PoB Hotels announces a new seasonal initiative celebrating the nation at its most stylish, creative and cultured
As spring gives way to the first stretch of summer, PoB Hotels, the collection of the nation’s finest independent hotels, proudly unveils Blooming Britain: Fashion, Film & Flowers.
This brilliant initiative combines culture and the great British outdoors, inviting guests to enjoy the season through flower-filled estates, cinematic landscapes and the artists, makers and gardeners who bring each destination to life. Running from now until late summer, Blooming Britain unfolds across the PoB Hotels’ portfolio with a thoughtful programme of events, partnerships and activations that evolve as the months unfold.
Leading the season is The Wild Larder: A Foraging Walk & Lunch with Thomas Radford, expert forager, wild food advocate and the sort of person who can identify your lunch while walking through a hedgerow.
Launching at Bovey Castle on 5th June before continuing at Thurlestone Hotel on 23rd June, the series sees Thomas lead a journey through coastlines and countryside, uncovering overlooked ingredients, native plants and the stories quietly rooted within the landscape. Wild garlic one minute. Wine pairing the next.
Each experience ends with a thoughtfully crafted three-course lunch inspired by the morning’s discoveries, celebrating Britain’s landscapes through flavour, folklore and seasonality. Further dates at Calcot & Spa and Gilpin Hotel & Lake House will follow later in the season.
Naturally, there’s occasion dressing too. In partnership with Bicester Village, PoB Hotels presents A Blooming Good Break: Flowers, Fashion & A Forecast Worth Escaping For, a stylish multi-stop escape shaped by spa afternoons, boutique wandering and leisurely lunches that drift elegantly into evening.
Beginning at Sopwell House before unfolding through Hartwell House & Spa, Whatley Manor and Ellenborough Park, the itinerary celebrates a slower, more polished way to travel Britain.
Naturally, Blooming Britain comes dressed for the occasion. Through collaborations with Shrimps and House of Bruar, guests are invited into a more fashion-forward kind of British escape, where boutique discoveries, countryside elegance and a well-packed weekend bag all become part of the story.
Across the collection, hotels are embracing the season with florals, film, fashion and fresh-air indulgence at the forefront. Garden workshops fill the calendar, cinematic landscapes steal the scene and country estates come into their own.
At Grove of Narberth, florist Amelia leads seasonal flower workshops on 25 July alongside garden tours on 4 July and 26 September, each concluding with cream tea or a three-course lunch brimming with homegrown ingredients.
Over at Gravetye Manor, intimate flower workshops led by Head Florist Sharon Coote bring some of Britain’s most romantic gardens beautifully into focus, using blooms gathered directly from the estate itself. The sort of day that briefly convinces you to become a florist.
At Palé Hall, sculpture trails unfold against the dramatic backdrop of Eryri (Snowdonia), while Cromlix brings a more playful artistic flourish through floral embroidery and watercolour workshops inspired by the hotel’s flourishing grounds.
Along Scotland’s west coast, Hebridean Princess sets sail from Oban on 26 May to explore celebrated gardens and grand estates across Argyll and Antrim, while in Edinburgh, Fingal offers a wilder interpretation of Blooming Britain with wildflower meadows, Water of Leith views and a kitchen garden that flows straight to the plate at The Lighthouse Restaurant.
Elsewhere, Blooming Britain slips quite effortlessly into Britain’s cinematic side. At The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa, Bath is ready for its close-up once again. The sweeping Georgian façade is instantly recognisable to anyone partial to a period drama and a scandalous whisper from Lady Whistledown, having appeared in Bridgerton, Persuasion and The Seven Dials Mystery.
Along the Jurassic Coast, The Priory combines Laura Medcalf’s landscape-led art with a partnership with the Purbeck Film Festival, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
And in Scotland, Glenapp Castle pairs dramatic scenery with nearby Outlander filming locations, creating one of the collection’s most atmospheric escapes.
Because no great British summer was ever hurt by a little drama.
Occasion dressing continues the story in Sussex, where Bailiffscourt Hotel & Spa places guests close to the spectacle and style of Glorious Goodwood and Goodwood Revival, where fashion remains very much part of the theatre.
Back at Glenapp Castle, meanwhile, the concierge can arrange bespoke tartan and cashmere experiences for those looking to leave Scotland dressed slightly better than when they arrived.
Kalindi Juneja, Chief Executive of PoB Hotels, comments, “This time of year has a particular energy to it. Gardens come alive, terraces fill up and suddenly everyone becomes much better at saying yes to another night away.
“With Blooming Britain, we wanted to celebrate all those wonderfully British seasonal rituals through the individuality of our hotels. Foraging in the countryside, discovering a new designer, wandering through flower-filled gardens, stretching out a long lunch a little further than planned – this is Britain at its most joyful, expressive and beautifully unhurried.”