A most unlikely hotel stands high on a hill beyond the suburbs of Plymouth. From the front, dog-friendly Boringdon Hall looks like a fortified manor house, which was in Tudor times; in fact, the history of Boringdon Hall stretches back as far as the Domesday Book...Now, this family-friendly hotel is home to 56 rooms and suites, two restaurants, an adult-only Gaia spa and manicured grounds and gardens.
Adrian Mourby writes: "A most unlikely hotel stands high on a hill beyond the suburbs of Plymouth. From the front, Boringdon Hall looks like a fortified manor house, which indeed it was in Tudor times. From behind, further up the hill it looks like a modern glass spa which indeed it is but it also has bedrooms in the spa, set along wide corridors that are lined with walls of living moss. These beautiful green vertical gardens are a natural way to purify the air and are said to de-stress those walking past them. Boringdon calls this its Wellness Wing and it which contains the hotel’s two most glamorous suites. Apollo and Hypnos are sunny with modern carpentry, beige sofas and chairs and private jacuzzi hot tubs on a patio leading off from the master bedrooms. Swallows nest under the eaves and fly overhead for daytime entertainment. In the evening there is a glassed-in flame-effect fireplace above what seems to be an oil painting but is in fact a TV. In fact this provincial reviewer only realised something was unusual when the oil painting mysteriously changed each time he was out on the terrace. Switch on the TV remote and the painting becomes your interactive TV for the evening.
So there are, in effect two Boringdons, depending on your taste. Inside the old house, four of the nine historic rooms have four-poster beds, creaky old furniture and reassuringly sloping floors. Then there’s the Wellness Wing with its treatment rooms, yoga studios, an indoor/outdoor swimming pool and a Spatisserie café. In fact my taxi driver knew of Boringdon as a spa more than a hotel.
But the hotel’s reputation has also developed wonderfully in recent years thanks to Michelin-starred chef, Scott Paton who has massively raised the profile of Àclèaf. This fine dining restaurant sits on what looks like an old minstrel’s gallery above the bar. Àclèaf offers a superb tasting menu that is strong on flavour and presentation. On arrival you are asked to choose a geometric shape, a colour and a leaf before your meal starts so that the fourth course can be tailored to your personal taste. Every meal begins with a flute of Gusbourne English sparkling wine with whom Boringdon has partnered for some time.
Every year the hotel adds more USPs. In 2023 it not only brought out the first. Àclèaf cook book (£50) but acquired its own beehives from Dartmoor. These are now looked after by Ashley Tod, the hotel’s own beekeeper who now provides Boringdon’s own honey.
An unexpected extra at Boringdon is the hotel’s “Secret Bar”, which knowing guests can access by pulling out a particular volume – Gone With The Wind - from a bookcase in the a corridor close to the Mayflower Restaurant. On the other side of this hidden doorway lies a room with a series of comfortable armchairs, a fireplace and all the atmosphere of a gentleman’s club. This is a wonderful place for an after-dinner drink. Given that Boringdon reckons it has one of the most extensive wine cellars of any hotel in the Southwest of England, you could be in there for a while."
