Muddy Stilettos

Pack that overnighter and give yourself the break you deserve, with 37 curated cosy breaks across the Muddy counties.

Is there anything more snuggly, comforting and get-away-from-it-all than an overnighter? Being a helpful bunch, we’ve found the best winter boltholes across 19 Muddy counties to tempt you for that moment (soon surely?) when the logfires go on and the cashmere comes out to play. All you have to do is decide where to rest your head first…

OK, most boltholes don’t have 192 rooms but this newly refurbed city centre institution is a delicious choice for a decadent, fancy-pants overnighter. Its £80m (wowzers!) jazz-up was courtesy of John Simpson, who’s previously tinkered with palaces Buckingham and Kensington, so the results are suitably grand. I’d recommend hunkering down with a glass of red in the wood-pannelled library, with its fireplaces and velvety sofas, before trying the cooking of new chef Tristan Welch, Gordon Ramsay’s former sidekick at Pétrus.

Ask for a room overlooking the iconic Cambridge green, Parker’s Piece, ideally room 907. It’s in one of the turrets and has an incredible panoramic bathroom. Which means, ahem, a poo with a view (*gets coat*).

Review by Amy Parker Dixon