Resort spotlight: Mottram Hall, England
The beauty of Mottram Hall is that while it oozes all the charm you’d hope for from a building that dates back to 1721, it also effortlessly provides the kind of luxurious experience we now expect as standard from a prestigious hotel.
It was built by to order by Sir George Booth, who demanded a fine red brick mansion with stone facings, complete with Latin at the front of the Main Hall that means ‘Unless the Lord built the House, it is laboured in vain’.
The fine ceilings in the main hall and the other public rooms are classed as works of national importance and are now protected as the Hall is a listed building.
Mottram Hall was converted into a hotel in 1940 and was owned by De Vere for 40 years and, just after a £6 million refurbishment, was bought by slick operators Q Hotels in 2014.
It now comprises 120 bedrooms, a first-class Spa and health club and an 18-hole golf course. Its setting is another key draw: from immaculate lawns and formal gardens to the majestic tree–framed driveway and the rose gardens to the picturesque lake.
The course sits in the 270 acres of mature parkland and was designed by Dave Thomas who, true to form, has incorporated a lot of large bunkers as well water as the focal point of the strategy on a course that tops 7,000 yards.
The highlight is probably 17, an exacting dog-leg par 4 that starts on an elevated tee and ends on a two-tier green that is guarded by water on the right and a stream dissecting the fairway.
After your round you will naturally head for The Claret Jug, where anything from salads and sandwiches to hearty dishes await. In the evening it turns into a bistro.
The other evening dining option is the AA Rosette-awarded Carrington Grill in the heart of the main hall.
There is a wide ranging menu – plus a fine wine list – but as the name of this elegant restaurant suggests, prime cuts from the grill are its speciality.
The bedrooms are as distinctive as you‘d expect from this late Georgian country house hotel and also boast terrific little extras like Egyptian cotton bed–linen and duck feather & downs duvets.
In addition to golf, Mottram’s other key attraction is its spa and health club.
The UK‘s first Alfresco ThermoSpace spa comprises Brechelbath and Stonebath warm rooms, designed to relax and raise the body‘s temperature as you overlook the gardens.
There is also a very well–equipped gym With Technogym cardio–vascular and resistance machines, dumbbells, Kettle–bells, Vipr, & a Power–Plate. There is a main swimming pool, toddler pool, indoor and outdoor hydropool, and one tennis court.
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