BH Beckford House Reservations
The painted front door of Beckford House at twelve Lansdown Crescent, Bath, in late afternoon light.

No. 12 Lansdown Crescent, Bath. Since the spring of 1857.

A hotel of fourteen rooms in a Grade II listed Georgian crescent above the city.

Beckford House was a private home for a hundred and twenty years before it was anything else. The original family let the upper floors first as lodgings, then as rooms, and by the late nineteen-sixties had quietly turned the whole house over to paying guests. We took it on in 2008. We changed the wallpaper. We did not change the spirit.

There is no conference suite. There is no spa. There is a single long oak table at dinner, sat for at half past seven, and a kitchen garden behind a high stone wall that does most of the work for the kitchen between May and October. The pace is the pace of the house. We will not hurry you, and we will not let anyone hurry you.

The library snug on the ground floor, oxblood velvet wing chair beside a stone fireplace, walls of leather books.

The library, ground floor, by late afternoon.

The rooms. All fourteen.

Numbered by date of last refurbishment. Prices are per room per night, breakfast included, single occupancy welcome at the same rate.

  1. IThe BeckfordTop of the house, two windows on Lansdown, copper tub.£385
  2. IIThe LibraryFirst floor, brass bed, oak writing desk facing the garden.£325
  3. IIIThe CrescentFirst floor front, twin sash windows, original cornice.£325
  4. IVThe Garden RoomGround floor, doors to the walled garden, single bed.£275
  5. VThe GloveSnug top-floor double, sloped ceiling, deep window seat.£245
  6. VIThe Print RoomSecond floor, hand-blocked French papers, freestanding tub.£295
  7. VIIThe WhitcombeSecond floor, walnut wardrobe, view of the kitchen garden.£275
  8. VIIIThe RussetFirst floor back, deep oxblood walls, smaller bath.£245
  9. IXThe Honey RoomTop floor, two velux windows, restful and quiet.£225
  10. XThe PloverSecond floor back, single, painted floorboards.£195
  11. XIThe Linen RoomSmallest of the rooms, single, a bed and a window and not much else.£165
  12. XIIThe CoachDetached, in the old coach house at the bottom of the garden, two bedrooms, kitchen.£625
  13. XIIIThe ApothecaryOriginally the household pharmacy, copper sink retained.£295
  14. XIVThe FollyA single-room garden building at the back of the orchard.£345
Hammered copper bathtub on stone flags, brass taps, lavender on the side.

A bath drawn at noon. The Apothecary, room XIII.

The kitchen.

Dinner is one sitting, half past seven, by reservation. Theo Garnett, who came to us from a year at Bouchon Racine and three at L'Enclume, cooks for everyone. The menu is a single page that changes every Tuesday. There is always something with beef, something without, and something that came out of the garden that morning.

Two AA rosettes. We do not chase a third. We are a small house and the kitchen serves twenty-eight.

Two slices of pink-edged Hereford beef on a stoneware plate with horseradish creme.
Hereford rump, horseradish creme, charred onion. Course four.
A roasted globe artichoke split in half with golden butter pooling in the centre.
Globe artichoke, brown butter, lemon. Course two.
A dark crusted sourdough loaf torn open with cultured butter on the side.
Sourdough, cultured butter, salt. Course one.
A small Georgian bedroom with antique brass bed and morning light through the sash window.

Room V, the Glove. A fig is left on the bedside.

A day at the house.

07:30
Tea is brought up if requested the night before.
08:00
Breakfast laid in the dining room. Eggs to order. Bread baked at five.
10:30
The library is opened to guests. Coffee and the morning paper.
12:30
A short lunch by request. Soup, a tart, cheese.
15:30
Cake in the drawing room, by arrangement. Walks suggested.
18:00
The bar opens. Five aperitifs. No cocktails.
19:30
Dinner, one sitting.
22:30
The bar closes. The library remains open.
An aged brass lion-head door knocker with green patina on a deep teal painted door.

The knocker, in place since 1857. We have never replaced it.

To find us. To book a room.

Address

12 Lansdown Crescent
Bath BA1 5EX

Telephone

01225 800012
Reception, all hours.

Reservations

stays@beckfordhouse.co.uk
We answer within the working day.

By train

Bath Spa, twenty minutes on foot. A taxi at the rank takes five.

By car

Limited residents parking on Lansdown Crescent. Public parking at Charlotte Street, six minutes on foot.

Step-free

The ground floor and the Garden Room are step-free. Lifts are not possible in a listed building. Please ring before booking if access matters.