The three Historic House Hotels, now part of the National Trust, offer guests exceptional gardens for Spring and beyond with many seasonal highlights. All three properties are accessible to the public as hotels and warmly welcome guests to stay, to dine in the restaurants and to enjoy afternoon tea and to book spa treatments. All paying guests are welcome to walk in the gardens and parks. Themed garden tours take place throughout the year at each hotel and all hotels are home to extensive kitchen gardens.

Hartwell House Gardens – Buckinghamshire - The house has a remarkable history: its most famous resident was Louis XVIII, exiled King of France, for five years from 1809. In 1938 the house and estate were acquired by Ernest Cook, an early hero of the conservation movement. Designed at the start of the 18th century and landscaped by a follower of Capability Brown, one Richard Woods, the gardens at Hartwell House spread across 94 acres. Guests can spend hours discovering the grounds which include a Gothic Tower, a Statue of Hercules, a Bridge which comprises the central arch of James Paine’s Kew Bridge, Lime Avenue; a mile-long double avenue of limes and the Canal Temple home to 10,000 daffodils.

Garden Tour: 31st March 'Spring Garden Tour' hosted by the head gardener

Bodysgallen Hall Gardens – Llandudno, Wales - Bodysgallen Hall has gradually evolved over the centuries from modest hamlet to a large and comfortable country house, surrounded by one of the finest Arts and Crafts gardens in Wales. Bodysgallen Hall has Wales’s greatest gardens in a hotel spread across 220 acres of gardens and parkland. Featured are the rare C17th parterre of box hedges filled with sweet smelling herbs, natural limestone outcrops, a rockery with cascade, walled gardens, a lily pond and several follies. There is also a formal rose garden and a variety of well- established specimen trees and shrubs, including medlar and mulberry. Views from the hotel include of Conwy Castle and Snowdonia.

Garden Tour: 6th May 'Spring has Sprung' hosted by the head gardener.

Middlethorpe Hall Gardens – York - Middlethorpe Hall is a perfect William and Mary country house built in 1699. The hotel is set within 20 acres of gardens and parkland, which have been extensively restored and replanted. Middlethorpe Hall is exceptionally proud of its links with suffragist garden designer Fanny Wilkinson (1855–1951). She lived in the house with her family, and it was where she became passionate about gardening. In 2024, the hotel unveiled a Blue Plaque in the walled garden to celebrate her achievements. Fanny’s inspiration is still going strong. Walks around the gardens were re-created with urns providing eye catchers and paths allowing guests to discover wildlife including roe deer, beehives and various nesting birds around the lake. The team of gardeners has also created an organic ‘potager’, producing a wide selection of vegetables. Guests can follow a special tree trail around the grounds of Middlethorpe Hall, with a copy of their ‘The Gardens and Trees of Interest' Guide and Map.

Photo: The bridge at Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire