For more information and to book please visit www.mrandmrssmith.com or let us arrange your whole trip, by calling +44 (0)20 8987 4312 or from the USA dial 1 866 610 3867.
Spring Cottage
- Style
- Cliveden’s aristocratic summerhouse
- Setting
- Grassy banks of the Thames River
Cliveden’s riverside guesthouse is hidden away on the leafy banks of the stately home’s magnificent National Trust-owned grounds. Homely yet grand, it’s not your regular 19th-century three-bedroom guesthouse – this five-star hotel’s holiday house has its own butler. If that isn’t thrill enough, how’s about the revelation that this holiday home was where Profumo and friends frolicked in the run-up to the huge political scandal in the Sixties? As for its name, Cliveden’s sister cottage takes its moniker from the spring that emanates from the nearby cliffs.
In the know
House style
Originally built as a secluded summerhouse by the Countess of Orkney in 1813, in the 1870s the Duchess of Sutherland had this mock-Tudor guest cottage extended.
Grounds
As well as being set amid Cliveden’s spectacular 376 acres of National Trust gardens and parklands, the cottage has its own private leafy garden and swathe of grassy river banks. Nestled in the woods on the very edge of the tranquil Thames, stray out
Sleeps
Six. The cottage has two double rooms and a children’s bedroom, which sleeps two.
Ideal for
Special family occasions (mum and dad, granny and grandpa and two juniors), discreet escapes for visiting dignitaries.
Rates
From £1,200–£1,730 a night plus VAT.
Minimum hire
Three nights at weekends, four nights during the week.
Also
The cottage is non-smoking throughout, but there is plenty of outdoor space; pets are allowed.
Eating & drinking
As you have room service from the main Cliveden hotel and your own personal butler, first-class dining is but a bell-ring away. There is also a well-stocked fridge with olives and cold cuts and champers galore. A personal chef can also be available for lunch and dinner.
Weddings
Small wedding ceremonies and receptions can be carried out right here at the cottage.
Children
The third bedroom is best suited to one or two children and there is a stash of board games. This property is right on the river so it's not ideal if you have intrepid toddlers, better suited probably to eight-year-olds and up.
Music
A digital television is featured in the sitting room, and a CD and iPod player in the dining room. You might find the old-fashioned bulging bookshelves and games cupboards provide a more fitting way to spend your time here.
Provided
All the amenities you might expect from a five-star hotel are at hand – Penhaligan toiletries, slippers and toweling robes.
Packing tips
Your swimwear (unless you’re Christine Keeler) so that you can make the most of the indoor and outdoor pools at the Pavilion spa. A copy of the film Scandal on DVD – see our Smith tip. A few airs and graces – where better to live out a few delusions
Smith card offer
If you're a member of Mr & Mrs Smith, you can get special privileges at every Smith hotel you book through us. Just show your Smith card at check-in to claim the offer featured on every hotel page (like the one above).
Not a member? Join now
check availability
To check availability and book a vacation rental property please call the Smith travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee best available rates on all vacation rental properties.
Back to top
Interior
Bedrooms
Spring Cottage feels as though it has two master bedrooms – both doubles are grand.
Downstairs, across from the TV room, is a roomy riverside boudoir with an ensuite down a little internal hallway. That huge freestanding tub must have played host to many aristocratic ablutions in its time.
Upstairs, a very pretty bedroom overlooks the Thames with the sort of dressing table you can just picture a Sixties starlet grooming herself to perfection.
Across the small hallway is a vast Toile du Jouy-decorated bathroom with antique luxuries such as old-fashioned scales and a lengthy cushioned windowseat – perfect if your luxuriating in the tub is likely to pull a crowd.
On this floor this bathroom is shared with a smaller navy-blue children’s bedroom; the single bed has a pull-out trundle mattress. There is also plenty of room for a cot. Sneak into the eaves cupboards and you’ll find a few extra board games.
Kitchen One imagines this is intended more for the staff to prepare your meals in than for guests to sully themselves using personally. Should you want to whip up a snack, your butler will be happy to provide a tea and biscuits or a platter of cold cuts. There is also an extensive menu for room service.
Living room There’s a cosy sitting room with a big telly and comfy sofas – perfect for adjourning to with a nightcap.
Dining room This vaulted, lead-windowed room has a basilical feel with a huge round table that can seat up to ten comfortably. A cosy nook by the fire begs that you make the most of the shelves of games around the corner.
This reception room is made all the more special with the way it leads to its private Secret Garden-like riverbank grounds.
Other
Outdoor
Poolside The Pavilion Spa is a ten-minute stroll or chauffeured drive away. Here you'll find heated indoor and outdoor pools where you can really live out your Profumo fantasies – well, within the bounds of respectable hotel-style behaviour.
Gardens As well as your own pocket of foliage-filled riverside grounds complete with a small boat mooring, the National Trust gardens beyond include water gardens and topiary splendour.
Parking Guests park their own cars at the main hotel and are chauffeured to the cottage whenever needed.
check availability
To check availability and book a vacation rental property please call the Smith travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee best available rates on all vacation rental properties.
Planes London Heathrow is 20 mins away by car. London Gatwick is 50 mins by car or 20 mins by helicopter.
Trains The nearest mainline station is Burnham, approximately 4 miles away. Trains from London Paddington, 30 minutes.
Directions by road If coming from M4 Junction 7, turn left at the roundabout onto the A4 towards Maidenhead. Go straight at the traffic lights and turn right at the roundabout (Sainsbury's Supermarket) onto Lent Rise Road. Continue straight over all mini-roundabouts. You will pass Burnham Memorial Cricket Ground on your right and Grovefield House on your left. At the T-Junction, the main gates of Cliveden are directly opposite. Follow the gravel drive all the way to the house, following the signs for 'house guests'. If travelling along the A4 from Maidenhead follow this road towards Slough and take the left hand turn onto Berry Hill, before the BMW garage, following signs towards Cliveden. Take this road for approx 3 miles until you reach the main gates for Cliveden on your left-hand side.
Exit M40 at junction 2, at the roundabout get in the right-hand lane and follow the A355 to Slough. After 150 yards turn right, which will take you past the Jolly Woodman public house, turn right into Woburn Common Road, and then left onto Heathfield Road. Cliveden is two miles from there.
Review
Cliveden’s riverside guesthouse is hidden away on the leafy banks of the stately home’s magnificent National Trust-owned grounds. Homely yet grand, it’s not your regular 19th-century three-bedroom guesthouse – this five-star hotel’s holiday house has its own butler. If that isn’t thrill enough, how’s about the revelation that this holiday home was where Profumo and friends frolicked in the run-up to the huge political scandal in the Sixties? As for its name, Cliveden’s sister cottage takes its moniker from the spring that emanates from the nearby cliffs.
check availability
To check availability and book a vacation rental property please call the Smith travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee best available rates on all vacation rental properties.
Back to top
