Fledgling hotel group The Signet Collection has unveiled details of its second UK property, which will open within a Grade II-listed 18th-century building in West Berkshire this spring.
The Retreat at Elcot Park will be housed within a building which was once the childhood home of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and will feature 55 revamped rooms, with interiors by Taylor and Turner.
The property has been a hotel since the late 1940s, and most recently traded as the Mercure Newbury Elcot Park Hotel.
Facilities will include rooms themed and named after champion racehorses, famous jockeys, local points of interest, or “nods to British country pursuits” such as shooting, fishing, hunting and racing.
The hotel will offer a total of three restaurants – Pan Asian eatery Yu, all day dining restaurant 1772 with a five-metre brass bar with fluted leather front, and The Orangery (which will open in the fourth quarter of 2022).
There will also be a Whiskey Room, two private dining spaces, and a health club with hydrotherapy pools, three treatment rooms, a steam room, sauna, fitness centre, spin studio and relaxation area.
The hotel’s entrance hall will be “being a place for reading and relaxation, similar to a drawing room in a country home”, while The Atlas Room will offer guests as area where they can “enjoy afternoon tea on palm tree plates, or simply read and relax”.
The Retreat will join The Mitre Hampton Court – which opened on the banks of the River Thames in September 2020 – as The Signet Collection’s second property.
Commenting on the news Anneke Gilkes and Harriette Cayzer, Taylor and Turner, said:
“Elcot Park has a fascinating, long and rich history. It has been a huge privilege to be entrusted with creating a new chapter in its story with Hector and the brilliant team at Signet.
“We have endeavoured to respect its past whilst ensuring that the design practicalities meet the rigorous standards of the modern day. Our ethos has been rooted in creating a retreat for any age offering complete escapism and a sense of fun.”
