How we choose and rate castle stays

What we list

We've checked thousands of UK places to stay that use the word 'castle'. Only around one in seven turns out to be a genuine castle stay. We started from thousands of UK places to stay that use 'castle', 'château' or 'castell' in their name or address, and from castles that do not use the word at all.

We take out pubs, flats on a Castle Street, hotels in the Elephant & Castle area of London and anything else where the castle is only in the name. We keep the hotels that are called castles but are not, and label them level 0, because people search for them and deserve a straight answer.

Next to castles we list country houses, towers, follies and forts, and places to stay near famous castles. Each of those groups has its own pages, so a manor is never sold as a castle.

The Castle Authenticity Scale

Every stay gets one level from 0 to 5. The level describes the building's history. It is not a quality score: a level 3 tower can be a better night than a level 5 castle.

1. Level 5True CastleBuilt as a castle, tower house or fortified house, and you sleep inside those historic walls.
2. Level 4Castle-Style MansionBuilt in the 18th or 19th century to look like a castle, often in Scottish Baronial or Gothic Revival style, without a defensive history.
3. Level 3Tower, Fort & FollyA small historic tower house, gatehouse, fort or folly. Often one room per floor.
4. Level 2Castle Estate StayA cottage, lodge or apartment on a castle estate. The castle is your neighbour, not your bedroom.
5. Level 1Historic HouseA manor, hall, abbey or country house. Historic, but not a castle.
6. Level 0Castle in Name OnlyCalled a castle, but not a historic castle building. It may still be a good hotel.

We only give level 4 or 5 when an official heritage record, such as Historic Environment Scotland, Historic England or Cadw, or an equally strong source confirms when and how the building was built. Where we have not yet made that check, the card says the level is pending or provisional.

Sleep inside the walls

The second label answers a different question: where is your bedroom? Yes means every room is in the historic building. Partly means some are, and some are in later wings or annexes. No means the rooms are outside the historic building. If no source tells us, we leave the label off rather than guess.

Where our facts come from

We use official heritage records, the hotels themselves and our own research. For history we use heritage registers first, then the hotel's own history pages, then books and local historical societies. Room details, dog rules and wedding information come from the hotel's own website. Guest ratings come from Booking.com and always show the month we took them.

We do not claim to have stayed anywhere we have not. When an editor has visited a place, the review will say who and when.

How often we check

We re-check each castle review at least once a year and whenever a reader or a hotel tells us something has changed. The date of the last check is on every review.

Corrections

Think a castle is more, or less, real than we say? Send us the source through our contact page. If we change a level, we change it on the page and note the date.

How we make money

We may earn a commission if you book through our links. It never affects our ratings, the level we give or the order of our lists. Details are in our affiliate disclosure.