The chic sleep: Beaverbrook, Surrey

It may be only 20 miles from the center of London, nestled in the Surrey Hills, but Beaverbrook is the quintessential English country house: a rural retreat from another age. Tires whisper on the gravel drive, staff in matching Gatsby hats hurry to fetch your bags, and postcard-perfect views of woodlands and meadows open like a storybook. Step through the front door to elegant reception rooms, a sweeping staircase, framed family photographs on the grand piano, French windows opening onto balustraded terraces and croquet lawns, and the delightful sense that, in this privileged cocoon, life will always be elegant and unflappable and considered. The house may be traditional – it was built in the late 19th century – but the interiors have been splendidly reimagined with a sense of fun and sybarite luxury. Home to the late Lord Beaverbrook – newspaper proprietor and cabinet minister – for over 50 years, the house carries its place in history with aristocratic self-assurance. Upstairs, off the wide landings, the bedrooms are named for their famous visitors, the people who made Beaverbrook’s guest book a ‘who’s who’ of 20th century Britain. There are tributes to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Ian Fleming, HG Wells, Charlie Chaplin and its most frequent visitor, Sir Winston Churchill – squint and you can almost see him at his easel beyond the French windows. Past the main house, there are charming rooms in the more cottage-like Garden House.

With a crackling fire, deep sofas and views through the bay window across the gardens to the hills beyond, Lord Beaverbrook’s library is a genuine bibliophile’s retreat, a browser’s delight and so much more than just a style statement. There is everything from Edwardian classics to contemporary fiction to sustain you until the arrival of an afternoon tea of homemade scones and cakes. For film buffs, there is a sumptuous private cinema of armchairs and footstools with a library of classic films.

A stunning creation by Brian Clarke, one of the world’s finest stained-glass artists, the Coach House Spa is styled by designer Susie Atkinson, who brings her imaginative twist to traditional themes. An oasis among these green rolling hills, the treatment suites, sauna, steam room and hammam, plus indoor and outdoor pools, will leave you pampered and refreshed.