Barnett Hill Hotel was once nothing more than a wooded hilltop, which offered impressive views across the Surrey hills. The stunning location caught the eye of Frank Cook, grandson of renowned travel agent Thomas Cook, who, in 1905, constructed the Queen Anne-style mansion as a family home.

Following his death in 1940, Cook's wife loaned the house to the British Red Cross as a convalescent hospital during WWII, and it became a rehabilitation centre for civilians injured in bombings. Four years later, Mrs Cook sold the house to the Red Cross who turned it into their National Training Centre.

In the 1970s, the British Red Cross opened the house to the public, offering independent training courses and promoting Barnett Hill as a conference venue. In 1996, the house was leased to the Chudley family, the owners of Highgate House, the UU's first conference hotel. They went on to purchase Barnett Hill in 2005 and expanded their offering to include accommodation, dining, weddings and private events.

We bought the property in October 2016 and transformed the hotel's interior, modernising our guest facilities. The Grade II listed hotel still holds many of its original features, including the summer house and tea house.