It’s the hotel where Meghan Markle stayed the night before her wedding…The story of Cliveden House is a very British one…a tale of royalties moving in and making history, among them the Duke of Buckingham, the Prince of Wales and Lord Astor.

First built in 1666 by the Duke of Buckingham, Cliveden House, sitting on a ridge of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, is a 376-acre country estate that’s gone through many incarnations before being transformed into a hotel in 1984. At the heart of the story is a 350-year-old Grade I-listed manor, restored to its original glory…like the Great Hall with its fireplace ripped out of a French chateau, and the lobby with its cathedral-high ceiling and Gothic Revival mahogany staircase. Including the riverside Spring Cottage where Queen Victoria would stop by and have tea with her friend, the Duchess of Sutherland, Cliveden House only has 47 rooms, each furnished with antiques, handmade beds, heavy drapes and walls adorned with intricate wallpapers and original artworks. Period features and working fireplaces add to the magical atmosphere while outside, the Italianate garden perched on the banks of River Thames creates a parkland of substantial charm for those stolen moments of walking on shaded paths, imagining who’s been here before. Befitting the setting, the restaurants here are all about British eccentricity. There is The Cliveden Dining Room and the Astor Grill, housed in what used to be the estate’s stables, while afternoon tea is served in the Great Hall. As of 2017, the hotel also has a spa with indoor and outdoor pool areas, and hot tubs set in a garden.