Fodor's Expert Review Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa

Driving up Lucknam Park’s mile-long avenue of lime and beech trees towards the 18th-century Palladian mansion, you may feel like you’ve bagged an invitation to stay with Jane Austen’s demanding dragon, Lady Catherine de Burgh. This is a traditional country-house hotel par excellence—think Chesterfield sofas, wing chairs, and wood paneling in the public rooms, with swagged window treatments, rich fabrics, and rain-forest showers in the guest rooms. There’s a Michelin-starred formal restaurant, and the attentive service would meet even Lady Catherine’s exacting standards. There's also an equestrian center, which offers lessons for beginners and the more experienced across the hotel’s 500 acres of woods and parkland.