Bailiffscourt Hotel & Spa

This luxury hotel is pure pampering bliss with friendly staff and an informal atmosphere in a very proper place!

We visited lovely Bailiffscourt with our toddler son, Fraser. Mummy and Daddy enjoyed its extremely comfortable rooms, beautiful dining experience, and luxury spa; Fraser enjoyed running around the gorgeous grounds, the wide variety of breakfast options (he’s a great eater) and splashing about in the swimming pool. It felt like a proper holiday for our little family even though we only stayed for 24 hours. And swimming in the outdoor pool with Fraser is in my top ten favourite parenting moments so far – a great experience!

Bailiffscourt is hard to describe. It is grand yet homely. Service is professional and really efficient, yet also friendly and staff are relaxed and down-to-earth. Bedrooms are decadently decorated, but not imposingly so. It’s a lovely hotel and they are making every effort to make family stays as great as possible- and we only wish we could have stayed longer!

Accommodation

Rooms and suites at Bailiffscourt are located in seven different beautiful buildings. There are the grand, superior Clipping Rooms and Clipping Original Rooms, along with the Classic Rooms and Classic Cosy Rooms. We stayed in Baylies, a Clipping suite, a grandly decorated, beautiful large room with views of the wonderful grounds. It takes your breath away as you walk in and I’ve since read about the numerous celebs that have stayed there – I’m not surprised! It’s a special and lovely room. Huge bonus – side-by-side bathtubs in which you can sip champagne after the kids have gone to sleep! Even though it was up a flight of stairs, it worked fine with our still carry-able fifteen month old in tow – we left the pushchair in the car and just got it out as needed. We hardly used the pushchair to be honest – Fraser just wanted to roam/run around the beautiful grounds – it was so nice to have a big open space for him to play in!

Bailiffscourt have rooms and suites which are even more family friendly: Some of these are particularly perfect for families, in cottages with large entrance halls where you might park scooters and buggies, and some are on the ground floor for easy access, which is also particularly appealing to families.

Food

We ate several delicious meals at this child-friendly and each was thoroughly enjoyed by all three of us… Bailiffscourt knows how to do food! We arrived towards the end of lunchtime and decided to order food while sitting in one of the lovely lounge areas on the ground floor. The children’s menu was well thought out and offered two different portion sizes for very little ones and slightly bigger little ones! A highchair was ready for Fraser, our toddler, for all meals and the staff couldn’t have been more accommodating. The prompt service was much appreciated (and is something which its always so great for hotels and restaurants to prioritise for diners who have small children with them!).

We altered our plans for an evening meal in the restaurant (with baby monitor in hand!) due to Fraser being unsettled and restless and not wanting to sleep. So instead we called reception to rearrange and happily opted for room service. We then had one of THE most delicious meals we have ever eaten brought to our room from the incredible Tapestry Restaurant. The monkfish dish was a total treat, and was cooked to an impeccable standard. Staff couldn’t have been more understanding and accommodating (I went down to have a nosy at the restaurant during dinner in all its candlelit beauty… certainly a grown-up affair but also a 7pm mealtime with children would certainly be do-able too. Bailiffscourt are delighted to welcome children of all ages to dine and are keen to make families feel comfortable and welcome.

Breakfast was a delightful range, offering local produce freshly cooked, and a wide variety of options from the breakfast buffet.

You can choose to eat and drink throughout the day at Bailiffscourt including coffee, snacks, afternoon tea and light bites. We enjoyed a morning sitting in the grounds in the hot sun with Fraser asleep in his pushchair while we were brought delicious cold juices.

Spa

There were a few different stand-out moments of our stay at Bailiffscourt – one of them was DEFINITELY visiting the incredible spa. The spa at Bailiffscourt consists of two big swimming pools – one indoor and one outdoor – along with (just for the grown-ups) an indoor Jacuzzi and an outdoor hot tub. They made for a blissful way to while away a couple of hours. I was in spa heaven. Swimming in the outdoor pool with our baby Fraser in the glorious summer sunshine, my words to Ben were ‘I’m just so happy…. this is so perfect!’. There are set family swimming times at the spa so you can plan your day accordingly. There are an array of delicious spa treatments available should you wish to leave the kids with your other half and head off for some R&R.

Stuff for Kids

On the surface it might seem that Bailiffscourt’s grandeur and smart service is aimed only at grown-ups - but this is not the case - and the hotel is very keen to emphasise that it’s very much a place for families too. We felt really looked after at Bailiffscourt with thoughtful, attentive staff who were so efficient. They provided a bucket and spade for a trip down to Climping beach and a little kite – these touches were so thoughtful and helped make it a brilliant family stay. Crayons and children’s menu colouring sheets are provided at mealtimes to help keep young ones occupied, and games for the whole family are available throughout the hotel inclduing Giant Jenga…our personal favourite! There’s a giant swing in the grounds and thirty acres of private parkland to explore and run around in.

While we visited at the height of summer, I’m also excited by the thought of a winter visit to Bailiffscourt – apparently it really feels magical around Christmastime. Although to be honest any time of year would be lovely.