New Year’s Eve comes with that little bit of added pressure. “The most important night of the year” can raise expectations that are hard to satisfy. Even more so if you’re in a relationship. There are many tailor-made New Year’s Eve breaks for couples across the UK, but you need to act fast. Leave it too late and the good ones will be booked up.
Once you know you want to go, the question becomes what to do? Full-on romance or a big blowout party night? Spa and pamper or active and outdoorsy? Whatever your pleasure, there’s somewhere to sate it on this island of ours. To help make the magic happen, here’s my pick of New Year’s Eve breaks for couples across the UK.
The best New Year’s Eve breaks for couples
- The Pigs, Southern England
- The Scarlet, Cornwall
- L’Oscar, London
- Thyme, Gloucestershire
- Claridge’s, London
- The Crazy Bears, England
- Carden Park Hotel, Cheshire
- Fingal, Edinburgh
The Pigs, Southern England
Best for: luxurious eccentricity
The Pig Hotel brand has reshaped the concept of traditional luxury British hotels over the last few years. Gone is the stuffy decor and stiff-lipped service of old. In its place, unique takes on the quirkier aspects of British culture wrapped up in gorgeous surroundings and superb service.
The Pig’s litter has grown to 10 hotels across southern England, with more due soon. Each is unique but New Year’s Eve will be a great party whichever you stay at. Expect a huge, homely meal inspired by the kitchen garden, fantastic wines and lots of good cheer. New Year’s Day will bring country walks
The Pig at Harlyn Bay is my favourite bolthole in the whole country but gets booked up fast. Otherwise, the original New Forest Pig is particularly magical and its 25-mile menu restaurant a thing of culinary wonder.
The Scarlet, Cornwall
Best for: adult-only romance
Not far (but far enough!) from Newquay in Mawgan Porth, The Scarlet is an adults-only haven of relaxation and romance. High on rugged cliffs, set away from the outside world, it makes the absolute most of its amazing location.
And never more so than on New Year’s Eve. For three nights, The Scarlet hosts a romantic retreat for loved-up couples to ring in 2024. Clifftop cauldron hot tubs overlooking the Atlantic. Candle-lit copper baths and romantic beach walks. An ‘indoor-outdoor’ spa offering Ayurvedic treatments. Long intimate dinners with plenty of fizz. And on the night itself, a spectacular fireworks display that lights up the Cornish coast.
L’Oscar, London
Best for: pure unadulterated decadence
If you’re coming to the capital, there’s no shortage of unbelievable places to stay. But for something a little more titillating than your average five-star stay, look to L’Oscar.
A former Baptist Church, L’Oscar has shaken off its ecclesiastical roots to become something altogether different. A riot of purples, patterns and textures, checking in feels like entering a lothario’s boudoir.
Located right by Covent Garden with Theatreland on your doorstep, you have endless options for a New Year to remember. Take in a show, dine at the country’s best restaurants, watch the famous fireworks on the South Bank. Or bypass it all, lock the door, pop the champagne and indulge in the sensory assault of your surroundings.
Thyme, Gloucestershire
Best for: an eco spa break
Thyme is just lovely, as is its story and connection to the rolling greens of Gloucestershire. It calls itself the village within a village (it even has its own pub). A family-run, farm-to-fork, historical and ecological retreat and the perfect place to wash away the year gone past.
Book a room in one of its restored houses or cottages and get back to nature at Meadow Spa. Forget hi-tech wellness, this is restorative and natural. Treatments that invigorate the senses, purge impurities and re-energise for the year ahead. It’s also ridiculously romantic.
Thyme puts on a New Year’s Eve package that includes a surprisingly riotous late-night party at its Ox Barn. A five-course meal, live music and DJ playing late into the night. So you’ll definitely be needing those spa treatments on New Year’s Day.
Claridge’s, London
Best for: a huge blowout
If you really, really want to push the boat out, there’s nowhere more romantic and impressive to spend New Year’s Eve than Claridge’s. One of London’s most loved and long-lived hotels, stay here to live a night of fame and glamour. It’s quite the way to ring in the New Year.
Once you’ve checked into your sumptuous Art Deco surroundings and picked your jaw up off the floor, prepare to feast. Start with intimate cocktails in the sultry Fumoir cocktail bar. Then join the New Year celebrations in the Foyer and Reading Room. Caviar, foie gras, lobster, all washed down with a classic cuvée brut – the menu hasn’t changed much in a century. But as the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke…
The Crazy Bears, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire
Best for: a party to remember
The name says it all, really. Outlandish and over the top yet somehow still elegant. The Crazy Bear hotels close to Oxford and London are destinations in their own right. And for New Year’s Eve events, they’re all about the party.
The Crazy Bear Stadhampton is throwing a Cabaret night complete with a champagne reception, and an English and Thai banquet. Kick the day off in style with a flight over the rolling Oxfordhsire countryside in Crazy Bear’s own hot air balloon. Head back for a Thai massage before donning your glad rags for the party ahead.
The Crazy Bear Beaconsfield promises a raucous Red Carpet Party. Expect burlesque performers, live music and dancing until the early hours. Book a suite with a roll-top copper bathtub for a recovery soak the following morning. It may be the best money you spend all year.
Carden Park Hotel, Cheshire
Best for: a classic spa break
Carden Park’s thousand-acre estate is a wonderful place to bring in the New Year refreshed and revitalised. Spend the last day of the year discovering its enormous grounds. Take aim at some archery, tour on a segway and stroll its sculpture gardens as the sun sets.
The jewel in Carden’s crown is its world-class spa, also set mostly in its gardens. Heated relaxation pods and hot-tubs, a thermal vitality pool and crackling fire pits. Get mani-pedi-facials and fizzy libations in the Bollinger Beauty Bar to look your best for the new year celebrations.
Speaking of which, Carden Park’s party includes a gala dinner with “haggis, neeps, tatties and a nip o’ whisky”. Live music, fireworks over the lake and a traditional piper to play in the new year.
Fingal, Edinburgh
Best for: something unique
Edinburgh is always a special city to celebrate New Year’s Eve, or as it’s called in Scotland, hogmanay. A stay on board Fingal will make it one to remember.
Moored on the lively waterfront in Leith, Fingal was first built to supply Scotland’s most isolated lighthouses. Today it’s been reimagined as a floating five-star palace of maritime luxury. Cosy cabins connected by wood-panelled hallways, a lavish copper-ceiling restaurant and palatial ballroom. It really is something – old world and unbelievably elegant.
Fingal takes Hogmanay seriously. Its two-night stay is heavy on the eating and champagne but also includes something extra special. Ring in midnight onboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, chNew Year’s Eve breaks for couplesampagne in hand, piper piping and the spectacular city fireworks exploding overhead. They even put on a spectacular quayside performance of the Beating of the Retreat, just as they did during Royal Service.
Top tip: Request a starboard cabin when booking – they have more interesting views. Or splash out on the Skerryvore Suite complete with its own sweeping private deck.
New Year’s Eve breaks for couples around the world
There are wonderful New Year getaways for couples from the top to the bottom of the UK. And if you’re willing to travel a little further, around the world too.
Escape the cold at these winter sun destinations and see where is hot in December. Hop on a short flight for a budget-friendly New Year in Europe. Thinking of popping the big question? here are the world’s most romantic places to propose. Good luck (and congratulations)!
If you can’t decide, try out KAYAK Explore and let the map guide you to a New Year to remember.
