Babington House, England
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The original cool country house hotel is ten years old this year. When Soho House owner Nick Jones decided to open a country retreat for his hip media members, he originally envisaged a typical country hotel. It was style goddess Ilse Crawford who pointed out that there were many of these already and that perhaps his members might prefer somewhere more relaxed and urban.
And so the new breed of country house hotel was born - city living brought to the hills, designer furniture and raspberry martinis included.
What sets Babington apart from the crowd is its chilled-out atmosphere (which at times can be a little too laid-back). ’I didn’t want Babington to be too design-perfect,’ explains Crawford, who was in charge of the interiors. ’It was never meant to be a stuffy design hotel.’ Instead she set out to create the ultimate country house that a Soho House member would want to live in themselves. The result includes Dualit toasters in the bedrooms, shower heads the size of dinner plates, organic shower gels and shampoos made with herbs and plants from the hotel’s walled garden, and some of the comfiest beds around. I tried to check out where the white waffle duvet cover in my room was sourced from - there were no labels anywhere, and the designer isn’t telling!
The house is full of quirky but stylish reworks of a traditional country house: the games room has a funky purple pool table and slouchy beanbags. Babington also sparked another welcome trend - it was one of the first truly stylish hotels to welcome little ones. Over the last decade Jones’ Somerset empire has grown to include a stable block of family rooms, a crèche and a designer boutique-cum-shed in the garden. The Cowshed spa with infinity pool overlooking the lake now boasts a yurt as a treatment room.
Crawford has refurbished 10 of the rooms in the main block, sexing them up with darker walls and plush velvet curtains. An adults-only Martini Bar has opened on the first floor, too, to redress the family V couples balance. She sums up the urbanesque rural retreat in seven words: ’A sexy, wild, relaxed playground for adults.’
Off Hatchet Hill , Babington, Somerset, UK
Contact tel: +44 (0) 1373 812266, fax: +44 (0) 1373 813866
Cost standard double room: £200 - £500 per night
Services spa, swimming pool, fitness equipment, parking, hotel restaurant, hotel bar, creche/listening service, room service
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Babington House, Somerset
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