Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Deals in East Midlands

East Midlands: a country-house occasion, a spa escape or a dinner worth staying for?

The East Midlands offers several quite different gourmet weekends. Around Baslow and Rowsley, the appeal is a Derbyshire walk or a visit to Chatsworth followed by dinner in a small country hotel. In Rutland, choose between Hambleton Hall's restaurant-led luxury, a market-town stay in Uppingham and a spa afternoon near Rutland Water. Nottingham gives you a city alternative, with the theatre, shops and a good dinner close to your room.

The best choice depends on how you want to spend the hours before dinner. A tasting-menu restaurant with a handful of bedrooms is a different proposition from a large house with pools and treatments. Below, we compare the hotels by those differences, with practical details about menus, dogs and restaurant opening days that can change which stay works for you.

Where would we start?

• Best for a Michelin food occasion: Hambleton Hall, for Aaron Patterson's cooking and a country-house setting above Rutland Water.
• Best for a luxury hotel celebration: Hambleton Hall again, with AA Red Stars and two Michelin Keys. Compare Fawsley if you want a spa as part of the stay.
• Best for a romantic countryside escape: Wildhive Callow Hall, especially if woodland accommodation appeals. Choose the room separately from the guide price.
• Best for an indulgent spa break: Fawsley Hall, combining a Tudor country house, indoor pool and outdoor hydrotherapy with dinner at Cedar.
• Best for a spa at a lower guide price: The Barnsdale. Its quoted dinner is at The Wheatsheaf in Greetham, so plan the journey or price an on-site alternative.
• Best for dogs and a relaxed dinner: Peak Edge, with designated dog-friendly bedrooms and dogs welcome in Red Lion's bar areas.
• Best value for awarded midweek dining: Peak Edge for its Monday–Thursday three-course menu; compare Hammer & Pincers for a more ambitious restaurant-led evening.
• Best for a small tasting-menu stay: Hammer & Pincers in Wymeswold, with three AA Rosettes and just two boutique bedrooms.
• Best for a Nottingham city break: Hart's Hotel, with two-AA-Rosette Hart's Kitchen in the hotel.
• Lowest guide prices: The Admiral Rodney in Horncastle and Deincourt Hotel in Newark, both £200 midweek for two, with estimated dinner components.

The hotels and restaurants worth comparing

Hambleton Hall: our first choice for a luxury food occasion

Hambleton Hall brings together a Michelin-starred restaurant, four AA Rosettes, AA Red Stars and two Michelin Keys. The attraction is the whole stay: a traditionally furnished country house on the Hambleton peninsula, views over Rutland Water and an evening shaped by Aaron Patterson's seasonal, classically grounded cooking.

Its current tasting-menu comparison is £815 midweek and £850 at the weekend for two. This is our celebration pick rather than our value recommendation. Compare Fischer's for a smaller Derbyshire restaurant-led stay at a lower guide total, or Fawsley if you want substantial spa facilities alongside dinner.

The dining room calls for smart dress, with no sportswear or shorts. Let the hotel know about dietary requirements when reserving. Its outdoor swimming pool is seasonal and closes in winter, so choose Barnsdale or Fawsley if a swim is essential to your plans. Dogs are welcome under the hotel's own guidelines, but arrange their accommodation and your dinner plans together.

Fischer's Baslow Hall: an intimate stay centred on the kitchen

Fischer's Baslow Hall is our Derbyshire shortlist choice when dinner is the reason for the trip. The eleven-bedroom country house has three AA Rosettes, with John Shuttleworth leading the kitchen. The restaurant and gardens make it a different kind of escape from a larger hotel with leisure facilities.

The full tasting-menu pairing currently shows £545 midweek and £585 at the weekend. The room figure is estimated, so check an actual room-and-dinner offer before deciding how it compares with Hambleton. For something more immersive, ask about the Kitchen Bench, where you can watch the cooking; that experience needs its own reservation.

Fischer's currently serves dinner seven days a week, with the Kitchen Bench starting at 6.45pm. That makes it a useful alternative when another restaurant's closing days do not fit your trip. Dogs are not accepted in the hotel bedrooms or restaurant; the terrace's lunch welcome does not make this a dog-friendly overnight choice.

The Peacock at Rowsley: serious dining at a gentler guide total

The Peacock at Rowsley is worth comparing with Fischer's if you want a heritage hotel and a substantial restaurant evening without the same guide-price commitment. Its three-AA-Rosette restaurant uses Derbyshire produce, with à la carte dining and a rotating eight-course Saturday tasting menu.

The catalogue tasting-menu pairing is £345 midweek and £425 at the weekend. The dinner format matters here: the advertised eight-course experience is a Saturday offering, so a midweek stay needs a comparison against the menu actually served that evening. We would shortlist it for a weekend built around the tasting menu, then check its own room-and-dining offers.

Selected bedrooms accept dogs, with an extra nightly charge. Dogs cannot join you in the dining rooms, although the hotel will try to arrange dining in another area. Discuss that before booking a restaurant-led stay. Peak Edge is the easier starting point when a relaxed bar-area meal with your dog suits you.

Peak Edge: our awarded-dining value pick, especially midweek

Peak Edge Hotel pairs comfortable accommodation at Stone Edge, near Chesterfield, with the two-AA-Rosette Red Lion at the same property. The atmosphere is relaxed, and the kitchen's connection with Walton Lodge Farm gives the menu a strong local focus. It makes sense for a countryside day followed by dinner without a taxi journey.

The £207 midweek guide total uses the Red Lion's £36 three-course table d'hôte menu. Its published sample includes chicken, pork and tarragon terrine, seabass and sticky toffee pudding: an indication of the cooking rather than a promise of the dishes on your dates. Crucially, this fixed-price menu is available Monday–Thursday. The displayed weekend room-and-dinner total should be repriced with the applicable weekend menu.

For dog owners, designated bedrooms can be booked in advance and dogs are welcome in bar areas. Agree the dining location when reserving; that welcome does not extend automatically to every restaurant table. Compare it with the Peacock for a more elaborate food occasion, and Callow Hall if the accommodation setting matters more than the lowest price.

Hammer & Pincers: a small stay with an ambitious restaurant

Hammer & Pincers in Wymeswold is a restaurant with two boutique bedrooms. Its three AA Rosettes make it a compelling comparison for travellers who want the meal to do most of the work, with less emphasis on extensive hotel facilities.

The guide totals are £280 midweek and £350 at the weekend. The £85-per-person dinner component is modelled, so check the tasting menu you intend to book rather than treating the guide total as a confirmed offer. Michelin's description highlights creative seasonal cooking and, when served, beef Wellington carved at the table. A Michelin Guide listing is distinct from a Michelin star.

With so few bedrooms, reserve the table and room together. The restaurant's booking policy says it cannot cater for a vegan diet on its seven-course menus; discuss your requirements before committing. For a larger country house and gardens, compare Fischer's. For a city itinerary, Hart's is the more useful base.

Wildhive Callow Hall: our romantic woodland choice

Callow Hall near Ashbourne suits couples who want a relaxed house, countryside views and time outdoors. Bedrooms in the main house sit alongside woodland Hives and Treehouses, so the accommodation choice can be as important as dinner. We would start here for a romantic escape with a less formal atmosphere than Hambleton.

The Garden Room serves seasonal British produce with wider influences; sample dishes include ale-cured seabass and tandoori Derbyshire lamb skewers. Dinner currently runs from 6pm to 8.45pm. The guide total is £314 midweek or £379 at the weekend, based on a representative two-course dinner. Add a third course if that is the evening you want, and obtain a separate price for your chosen Hive, Treehouse or higher room category.

Selected accommodation welcomes dogs, including the Hives and Treehouses, but dogs cannot enter the Garden Room restaurant. Arrange an alternative dining plan. Choose Fawsley for an indoor-pool spa break; choose Callow Hall for the woodland accommodation and an easy-going countryside stay.

Fawsley Hall: our luxury spa choice with a restaurant worth planning for

Fawsley Hall near Daventry offers a historic house and a substantial spa: a 17-metre indoor pool, an open-air hydrotherapy pool and heat experiences. It is where we would start if you want to spend an afternoon at the hotel before settling into a special dinner.

The three-AA-Rosette Cedar Restaurant is led by Joe Gould and centres on a seven-course menu in a Tudor dining room. It currently serves dinner Wednesday–Sunday, 6pm–8pm. Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free adaptations are offered with advance notice, so discuss them at booking.

The guide comparison is £430 midweek and £420 at the weekend. Its dinner allowance is estimated and does not establish the current price of Cedar's seven-course menu. Check the restaurant cost and spa access attached to your chosen rate. Compared with Hambleton, we would choose Fawsley for spa time; compared with Barnsdale, it offers the grander house and a different pool-and-thermal experience.

The Barnsdale: the lower-budget spa comparison with dinner off site

The Barnsdale near Rutland Water gives the spa shortlist a much lower starting total: £205 midweek or £220 at the weekend. Signet Spa has an outdoor heated pool, wood-fired hot tubs and a sauna pod. It is a different experience from Fawsley's indoor pool and hydrotherapy facilities, and one where the weather will form part of your stay.

The quoted dinner is at The Wheatsheaf in Greetham, 2.8 miles away in the catalogue, rather than at Barnsdale's own 1760 Brasserie. Book the restaurant separately and arrange transport. If staying within the hotel is the point of your spa break, obtain an on-site dinner price and compare that total.

The hotel promotes spa access as a direct-booking benefit, so confirm it with the particular room rate you select. Published spa hours are currently 8am–6pm. We would choose Barnsdale for a lower-cost Rutland base with outdoor spa facilities, rather than assume its guide total buys the same evening as Fawsley's Cedar pairing.

Hart's: our Nottingham city choice

Hart's Hotel is a 32-bedroom hotel on Standard Hill, with the city close by and two-AA-Rosette Hart's Kitchen in the property. It is our starting point for a Nottingham break where you want a theatre or shopping itinerary and a good dinner without leaving the hotel.

The guide totals are £273 midweek and £268 at the weekend, using a calculated three-course à la carte dinner. Weekend is currently the lower comparison, so check both dates rather than assume midweek will always be cheaper. The kitchen serves seasonal British food, with bread from Hambleton Bakery, and publishes evening service every day.

Choose it over Hammer & Pincers for a city stay and a broader hotel base; choose the latter for an evening centred on its tasting menu. Parking at Hart's is limited, so check arrangements if you plan to arrive by car.

The Lake Isle: a market-town alternative to Hambleton

The Lake Isle offers a smaller restaurant-with-rooms stay on Uppingham's High Street. Its two-AA-Rosette restaurant and wine emphasis make it worth comparing if you want a leisurely dinner and a market-town base at a much lower guide price than Hambleton Hall.

The current comparison is £295 for two on both midweek and weekend dates. This is a town property, around six miles from Rutland Water, rather than a lakeside hotel. Its à la carte sample includes Uppingham raspberries with honey parfait and madeleines, a useful glimpse of the menu's seasonal character.

Dinner is served Tuesday–Saturday, 6.30pm–8.45pm; the restaurant normally closes on Mondays and Sunday evenings. Dogs are accepted in courtyard bedrooms, but establish the dining arrangements separately. Choose it for a small food-led town stay; choose Barnsdale for spa facilities or Hambleton for a luxury occasion.

The Cavendish: compare the restaurant as well as the hotel

The Cavendish Hotel in Baslow offers an AA Red Star hotel setting on the Chatsworth Estate. It is worth comparing with Fischer's when the house, countryside and access to the estate are as important as dinner.

The two dining choices change the cost materially: the relaxed Garden Room pairing is £400 midweek and £570 at the weekend, while the three-AA-Rosette Gallery Restaurant comparison is £490 and £660. Both dinner allowances are modelled. The Gallery's restaurant awards should not be used to describe the cheaper Garden Room meal. Choose the dining experience first, then compare the room-and-dinner total with Fischer's or the Peacock.

Which offers the best value?

For awarded cooking on a modest midweek budget, Peak Edge is the most persuasive starting point, provided you can use its Monday–Thursday menu. Hammer & Pincers deserves a place on the shortlist when you want a more ambitious meal, though its dinner allowance needs checking. Hart's offers a similar guide-price band with a city itinerary, and the Lake Isle suits a small market-town stay.

For spa time, Barnsdale has the lower guide price, but its dinner is off site and access depends on your booking terms. Fawsley costs more and offers indoor swimming, hydrotherapy and Cedar's restaurant experience. Callow Hall sits between them on guide price, with the attraction of woodland accommodation; its two-course meal basis needs allowing for in comparisons.

At the lowest end, Deincourt Hotel and The Admiral Rodney both start at £200 midweek. Choose Newark for a Nottinghamshire market-town base or Horncastle for the Lincolnshire Wolds. These estimated dinner comparisons offer a different sort of stay from the restaurant-led country houses.

A guide to the total cost for two

Make the restaurant schedule part of your plans

For a short break, reserve the meal before fixing the overnight date. Lake Isle's Sunday closure, Cedar's Wednesday–Sunday schedule and Peak Edge's weekday fixed-price menu all change which comparison works. A hotel may be open when its particular restaurant or menu is unavailable.

Allow time for the setting you are paying for. In Derbyshire, a walk or an estate visit pairs naturally with a country hotel; in Rutland, decide whether the water, a town or the spa will shape your day. Nottingham works better when you want city activities close together. For a dog-friendly stay, confirm the bedroom and dinner location together, particularly at Callow Hall and the Peacock.

Are these inclusive dinner, bed and breakfast offers?

The totals combine one night for two adults, breakfast and the recorded dinner component. Some use a restaurant menu, others an estimated allowance, and the meal may be two courses, three courses or a tasting menu. Hotel and restaurant reservations can be separate; Barnsdale's Wheatsheaf meal also requires a journey. Treat the figures as indicative comparisons, then check the specific room, menu and booking terms. The hotels' own inclusive offers may provide a different basis.

Explore a more focused destination

For Derbyshire hotels and walking bases, use our Peak District guide. For a city itinerary, compare our Nottingham guide. Outside the region, Cambridge offers a different city break, while the Lake District brings lake views and another strong selection of restaurant-led country hotels.

Browse all dinner, bed and breakfast deals and use the destination, price and map controls above to narrow the choice.