The upscale hotel festivals where you can party — and sleep — in luxury

Summer is synonymous with music festivals

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That hotels are offering music is nothing new, says John Bownas, editor of Festival Flyer, an online compilation of the country’s finest music festivals (festivalflyer.com). The four-star Hardwick Hall in Teesside has been hosting bands including Manic Street Preachers, Kaiser Chiefs and Madness since 2013 (hardwickhallhotel.co.uk), and the Elvetham in Hampshire regularly organises music-orientated family days out (elvethamhotel.co.uk). He also points out that Butlin’s has been doing its big weekends for ages “with a lot of success”, as has Pontins.

But it’s only recently, he concedes, that posher names have got in on the act. For instance the Bamfords, whose Daylesford estate last weekend echoed to the sounds of SOL Collective, Weekend Warriors and the Cash Cows, before revellers dropped off in rooms in their farm cottages and two inns (daylesford.com). Or the Duke of Roxburghe, whose Floors Castle estate in Scotland will rock in August to the sounds of four tribute bands, before guests retire to one of the 170 properties across the estate (floorscastle.com).

Demand for live music has grown post-Covid, says Robin Hutson, chairman of the Pig group of hotels. Since the Pig’s first Smoked & Uncut festival at Bridge Place in Kent ten years ago, “which was basically a few guitarists and some sausages around a bonfire”, they have had to offer 100 additional glamping tents to accommodate bookings.

Because it’s the Pig, they’re not any old festival tents, admits Judy Hutson, the hotel’s creative director (and Robin’s wife), who, when I speak to her, has just returned from shopping for new stud-spangled festival boots. They’re full of “little things that make a difference”. Like? “A decent duvet and pillow on a real mattress, and somewhere to hang clothes. A welcome pack with snacks and drinks, a torch, deckchairs, a hot shower with nice towels and shampoo. If you’re going to have fun, you want to sleep well and feel good.”

An extra bonus, she admits, is that the bands are often staying there too, so you get to compare hangovers over (organic) eggs florentine and local apple juice in the morning. She was “completely starstruck”, she says, when she served mint tea to the Wailers, who had played and stayed.

Honey Dijon will be performing at Soho House Festival

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Guests also get hotel-level service from trained staff — a step up from the students flipping burgers at Glastonbury, Robin says — and an intimacy only available at small festivals. Smoked & Uncut sells between 3,000 and 4,000 tickets; Daylesford accommodated 12,000 over two days.

Just because the festivals are small doesn’t mean the talents aren’t big. At the annual Soho House Festival at Gunnersbury Park, where the audience has grown from 3,000 in 2008 to 13,000 today, headliners have included Kylie Minogue, the Black Eyed Peas and Manic Street Preachers. Because the club knows its members, says Jonathan Heaf, Soho House’s chief content officer, it can tailor-make each festival. “That’s from the line-up itself — this year welcoming the likes of Pete Tong, Tom Grennan, Sugababes and Honey Dijon — to open bars without queues and glow-up stations where guests can refresh during the day.” It also means afterparties and “wind-down events” at the group’s two nearby hotels, High Road House and White City House. Unusually, Heaf adds, it also includes unlimited food and drink, from signature picante cocktails and craft beers to fizz and Wright Brothers pies.

Not that all festivals revolve around free booze and glitterballs. For the past decade the Polizzi family have hosted a classical music festival every March at their Tresanton hotel in Cornwall. It has become so popular that their partner, Kirker Holidays, has persuaded them to launch a second festival in November at their Star hotel in Alfriston, East Sussex. Of all the events they hold, the Tresanton festival is her favourite, Olga Polizzi says. Not only are there lectures in their hotels and local tours, but “really lovely concerts in the Methodist chapel we bought, to save it from developers”, she says. “We have chamber music, and pianists such as Melvyn Tan. The acoustics are wonderful.”

The time and effort they put into the events are paid back tenfold, she adds. “Because people love it, they keep coming back year after year. Some of our guests now come three or four times a year. One has been to stay 35 times!” If that means more festivals for us, so much the better.

The festival beat

Soho House Festival
What is it? High-octane, members-only festival at Gunnersbury Park, London, featuring stars from Kelis and Sugababes to the Ibiza favourites Pete Tong and Jules Buckley. Members can buy tickets for up to three additional non-member friends; included in the price is unlimited food and drink, and access to “glow-up” make-up-cum-relaxation areas. July 6-8, tickets from £325
Details Room-only doubles at White City House and High Road House from £210 plus £100 annual fee (sohohouse.com)

Smoked & Uncut hosts food and drink vendors from local communities

Smoked & Uncut
What is it? Annual rock and food festivals held in fields beside the Pig at Bridge Place and Lime Wood hotels, with a relaxed family vibe and popular bands: Kelis and Gabrielle this year at Lime Wood, and Razorlight and John Illsley of Dire Straits at the Pig in Kent. Alongside feasting tents staffed by chefs such as Angela Hartnett and Nathan Outlaw, the festivals host food and drink vendors from local communities, ranging from the Hampshire Burger Company to Dinky Donuts. There’s also a glitter bar, a bazaar featuring local fashion brands, a casual spa and a kids’ club.
July 8 (Lime Wood, New Forest); August 12 (the Pig at Bridge Place, Kent), tickets from £67.50 (smokedanduncut.com)
Details Room-only doubles from £200 at the Pig at Bridge Place (thepighotel.com), and from £435 at Lime Wood, or two nights’ glamping for two from £1,250 (limewoodhotel.co.uk)

Floors Castle on the Roxburghe estate

VISITSCOTLAND/IAN RUTHERFORD

Roxburghe Rocks
What is it? A family-friendly food and fun-fest on one of Scotland’s most handsome estates, featuring tribute bands playing the music of Queen, the Arctic Monkeys, Oasis and Fleetwood Mac. The food stalls are local and varied, from Bonnie Burrito and Nae Bother Food to the Galloping Gin Tin; extras include a children’s entertainer, face painting and glitter stalls. Accommodation is in beautiful cottages across the estate (the most glorious of which is the Head Gardener’s House, within the walled gardens) or other self-catering properties nearby.
August 5, tickets from £40 (floorscastle.com)
Details Two nights’ self-catering for two from £329 at the Square in Kelso, within walking distance of the festival (crabtreeandcrabtree.com)

Tresanton Hotel St Mawes in Cornwall

ALAMY

Polizzi Collection Festivals
What is it? Classical music festivals, held annually at Hotel Tresanton in St Mawes, Cornwall, and, from this year, in a chapel near the Star in Alfriston, East Sussex. The three-night Cornish festival in March includes a visit to Lamorran Gardens, three nights’ half-board at the hotel and three concerts at the Old Methodist Hall by the Kleio Quartet. The November festival in Sussex features three concerts by the Marmen Quartet, and three half-board nights at the Star; both trips include days out with tour leaders and music lectures.
November 7 (the Star) and March 18 2024 (Hotel Tresanton)
Details Three nights’ full board from £1,770pp at Hotel Tresanton and from £1,565pp at the Star, including all concerts and activities (kirkerholidays.com)

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