Home From Home For Christmas

Want to get away for the festive season but somewhere that’s comfortingly close? Here is our top 10 of feel-good escapes in and around Cheshire

- Helen Warwick

1 SCARLET HALL

For an all-out family affair, Covid-restrictions pending, you could take over your very own country pile for a few days. Scarlet Hall in Malpas occasionally moonlights as a wedding venue. But for lord-of-the-manor-style staycations, this sprawling estate can sleep up to 22 with 12 acres to walk off your festive feasts. You will have to order your food in, but that’s a small price to pay for all that space. And to add to the appeal, there’s also an indoor pool, sauna, games room, snooker table and cinema room.

A week’s stay from £5,995. uniquehomestays.com

2 PECKFORTON CASTLE

If it snows, this grand dame could pass for a fantastical castle in Narnia before Aslan triumphed. There are enough turrets, nooks and hidden corners for kids to believe they’ve fled to an enchanted pocket of our county, and with a very convincing Father Christmas doing the rounds, glittery trees lighting up the place, and an impeccable Christmas lunch, Peckforton Castle nails feelgood festiveness with a touch of nostalgia.

The two-night Christmas package is £600, based on two in a classic room. peckfortoncastle.co.uk

3 ODDFELLOWS, CHESTER

There’s plenty of seasonal swagger at this hip pile in Chester to keep everyone hunky-dory. Kids can chow down with Santa over a festive afternoon tea, crackling fires and candles are lit for a wintry glow, and diners perch at the bar over hot mulled wine. For that urban fix, you can mooch around the twinkly streets of Chester that always takes Noel very seriously, but when you just want to curl with a hot choc, Oddfellows’ rooms and standalone apartments are made for wallowing, with their snug beds facing standalone baths.