What It is Prefer to Keep at Cliveden Home within the UK

Few locations can rival the visitors jams you discover in central London. Really, the bumper-to-bumper roadways round commuting time may simply drive somebody to insanity. On a current journey to the British metropolis, I used to be in a single such jam—solely this time I did not have a care on the planet. As a result of in below an hour, I might be in a spot the place the flowers bloom, the garden is sprawling, and contemporary air abounds.

In early spring of 2025, I made my solution to the UK on a women’ journey, particularly to the Cliveden Home, a five-star luxurious spa retreat in Berkshire, England, which we heard about after Meghan Markle stayed there together with her mom the evening earlier than her marriage ceremony. Nevertheless, it is not simply the Duchess’ keep that makes this place particular. It is also its 350-year historical past and its shocking proximity to the middle of London that make it totally magical.

For many who love historic British drama, there are each salacious and complicated parts to the mansion’s storied previous, like a high-profile affair involving a conservative member of Parliament, a 19-year-old dancer, and a Russian spy that led to a serious authorities scandal within the Nineteen Sixties. The present home was in-built 1851 after the unique manor from 1666 and its alternative in 1824 had been destroyed in fires. It is a spot so grand that it is hosted each British monarch from George I onward, and to honor its lineage of vital company, Cliveden Home’s 47 rooms are every named for one.

First residence to British the Aristocracy after which New York’s model of royalty, the Astor household, Cliveden Home (pronounced “Cliffden” after the cliffs on which it is constructed) relishes in romantic attraction, much like Bridgerton filming places and Downtown Abbey’s well-known Highclere Fort, which occurs to be about an hour away (Cliveden was even talked about in Downton Abbey as soon as). It is as straightforward to think about the glamorous events that when came about right here, with notable guests like Winston Churchill and Charlie Chaplin, as it’s to benefit from the present-day glamour. Inundated with wealthy supplies and rugs, buttery gold trimming, imposing bookshelves, vintage furnishings, crystal chandeliers, oil work, and plush patterned drapes, the ornate rooms drip in English nation chicness, transporting you someplace that feels centuries away from the place you got here.

Overlooking a proper parterre backyard, 376 acres of Nationwide Belief gardens, and the River Thames, the views from the perches in the back of the mansion are showstopping. Look out whereas sitting windowside on the previous library bar, Aperol spritz in hand, for the proper trip second.

From the resort, company can stroll right down to the riverbank on a tree-shaded path or by a protracted staircase carved into the gently sloping hill. However the easiest way Cliveden Home helps company benefit from the River Thames is through particular boat journeys and picnics, which could be organized at your comfort. There are just a few classic boats to select from, relying on the scale of your group, and you’ve got a number of menu choices, together with afternoon tea, Champagne and lightweight bites, or a extra sturdy meal to convey with you in your journey. You may constitution the boats for an hour as much as an entire day—the longer journeys taking you for extra intensive sightseeing and even to a close-by city, like Henley or Windsor.

My group selected to idly cruise down the River Thames on the 33-foot Belmont, a restored Thirties slipper with shiny wooden paneling, for a really pleased hour earlier than dinner on the resort’s upscale Cliveden Eating Room. On the boat journey, we had a transparent view of Cliveden Home atop its excessive vantage level, making it the one factor coming out above the dense inexperienced tree line. This expertise was, particularly to 3 Individuals, authentically quaint and unexpectedly secluded. We had the stretch of the River Thames virtually solely to ourselves, getting a quiet reprieve, which was uncommon for 3 metropolis dwellers. This was our collective favourite a part of the weekend, merging lots of Cliveden Home’s greatest attributes: residing historical past, picturesque panorama, and British leisure tradition.

Whereas we stayed in a single day, Cliveden Home is a go-to day journey for folks within the London space or for a pampering stopover for these coming to or from Heathrow, which is barely about 20 minutes away by automobile. That includes an outside pool and two scorching tubs (a rarity within the U.Okay.), Cliveden’s spa is a dreamy place nestled behind rustic brick partitions to lounge on a balmy Saturday or Sunday.

Inside the house’s window-lined spa, which opened in 2017, therapies are supplied within the light-hued, tranquil house, the place there’s additionally an indoor pool and Jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, and gymnasium. The spa is open to each day and resort company and in addition gives a membership plan.

Different actions supplied on website embody tennis courts, afternoon excessive tea, health lessons, nation sports activities, falconry, and, after all, exploring the expansive grounds dotted with sculptures and ornate fountains.

Whether or not you’ve a day or a complete weekend for a fit-for-British-royalty countryside expertise, Cliveden Home is straightforward to entry by automobile or practice, with the closest stops at Taplow and Burnham, and nicely definitely worth the brief journey for what looks like a far-away escape.