Derbyshire hotel crowned best place to stay in the UK at prestigious awards

A hotel in Derbyshire has been named the best in the UK at a recent awards ceremony.
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Callow Hall Hotel, based near Ashbourne, was named the best hotel in the country at the GQ Food and Drink Awards at the end of April.

Despite having only launched in September 2021, this is the second national award it has received, after previously being announced as the Sunday Times’ hotel of the year.

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Callow Hall is a stylish country-house owned by Wildhive, set in 35 acres of ancient Derbyshire woodland and meadows.

This is the hotel’s second national award in just eight months. 
Credit: Adam LynkThis is the hotel’s second national award in just eight months. 
Credit: Adam Lynk
This is the hotel’s second national award in just eight months. Credit: Adam Lynk

Ed Burrows D.L and his Wildhive co-founder, Charles Randall, had a concept for hotels rooted in nature in lesser-known locations, with an emphasis on an improved work-life balance for staff and a greater responsibility towards the planet.

The hotel has 15 individually-designed rooms in the main house, two treehouses and 11 woodland hives to stay in. The Garden Room is their glass-box, living-roof restaurant, and they offer complimentary yoga classes in their wellness centre.

A GQ spokesperson praised the hotel for its unique bedroom designs, the picturesque setting and its range of wellbeing treatments.

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They said: “In a year when the staycation was king, what does it take to be crowned GQ’s best hotel? Individually designed bedrooms? Tick. Garden Room restaurant and library snug for an evening, post-walk round of Scrabble and scotch? Tick. Acres of woodland and meadows to explore? Tick. Converted coach house offering first-rate wellbeing treatments for our weary limbs? Tick.

“Oh, and that’s before you’ve stumbled upon their oak-shrouded treehouses and woodland hives. The restoration of this Victorian house in Derbyshire “exceeds expectations at every turn”, says Tom Kerridge. It is testament to the team’s vision that, despite welcoming its first guests in September, Callow Hall already feels like a ‘timeless classic.’

“If there was a tonic to all that the last two years has thrown at us, a weekend spent hunkering down at Callow Hall might be it.”

This was the eighth iteration of the GQ Food and Drink Awards, in which an expert panel of judges rank the best restaurants, pubs and hospitality staff across the UK.

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