A Different Kind of Escape: How Goodwood Is Redefining the Summer Staycation

27th June 2025

Tucked at the edge of the South Downs, just outside Chichester, lies a corner of West Sussex where the pace of life can shift as quickly, or as slowly, as you choose.

Goodwood is best known for its world-famous events: the roar of engines at the Festival of Speed, the elegance of Qatar Goodwood Festival, affectionately known as Glorious Goodwood, the classic glamour of the Revival. But ask those who’ve stayed a little longer, and they’ll tell you something else. Beyond the flags and fanfare, there’s a quieter, richer story to this 11,000-acre estate, one of heritage, freedom and discovery.

This summer, that story takes a new shape.

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Sporting Spirit, Everyday Adventure

For over three centuries, The Goodwood Estate has been a playground for sport and innovation. It still is, but now that spirit has been reimagined for everyday guests staying at Goodwood’s on-site hotel, not just competitors or spectators.

With The Goodwood Hotel as a jumping off point, you can drive the historic Motor Circuit where champions once raced. You can fly in formation over the Sussex countryside, just as WW2 pilots did from the same airfield. You can tee off on two championship golf courses, climb trees in ancient woodland, or test your aim on the clay shooting range, all before lunch.

But the brilliance of Goodwood is that it never insists on speed. If a slower rhythm is what you’re after from a holiday, you’ll find that too: forest bathing in the dappled light, stunning walks throughout the Estate, a long courtyard or terrace lunch made with produce from the Estate’s own organic Home Farm.

Goodwood’s new Leisure Stays have been carefully designed around this very idea: that no two holidays, or holidaymakers, are the same.

Inspired Stays For Everyone

Some guests arrive chasing adrenaline. Others come to pause, breathe and reconnect. Some bring the family, wanting screen-free, quality family-time. Others are here for quiet conversation, great wine and even better art.

The team behind Goodwood’s Leisure Stays recognised that a “standard weekend away” often doesn’t deliver on that mix of possibility. So, they’ve shaped a stay that can flex around how you feel and what you love, curated, not prescribed.

You could be exploring master paintings by Van Dyck and Canaletto in the grand rooms of Goodwood House one day and walking through the contemporary installations of the new Goodwood Art Foundation in the woods the next. You might choose a morning yoga class and an afternoon racing a classic Mini Cooper around the iconic Motor Circuit. Or spend the day with your family cycling the South Downs before sitting down for a seasonal dinner at Farmer, Butcher, Chef, where every ingredient has a story and provenance.

With a stay at The Goodwood Hotel, what you do is entirely up to you. But how you feel by the end? That’s the part that will stay with you.

The Estate and Beyond

Of course, not everything has to happen within the Estate gates. One of Goodwood’s quietest strengths is its location.

Chichester is just a short drive away, home to independent shops, a vibrant theatre scene, Roman ruins and a striking cathedral. Head a little further and you’ll reach West Wittering, with its soft sand, windblown dunes and panoramic sea views. Or let the South Downs pull you into their sweeping trails and chalky climbs.

In that sense, a stay at The Goodwood Hotel feels less like checking into a hotel and more like being handed the keys to West Sussex’s best-kept corners, with someone thoughtful already taking care of the details.

And whether you stay for two nights or ten, what you leave with, more often than not, is not just photos, but stories and memories.

Plan Your Stay at The Goodwood Hotel

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