From a cosy Cornish inn with open fires to a boutique hotel in Northumberland, these new and revamped boltholes across the UK offer inviting bases for an autumn escape.
Northumberland and the Cairngorms
The Tempus in Doxford, Northumberland, is a 41-bedroom hotel with a hint of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, from chequerboard restaurant chairs to disco ball-glittered bar and leopard print-cushioned bedrooms. The 2026 winner of Visit England's gold award for best small hotel recently opened eight wooden cabins overlooking the estate's lake and runs stargazing breaks in partnership with nearby Kielder Observatory. This month sees the launch of wellness experiences combining gentle yoga and sound baths, while foraging workshops celebrate the estate's wild bounty. Alnwick, Bamburgh and kipper-smoking Craster are close by. Doubles from £121 B&B.
The Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore, the Cairngorms, sits on the banks of the River Spey, where guests can walk, cycle, swim or kayak straight from the door. This mellow gastropub serves smoked haddock chowder and Caribbean lamb curry pies along with Cairngorm Brewery's ales, with live folk music often on offer. Fresh from a recent revamp, its seven vintage-inspired bedrooms are decorated in autumnal shades of gold, green, rust and teal. Ranging from simple dorms to en suite doubles and family rooms, they come with access to a shared kitchen and dining room for DIY dinners and breakfasts. Family rooms for up to five from £80 room-only.
Sussex, Pembrokeshire and the Yorkshire Dales
The Black Horse in Amberley, Sussex, is a new pub with rooms in the South Downs run by farm-to-fork restaurateurs the Gladwin brothers. The 12-bedroom inn is their first venture outside London and their first with accommodation. Beef comes from their farm, wines from their vineyard, Nutbourne, and some of the pub's artwork has been painted by family matriarch Bridget. Breakfasts include homemade brioche with just-laid eggs, farmhouse sausages or trout gravadlax. Doubles from £125 B&B.
The Abergwaun in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, is a bistro with rooms launched in July by the folk behind the nearby Red Onion cafe. Feast on locally line-caught seabass with kelp beurre blanc, then sleep in one of five smart, latte-coloured bedrooms. The next day, take in a pottery workshop at Tŷ Clai, hike along the Pembrokeshire coast path for a Sunday roast at the Sailor's Safety, or catch a gig at Ffwrn. Doubles from £140 B&B.
In Malham, Yorkshire Dales, the Lister Farmhouse opened this summer, adding 13 bedrooms to the expanded Lister Arms. The bedrooms pair smart taupe, olive and blueberry fabrics with warm wood and leather. The new farmhouse bedrooms are two minutes' walk away, beside sister pub the Buck Inn. For breakfast, stroll across a packhorse bridge to the pub. Doubles from £135 B&B.
Hampshire, Herefordshire and Lincolnshire
Formerly the George & Dragon, the Great Decoy in Hurstbourne Tarrant, Hampshire, opened in June with its name changed in a nod to the area's second world war history, when the surrounding countryside was used as part of a network of decoy sites to draw enemy bombers away from strategic targets. The pub is a low-beamed, candlelit haven and its eight bedrooms mix antiques with bright modern art and jauntily striped, scalloped headboards. Doubles from £90 B&B.
In Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, five elegant new bedrooms have just opened at the Riverside Inn, giving visitors a comfortable base from which to explore the area's antiques and salvage shops, and stroll the leafy riverside pathways around Symonds Yat. Named after Charlie Mackesy characters, the rooms are decorated with finds from Baileys Home Store and other local businesses. Doubles from £180 B&B.
The William Cecil in Stamford, Lincolnshire, on the edge of the Burghley estate, underwent a major renovation two years ago. The 18th-century building is home to 26 bedrooms decorated in Bridgerton-meets-Babington chic, all chalky pink and sage green stripes, ginghams, velvets and chintz. The latest addition is Wild Floral, a botanical-inspired room launched this summer in collaboration with Lincolnshire designer Sophie Allport. Head out to explore the copper-flecked parkland of Burghley House, then return for pheasant kiev and blackberry tart at Milly's, the in-house bistro. Doubles from £155 B&B.
Wiltshire, Cornwall and Eryri
Corsham House in Corsham, Wiltshire, is a new brasserie and bottle shop with rooms that opened in July. Once a bank, it serves its signature Corsham chips with chicken salt alongside fat rump cap steaks, and puts guests up in 11 small but daintily designed bedrooms painted in shades of rose, damson and beech. Doubles from £111 room-only.
The Copley Arms in Hessenford, Cornwall, just off the A387 between Plymouth and Looe, is a riverside pub with rooms recently taken over by the couple behind Lydford's award-winning Castle Inn. Its 17th-century core has been elegantly refurbished. Fill up on fish tacos or the catch of the day, then head upstairs, or into the cottage just behind the inn, to slumber in one of eight earthily coloured, softly lit bedrooms (the cottage rooms are the quietest). The following morning, wake to a full Cornish before hiking a loop through the woods of the Seaton Valley or strolling a section of the South West coast path over to Looe. Doubles from £100 B&B (two nights for £160 from Sept-April).
The Swallow Falls Inn in Betws-y-Coed, Eryri (Snowdonia), just across the road from its namesake waterfall, reopened last year after a major overhaul. Its 38 bedrooms are painted in warm, muted shades and bookended by floral wallpapers, tongue-and-groove panelling and bright, metro-tiled bathrooms. Family rooms come with sturdy wooden bunk beds and, downstairs, you can order lasagne or sausage and mash in a space framed by fringed lampshades, floral curtains and mossy green paintwork. From the inn, you can follow a riverside trail into the village of Betws-y-Coed or soak up the autumn colours on one of the waymarked paths in the nearby Gwydir forest park. Doubles from £76 B&B.
Suffolk, West Dunbartonshire, Norfolk and the Cotswolds
The Crown in Bildeston, Suffolk, is a sunshine-hued Tudor inn between Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich, one of several Suffolk pubs and hotels owned by the Nedging Hall estate, who completed a sympathetic makeover this spring. It has 13 smartly understated new bedrooms and is fully plugged into the estate's homegrown supply chain; the owners also operate a butchery, kitchen garden and East Anglia's oldest brewery, Mauldons (for which they grow malt barley). Head out on a gentle three-mile loop walk to neighbouring Chelsworth, then take a seat by the dining room's open fire to feast on treacle-cured pork ribeye with garlic croquettes, and deliciously wibbly Basque cheesecake. Doubles from £195 B&B.
The Customs House in Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, is a stylish new hotel at the western end of the Forth and Clyde canal, a 30-minute train ride north-west of Glasgow. It is a grand reimagining of what was built in 1790 as the customs house for Bowling harbour. There are seven tweed-hued bedrooms in the main building, each with a view of the water and each named after a different cargo, and a floating lodge suite was added this summer, along with a sauna and cold plunge. When the restaurant opens in a neighbouring building next year, it will operate as a full-service hotel but, for now, staff are only on site during the day; evening arrivals are self check-in and continental breakfasts self-serve. Doubles from £120 B&B.
Le Strange Arms in Old Hunstanton, Norfolk, sits close to the RSPB reserve at Snettisham and the nature reserve at Holme Dunes, a prime destination for spotting waders and waterfowl as they stop to rest on their way south. Follow a day of beach walks and sky-gazing with dinner at newly renovated gastropub the Ancient Mariner – menu highlights include Barsham's beer-battered fish and chips, and cheeseboards ripe with local favourites Norfolk Dapple and Binham Blue – before walking across to sister hotel Le Strange Arms to sleep. Its more affordable standard rooms have yet to be updated, but recently renovated self-catering lodges and apartments put a modish mustard and navy spin on seaside chic. Doubles from £91 room-only.
The Wild Duck in Ewen, the Cotswolds, just south of Cirencester, is a 16th-century gardeners' cottage turned coaching inn that has been stylishly overhauled by local hospitality luminaries Sam and Georgie Pearman. Reopened in March, it now has five bedrooms above the pub and 14 others in a new wing, each decorated with heritage wallpapers, Edward Bulmer paints, antique finds and custom-designed rugs. Doubles from £150 B&B.
Prices are for October-November and were correct at time of publication.
