How Are Luxury Hotels Celebrating The Coronation?

The King’s Coronation is almost upon us – here’s how the UK’s most luxurious hotels will be celebrating, says Elisa Bray. Here are six lovely Coronation themed activities to experience now.

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The Best Coronation Activities At Luxurious Hotels Across The UK

Four Seasons Hampshire

Coronation Afternoon Tea & Children’s Activities

The first meeting place of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, Four Seasons Hampshire boasts undeniable royal heritage. Celebrating the Coronation, the Town and Country package comprises two nights at Four Seasons Park Lane followed by another two at Four Seasons Hampshire – the grand, 18th-century Georgian manor house set in 500 acres of rolling grounds where children will be overjoyed. Little ones will particularly enjoy the special Coronation installation in the hotel lobby (from 1 May), created by the property’s own patisserie chef: a delightful chocolate crown. The kids’ club is also putting on royal-themed activities, including the King’s own children’s book. Catering for the whole family, a superb Coronation afternoon tea is being offered in the estate’s historic drawing room overlooking the lush countryside, as stately classical music pipes serenely through the speakers. And don’t miss horse-drawn carriage rides through the estate, and Sharkey’s Reef splash pool.

BOOK IT: Coronation Afternoon Tea is £55pp, with rooms from £615 per night. fourseasons.com

Lucknam Park, Wiltshire

Royal Weekend

Set in 500 acres of manicured countryside, the quintessentially English Lucknam Park is a paradise for all ages – and offers extensive Coronation celebrations. Activities during the celebratory Royal Weekend include a horse and carriage ride along the mile-long avenue lined by 400 majestic lime and beech trees. Inside the Palladian mansion, you’ll find art classes, and a royal afternoon tea in the stately Drawing Room, with screenings of the nationwide celebrations. Guests can take part in traditional countryside pursuits, too, including archery, horse and pony riding, and walking around the grounds’ blooming gardens and through its guided trails to discover hidden sculptures. Adults can sip the Coronation cocktail (created by Lucknam’s master mixologist) and relax in the peaceful spa (whose crown is the jacuzzi in an exquisite garden setting), while younger visitors will enjoy arts and crafts sessions like creative crown-making, and dressing up in costumes in multi-room playhouse, The Hideaway. Coronation hampers brimming with locally sourced British classics – such as smokehouse salmon, charcuterie and pickles – can be ordered for picnics across the estate, and there will be puddings galore, as well as an on-site ice-cream van. And don’t miss the evening’s toast to the King.

BOOK IT: Coronation package from £1,544 for a two-night stay. lucknampark.co.uk

Woolley Grange, Wiltshire

Coronation Garden Party 

The Luxury Family Hotel group are hosting a fun-filled Coronation Garden Party across their five properties: Woolley Grange in Wiltshire, Moonfleet Manor in Dorset, Fowey Hall in Cornwall, The Ickworth in Suffolk and New Park Manor in the New Forest. The hotels are havens for young families, with rooms wonderfully equipped with everything you could need, where a child is treated as important and discerning a guest as an adult, from creative menus to nightly movies in the cinema. Party guests can expect a barbecue with royal treats including Eton Mess and the King’s favourite Coronation Quiche, as well as activities for the whole family. All five resorts have their own distinct character, but the view of the Fowey estuary is breathtaking, and the shabby chic Woolley Grange’s sprawling lawn below the terrace will make the perfect spot for games and activities including crown-decorating, croquet, giant snakes and ladders and Connect 4, glitter tattoos, and a Coronation-themed scavenger hunt. Woolley Grange also boasts an outdoor and indoor pool where children are welcome during all opening hours, a fairy garden and vegetable plots where a cute Wendy house is nestled.

BOOK IT: The Coronation Garden Party is Saturday 6 May 5–8pm, with tickets priced at £10. Guests staying at the hotel that night, and children, are free. Rooms from £120 per night. woolleygrangehotel.co.uk

Horwood House, Buckinghamshire

Coronation Garden Tea Party

This Grade II listed manor house – built in 1911 – recently underwent a £6 million renovation. But it’s the extensive gardens, complete with lily pond and walled gardens, that are the centre of Horwood’s Coronation celebrations. The Coronation Celebration Escape includes one night’s stay, spa facilities, breakfast and dinner in Harry’s Bar & Kitchen plus a picnic hamper afternoon tea to enjoy in the grounds – and, since they span 38 acres of lush Buckinghamshire countryside, it will be easy to find a space as private or sociable as you like. On the Sunday and Monday of the bank holiday weekend, a Coronation Garden Tea Party includes afternoon tea with live music in the manor house gardens.

BOOK IT: Coronation Garden Tea Party £49pp, under-12s £24.50. Coronation Celebration Escape from £280 per room, for bookings from 1–14 May 2023. horwoodhouse.co.uk

Haymarket Hotel, London

Coronation Afternoon Tea & Coronation Carts

The hip, five-star Haymarket Hotel is offering a specially designed Coronation Afternoon Tea, complete with flag-bearing, bright British bakes to match the colourful and quirky interiors by Kit Kemp. The hotel is also laying on some extras that will delight families keen to get closer to the King’s procession route through Trafalgar Square and The Mall, just a few steps away. On Saturday 6 May, guests can take away treats including afternoon teas, homemade ice creams and Rathfinny English sparkling wine from the ‘Coronation Carts’ outside. Or escape the crowds and enjoy the Feasting Menu including lavish platters of seafood, carved meats and British cheeses, in the Brumus Restaurant. Children can also help themselves to ice cream from the hotel’s ice cream cart, mocktails and babycinos. 

BOOK IT: Coronation Afternoon Tea from £40pp, available until 10 July; Coronation Feasting Buffet available on 6 May only. Rooms from £700 per night. firmdalehotels.com

The Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath

Coronation Garden Party and Coronation Afternoon Tea

Designed with guests of all ages in mind, the Royal Crescent’s celebratory tea party on Friday 5 May will be set in the hotel’s pretty gardens with a jazz band and lawn games including croquet, giant Jenga and boules. The party features afternoon tea with a difference: patisseries (and cocktails) flavoured with Highgrove Bouquet, a new perfume created by Penhaligon’s in partnership with the King to evoke a floral summer in his Cotswold Gardens. Budding junior bakers are invited to create a royal-themed cake for a competition judged by the Royal Crescent’s own pastry chef, with the winning entrant receiving a £50 book token from Mr B’s Emporium. Or take the Coronation afternoon tea, including a dedicated children’s menu, throughout May in Montagu’s Mews, or in the garden.

BOOK IT: The Royal Crescent Hotel’s Coronation Garden Party is £95pp, with under-12s £30. Coronation afternoon tea is £39.50pp, with children £19.50. Deluxe rooms from £405 per night. royalcrescent.co.uk

Cliveden House, Berkshire

Great Royal Gardens Afternoon Tea 

This five AA Red Star award-winning Relais & Châteaux hotel was built in 1666 by the second Duke of Buckingham as a gift to his mistress. A Grade I stately home, the glamorous Cliveden House has entertained every British monarch since King George I. Near royal Windsor and set upon 376 acres of National Trust grounds, the hotel is offering a special Coronation afternoon tea featuring sweet treats inspired by flowers growing in the King’s own gardens (think Lavender and Nasturtium Flowerpot, and a Magnolia and Honey Cake), as well as savouries created with products from Sandringham’s Farm, part of the Royals’ country retreat in Norfolk. A special half portion will be served to children – then venture to the gardens, where the Cliveden Maze and the Story Play Den are home to storybook characters from Winnie the Poo to Captain Hook carved from wood.

BOOK IT: Great Royal Gardens Afternoon Tea is £50pp, with children £25, available until December. Rooms from £445 per night. clivedenhouse.co.uk

The Rubens at the Palace, London

Coronation Tea Party

This is the ideal base for celebrating the Coronation, not least because of Rubens’ proximity to Buckingham Palace. The opulence of this hotel, where the bedrooms are lavished in silk and chandeliers, makes you feel very regal indeed. While adults sip drinks as aptly named as The Charles Champagne Cocktail and The Goblet King, while enjoying lobster and caviar or roast beef and truffle sandwiches, children are treated to their own Prince and Princess menu comprising less sophisticated treats such as jam and smooth peanut butter sandwiches and donuts alongside their choice of milkshake or hot chocolate. The same tea is served at the family-friendly Coronation Street Party on Sunday 7 May, with music from the Rubens Live Trio. And the hotel, with its activities from movies to games and its interconnecting rooms, makes this convenient for family gatherings. 

BOOK IT: Dine from £70pp, with under-12s £35, from 1 May–1 August. The King’s Coronation Street Party Afternoon Tea on 7 May is £99pp, with under-12s £55. rubenshotel.com

Featured image: Cliveden House.