Hotel of the Week: Luton Hoo

Vicki Power follows in the footsteps of Hugh Grant and 007 at a luxury spa hotel not far from the M25.

You’ll be familiar with Luton Hoo Hotel, even if you’ve never been there. In the days when it made its living as a film set, numerous movies were made in the grand country house-turned-hotel, most notably the 1994 hit Four Weddings and a Funeral.

In fact, as our porter showed us around our luxurious room, he couldn’t resist flinging open an interior door that led not to another room, but, unusually, to a vanity and sink unit just behind the door.

"This," he said proudly, "is where Hugh Grant filmed a famous scene in Four Weddings." You may recall Grant’s character, Charles, crouching silently on the sink, mortified, while newlyweds Bernard and Lydia, thinking they were alone, got it on on the other side of the door.

The five-star, 228-room, Grade I listed hotel has also featured in Bond movies Never Say Never Again and The World Is Not Enough and its Capability Brown-designed grounds in The Secret Garden. It’s easy to see why – Luton Hoo is a stunning country mansion with opulent décor, and a £60-million refurbishment by the Elite Hotel Group restored it to its former glory before it opened in 2007.

And what glory – the public rooms of the neoclassical building, designed to emulate the belle epoque style of The Ritz Hotel in London, are beyond sumptuous – we eschewed the lift in order to ascend to our suite via a curved marble staircase that’s recognisable from several films, and ate our dinner in the marble-walled dining room, the Wernher Restaurant, hung with tapestries and twinkling chandeliers.

We were here for my daughter’s birthday to enjoy a spa break and overnight stay, and we weren’t alone in deeming it the perfect spot for a celebration.  The place was bustling with small parties having celebratory teas and knots of women drinking prosecco. Yet despite its grandeur, Luton Hoo is anything but stuffy – guests’ sartorial choices veered from casual to formal, and the only dress code is a jacket or tie for men in the Wernher Restaurant.

After a tense jaunt around the M25 we’d arrived in late morning in need of a relaxing experience. After a quick lunch in The 19^th, its casual country club-themed restaurant and bar in the stables, we headed to the spa complex. My cares drained away as I lay on a warmed treatment bed enjoying a back massage followed by an ESPA facial, while in another room my offspring had a massage and express manicure. Afterwards, bundled into our towelling robes, we entered the luxury spa downstairs – alongside the saunas and steam rooms is the piece de resistance, a sizable pool and jacuzzi in a glass-walled conservatory overlooking woodland. The airy space invited us to while away the rest of the afternoon reading and relaxing on loungers between bracing bouts in the bubbly jacuzzi.

Then back to our room, The Lady Butter Suite, with its elegant dark wood furniture and breathtaking views across the lawns. We lounged on the comfy sofa before getting spruced up in the gleaming marble bathroom.

We kicked off the evening with a cocktail in the Pillared Hall, an opulent space furnished to create a cosy library ambience, with fireplace, deep buttoned chairs and dark panelled walls. As I polished off my martini, a waiter escorted us to the aforementioned Wernher Restaurant, a truly opulent space in which we feasted on stupendous courses punctuated by gorgeous amuse-bouches, accompanied by a crisp white wine chosen by our waiter. We were full to bursting, but not so much that we couldn’t make room for the ample breakfast served buffet- style in the same space the next morning.

Soon after, we reluctantly departed The Lady Butter Suite and Luton Hoo for the M25 and home. Just a stone’s throw from Luton Airport and a mile from the M1, Luton Hoo is easy to get to and yet a world away from the cares of everyday life. It’s like entering another world and well worth the price for a special occasion – definitely the place if you want to live like a prince or country squire for a few nights. Sweeping down that marble staircase to dinner, for a very brief moment I did feel a bit like a movie star.