Cliveden is more than a hotel. The house itself is like a museum. In fact, parts of it are open to the public through the National Trust and all stays include a daily National Trust surcharge.
All the 39 guest rooms are named after famous former guests - Henry James, Garibaldi, Charlie Chaplin - except, of course, Spring Cottage, a secluded cottage tucked away somewhere on the 376 acre estate, the scene of the Profumo Affair.
Each room and suite is individually and magnificently appointed -- silk wall coverings, antique writing desks, swags and furbelows everywhere you look.
But Cliveden is a Grade I Listed property. Any and all changes and improvements have to be approved by numerous committees who protect the UK's historic built heritage. So some of the glamorous marble bathrooms could use a bit of touch up to the paintwork and the glorious painting of the doomed Charles I occupies above-the-mantle space that might sport a flat screen telly at another hotel.
