With the last bank holiday before Christmas a-knocking, it’s time to make the most of that extra Monday off – flee to the country or skip to the sea. The boutique hotel experts at Mr & Mrs Smith are old hands when it comes to impromptu weekends away and, here, they give their top three hotels offering last-minute long-weekend luxury in the UK.
The Aviator, Hampshire
Rooms 169, including 19 Sky Suites
Rates Double rooms from £205 a night, including breakfast and tax.
Hampshire is a seasoned host when it comes to weekend breaks – a hop from London, it’s long been the go-to county for urbanites in need of a rural retreat among its pastoral patchwork of farms and fields, 150 square miles of New Forest and biscuit-box villages. By the airfields of Farnborough, the Aviator hotel is a stately sweep of glass and metal. Inside, it’s an lesson in contemporary opulence: plush velvet sofas, flickering open fires and a Guggenheim-inspired lobby with circular balconies reaching to the roof. Dress up for dinner in the brasserie, which recaptures old-Hollywood glamour with black and white portraits on the walls; the steaks are the star of the show. Those with their heads in the clouds will love the views from rooms to the rear – watch the planes taking off and touching down from the comfort of your own bed. Well, we can think of worse ways to spend a bank holiday.
To book any of the hotels featured, visit mrandmrssmith.com or call Mr & Mrs Smith's expert Travel Team on 0845 034 0700.
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