 2027 tour we will be staying at the five-star Royal Crescent Hotel. It is located in the Royal Crescent, a semicircle row of Georgian houses (1767-74) that is hailed as the most majestic street in England. It is the masterpiece of Bath’s famed architect John Wood the Younger and the painter Thomas Gainsborough lived here. We love the historic location of this hotel and its updated yet classic interiors. It is also one of the few hotels in Bath to have air conditioning (very important after this year’s heatwaves) and it is right in the heart of the historic city center.
The Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath, located on the historic Georgian street called the most magnificent in England.
The hotel mixes Georgian classicism with more playful contemporary English interiors.
Next Stop: Cliveden House
Cliveden House, one of England’s most opulent country house hotels.
After Bath I scooted northeast through the Cotswolds to Cliveden House, an Italianate country house completed in 1851. In the 1920s and 30s it was the home of Nancy Astor, who hosted important political and intellectual society figures here. It is now a Relais & Chateaux hotel and the surrounding parklands are owned by the National Trust. The hotel stays true to its historic heritage and maintains the interiors that were largely the work of the 1st Viscount Astor from the 1890s.
An important part of working with a hotel is getting off on the right foot. We always schedule what are called ‘site inspections’ with the person responsible for group stays at each hotel. They show us a few rooms and we figure out which ones will work for our group. We also take a look at private dining spaces and make sure they have a nice bar for those who like an evening drink.
If I can’t spend the night at a hotel, I make a point get a sense of the standard of hospitality by dining with them. Luckily Cliveden House offers a lovely afternoon tea (highly recommend) with impeccable service and delicious treats (plus the view onto the back terrace isn’t bad either).
Enjoying afternoon tea at Cliveden House.
And lest you think this job is all fun and glamour, most hotels do not pass our snuff test. If we see fake flowers our first instinct is to run for the hills. It is hard to find a hotel that checks all the boxes: we like historical properties that are true to their heritage but have been updated for the modern traveler with amenities such as air conditioning and walk-in showers. These properties are unicorns and it’s always a balancing act between modern comforts and special stays.
As a side note: always read the “Is this trip for me” section in our tour brochures: we try to be as specific as possible about what hotels have in terms of walk-in showers and air conditioning (we always stay at hotels equipped with air conditioning, but in some cases they are portable units or the ac is only operable seasonally).
Most hotels we scout fall into the category of fine but won’t do for a tour. One reason I don’t spend the night in every hotel is because there is nothing worse than walking into a lobby and realizing pretty quickly that it won’t do. It’s much better to only lose an hour touring the property than an entire night. When a hotel gets it right it makes it easier for everyone: I can be confident that they will work to accommodate the needs of our group and I can have confidence that our travelers will enjoy their stay.
The lobby at Cliveden House
I’ll leave you with this picture of Nancy Astor’s dining room at Cliveden. Wouldn’t you love to be welcomed for dinner here?
