Tweed Party @ Stoke Place country house hotel

Long gone are the days of tourism when rolling a cheap suitcase into a yellowing room with flowered wallpaper and a smoking desk clerk who grunts out a room number and hands over a key a la Lampoon’s European Vacation. Both hotels owners and their guests have come of age, and this sophistication has hit its highest level at just 30 minutes outside of London in Buckinghamshire: Stoke Place, a boutique style country house retreat for city dwellers and city breakers.

The English countryhouse hotel offers top-quality stylish suites, garden events, and even a Stoke House personal trainer to whip the more active types into shape. In association with The White Blackbird, Stoke Place has started to ‘revive the Country House Party’ and throws creative events such as their first Pyjama Party last May.

This Friday night, January 22, 2010  Stoke Place will convert their glamorous hotel into a night of mystery, mysticism, and some ghoulish magic, with a Murder Mystery Treasure Hunt, a Vintage Secret’s Dress Up and Photo Studio (and styling), Whisky Tasting and Piano Singing, Literary Readings, and a Spooky Haunting re-enactment during their first ever ‘Tweed’ night.

Shuttle buses to and from London on the night make this swinging country house party accessible for even the staunchest of city dwellers and is completely open to the public: Just don your best Tweed and bring your most creative of colleagues for a night unlike anything else in London.

contributing editor – Jessica Ainlay