England's most amazing hotels kids' clubs for summer 2018
Gone are the days when a hotel kids' club was merely a soulless room with a few tired board games. The best hotels know that happy children mean happy parents, so if you're holidaying in England this summer and fear cries of "I'm bored" - fear not. We've put together the definitive guide to the best activities on offer at kids' clubs across the country, from learning to surf, building a raft, horse-riding treks or simply running wild in a fantastical garden inspired by the work of Lewis Carroll.
And for parents? Hotels are also offering plenty of opportunities for grown-ups to join in or simply take a break while precious offspring are kept entertained. From Cornwall to Cumbria and beyond, these hotels are guaranteed to kick-start a summer of family fun.
Cornwall
Fowey Hall
The summer programme at this listed coastal manor has a craft focus, with three sessions a day for children to make everything from kaleidoscopes to birdhouses. There's also an hour of evening activities including marshmallow toasting (to make s'mores) and a bake-off. If that weren't enough, every Thursday the Wingz animal encounter experience offers the opportunity to meet owls, rabbits, snakes, cockroaches, tortoises and more. You can also try crab-catching from the quay at the hotel, or rock-pooling at Polkerris Beach.
Family rooms from £300, including breakfast; foweyhallhotel.co.uk.
Read the full review: Fowey Hall
• The best family-friendly hotels in Cornwall
Bedruthan Hotel & Spa, Newquay
Bedruthan's family theatre on the lawn returns this summer, complete with barbecue and spectacular sea views. The two shows are The Adventures of Dr Dolittle and The Reluctant Dragon, on August 16 and 23 respectively; 4.30pm for a 5pm start. Luxury picnic hampers are also available, featuring posh pastries (rare-breed pork, leek and apple or Davidstow cheddar, leek and apple) for grown-ups and Cornish strawberries for kids. Tickets are free for hotel guests. When temperatures soar, as well as the sea there are not one, not two, but three outdoor pools.
Family rooms from £350, including breakfast; bedruthan.com.
Read the full review: Bedruthan Hotel & Spa
Watergate Bay, Newquay
Wannabe wave-rider on your hands? They'll love surfing hotel Watergate Bay. Eight- to 15-year-olds can enjoy a free surf lesson during school holidays, before kicking back at the XA Club in the evening. For little ones, the Kids' Zone will be putting on a host of activities, including sandcastle-building, beach games, puppet shows, dressing up, treasure hunts, face-painting, football tournaments, graffiti art and circus skill classes. At the end of the day, cosy up with hot chocolate round a fire pit.
Family rooms from £285, including breakfast; watergatebay.co.uk.
Read the full review: Watergate Bay
Devon
Bovey Castle, Dartmoor
The Bovey Rangers kids' club summer programme will tire junior guests out with archery, survival skills and an off-road Land Rover experience (ages seven-14; £35 per session). For something slightly more sedate, there's an opportunity to meet a herd of deer (£12.50). Smaller Bovey Bears (ages three-seven) can get stuck into painting, jewellery-making, biscuit-decorating and mask-making (£15 per hour). In the evenings, films including Back to the Future, Grease and a singalong of The Greatest Showman will be screened outdoors.
Family rooms from £332 per night, excluding breakfast; boveycastle.com.
Read the full review: Bovey Castle
• The best family-friendly hotels in Devon
Dorset
Moonfleet Manor, Jurassic Coast
If your idea of family fun is being locked in a room from which you can only escape if you find 13 clues, solve puzzles, and decipher a nine-letter password then this is the hotel for you. Moonfleet Manor is offering an 'Escape Room' experience for all the family this summer. Sounds like a recipe for familial strife? Escape to nearby Chesil Beach after. For younger children, there's a complimentary crèche and indoor games area with soft play, trampolines, table football, table tennis, a pool table and mini climbing wall.
Family rooms from £330, including breakfast; moonfleetmanorhotel.co.uk.
Read the full review: Moonfleet Manor
• The best family-friendly hotels in Dorset
Suffolk
The Ickworth Hotel and Apartments
On August 28, the Ickworth is holding a murdery mystery party for ages five and over (£10; from 5pm). Book in and try to figure out whodunit. A packed seven-day itinerary for all ages throughout the summer will see children busy making paper flowers, bird feeders, 'summer rainbow muffins' and more. As well as plenty of supervised outdoor play, plus bikes and scooters to borrow, there's also the Four Bears Den.
Family rooms from £320, including breakfast; ickworthhotel.co.uk.
Read the full review: The Ickworth Hotel and Apartments
Lake District, Cumbria and North
Another Place, The Lake
Children are encouraged to explore the great outdoors at this Ullswater hotel. Lake life incorporates raft-building, guided wild swimming, stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking and canoeing; while on dry land there's archery, night walks, guided wildlife walks, rock climbing, canyoning, and lots of space for outdoor play.
Family rooms from £270, including breakfast; another.place.
Read the full review: Another Place, The Lake
• The best hotels in the Lake District
Augill Castle, Cumbria
Children can live the Hogwarts dream at this Lakeland castle where they can also create their very own concoctions as part of a Little Cooks course. Budding chefs get the opportunity to prepare lunch and then something to take away; dishes could include sweetcorn fritters, chicken curry, or tiramisu. There’s also a chance to feed the hens, collect their eggs, and pick something from the kitchen garden. Ages seven to 14; private classes for two adults and two children cost £350.
Family rooms from £205, including breakfast; stayinacastle.com.
Read the full review: Augill Castle
Rockliffe Hall, County Durham
Let their imaginations run wild at Rockliffe Hall's Mischmasch, which has seen part of the hotel's grounds transformed into an Alice in Wonderland-themed play area. The Lewis Carroll-inspired extravaganza features six pods, an 'eco-adventure playground', interactive water feature, climbring frames, slides, a wildflower nature trail and even a hotel for insects. There's also a cinema room for teens and a chill-out room for parents.
Family rooms from £440, excluding breakfast; rockliffehall.com.
Read the full review: Rockliffe Hall
• The best hotels in County Durham
Cotswolds
Soho Farmhouse, Chipping Norton
Soho Farmhouse's Teeny Barn will be offering activities for children aged two and up, including laser tag, carriage rides around the farm, cinema screenings, foraging and flower arranging. The barn is also home to an old horse box converted into a library, a TV snug, 'mud kitch' and chicken coop, while next door is Teeny Camp, an adventure playground with zipwire and teepee.
Family rooms from £495, excluding breakfast; sohofarmhouse.com
Read the full review: Soho Farmhouse
• The best family-friendly hotels in the Cotswolds
Calcot Manor, Gloucestershire
Saturday morning at 10.30am is Bake Time at Calcot Manor. Children aged four and over can create their own culinary masterpieces and get a Calcot apron to take home (£20 per child). Meanwhile the Play Barn's summer programme will include everything from kite-making to tie-dying. Elsewhere, there's the outdoor pool and pirate play ship, plus two age-specific kids' clubs; the Mez, for children aged over eight, featuring games consoles and even a mini cinema, and the Playzone, for younger children.
Family rooms from £229, including breakfast; calcot.co.
Read the full review: Calcot Manor
• The best hotels in Gloucestershire
Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Oxfordshire
Raymond Blanc will be keepng junior guests busy at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons this summer, with a gardening school for the green-fingered, and - of course - a cookery school for those wishing to follow in his gastronomic footsteps. The gardening school will teach children to sow seeds and care for plants, as well as the importance of insects in the garden, with gardening gloves, tools and an apron provided to use and take home. From £225 per child, including lunch. Cooking school from £185 per child.
Family rooms from £760, including breakfast; belmond.com.
Read the full review: Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons
• The best hotels in Oxfordshire
Woolley Grange, Wiltshire
The daily summer programme at this family favourite will see your offspring making their own pesto in the garden, creating their own mocktails, nail painting with the spa therapists, bonfire building and marshmallow toasting in the woods and more. It also has all the usual Luxury Family Hotel facilities, including an outdoor pool, an Ofsted-registered crèche and all the baby amenities you could ever possibly need.
Family rooms from £310, including breakfast; woolleygrangehotel.co.uk.
Read the full review: Woolley Grange
• The best hotels in Wiltshire
Home counties and London
Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire
Children benefit just as much as adults from Four Seasons renowned service, and there's plenty for the whole family to enjoy this summer in Hampshire. Catch a rainbow trout in Belvedere Pond, the estate's lake; get up close and personal with owls and hawks; or hire a barge to cruise along the canal that runs through the hotel's estate. For horse-lovers, half-hour grooming experiences are available at the equestrian centre.
Family rooms from £790, including breakfast; fourseasons.com/hampshire.
Read the full review: Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire
• The best hotels in Hampshire
Chewton Glen, New Forest
Places are still available (at time of publication) on the three-day James Martin teen cookery courses at Chewton Glen this summer (£120). Children wanting to follow in the footsteps of Serena Williams or Andy Murray can book into the hotel's tennis camp, from Aug 20-23 (£80). For younger children, there's the outdoor play area, bug hotel and more, while the kids' club offers everything from painting to puzzles. If a real treat's in order, book a treehouse stay.
Family rooms from £655, excluding breakfast; chewtonglen.com.
Read the full review: Chewton Glen
• The best hotels in the New Forest
Bailiffscourt Hotel & Spa, West Sussex
Tick as many challenges off your 'Bailiffscourt bucket list' as you can this summer, and collect your Bucket of Fun certificate and prize on completion. The hotel also has a new woodland rope swing, tennis courts, a croquet lawn, outdoor games, indoor and outdoor pools, a library of children's books, colouring and board games for keeping busy.
Family rooms from £315, including breakfast; hshotels.co.uk.
Read the full review: Bailiffscourt Hotel & Spa
• The best hotels in West Sussex
The House at Beaverbrook, Surrey
Entertainers Sharky & George are kids' club royalty, and will be putting on a stellar programme during bank holidays and weekends at the Beaverbrook Tree House this summer, with adventures, missions, pranks and projects for kids of all ages to get involved in (10.30am-3pm; £55). There's also the Orangery, which has everything from train sets to an air hockey table; books to beanbags.
Family rooms from £195, excluding breakfast; beaverbrook.co.uk.
Read the full review: The House at Beaverbrook
Coworth Park, Berkshire
This horsey hotel has a range of equestrian-focused activities on offer, from a half-day pony experience (£200), where children learn to groom, tack up and ride, to riding lessons and hacks. If you or your offspring prefer two wheels to four hooves, choose your steed from the bike menu, which offers trailers and tandems. Children also have free reign of the Kids House, an entire house dedicated to playing, making, baking and more.
Family rooms from £574, including breakfast; dorchestercollection.com.
Read the full review: Coworth Park
• The best hotels in Berkshire
Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire
Leadbetter kids' camps at Stoke Park combine golf and tennis, where children can learn and have fun for a single day or whole week (£65 or £250 respectively; ages five to 14). This hotel has serious credentials for these sports, home to a 27-hole championship course designed by Harry Colt, and hosting The Boodles every year, a five-day warm-up for Wimbledon. Inside, the games room is kitted out with an Xbox, Playstation, table football and air hockey.
Family rooms from £540, including breakfast; stokepark.com.
Read the full review: Stoke Park
• The best hotels in Buckinghamshire
Dukes London
If you're braving the capital, relax after a day's sightseeing at Dukes London, which is launching a pop-up kids' zone this summer filled with toys reflecting the city's tourist attractions. The hotel is right next to Green Park, perfect for letting off steam, and family packages are available that include five hours of childcare in the price - if Mum and Dad fancy trying one of the hotel's world-famous martinis.
Family rooms from £895, including breakfast; dukeshotel.com.
Read the full review: Dukes London