Bracknell

Post-war new town rebuilt in 2017 as The Lexicon — corporate hotels, Waitrose, and easy Reading/M4 access.

Bracknell was designated a New Town in 1949 and grew from a village of 5,000 into a corporate satellite of 80,000. The 1960s town centre — never loved — was demolished and rebuilt as The Lexicon shopping district in 2017, and the rebuild is genuinely better than what came before. Wide clean streets, chain restaurants, a Cineworld, a Waitrose. It is not charming, and nobody claims it is. What Bracknell has is jobs — Dell, Fujitsu, Honda UK, 3M all have UK HQs here — and hotels sized to match.

Stay in Bracknell if you're on business at one of the tech HQs, if you want to visit Windsor or Ascot without paying those towns' prices, or if you got priced out of Reading during festival week. Don't stay here for character. What's overrated: 'Bracknell Forest' as a nature destination — there is decent forest at Swinley (Look Out Discovery Centre), but calling the whole borough 'forest' is corporate branding. What's underrated: those Swinley Forest mountain bike trails, which are actually genuinely good — 32 km of way-marked cross-country routes.

By 9pm the Lexicon is quiet — the Cineworld crowd drifts out, the chain restaurants around Charles Square pull down their shutters around 10pm, and the rest of the town centre is dark and empty. This suits business travellers who want an early night before a 7am meeting at Amen Corner or Arlington Square, and it suits absolutely nobody chasing a lively evening. If you want bars and late food, Reading is 17 minutes away by train and stays open considerably later. Bracknell's strength is efficiency, not atmosphere, and the town centre reflects that.

Geographically Bracknell sits almost equidistant between Reading, Windsor and Ascot, which is the main reason to book here at all — you can reach any of the three in under 25 minutes without paying their inflated summer rates. Families heading to Legoland Windsor are usually better off closer to Windsor itself, since there's no direct train and the drive adds up over a week. Racegoers, though, do well here: Ascot Racecourse is a short hop up the A332, and Bracknell hotel rates barely move on race days even when Ascot's own hotels triple.

Where to stay in Bracknell

The best base is around Old Bracknell Lane West, where Village Hotel Bracknell (£75-£115) has a pool, gym and easy access to the A329(M) — it's the corporate default for anyone visiting Dell, Fujitsu or Honda UK. Premier Inn Bracknell Central at The Lexicon (£67-£91) puts you right in the shopping district, an eight-minute walk from the station via Charles Square. Premier Inn Bracknell Twin Bridges (£60-£85), out toward the Bagshot Road roundabout, is cheaper again but a 20-minute walk from anything worth doing — fine with a car, frustrating without one. Expect low-season midweek rates to drop £15-£20 below those figures; Ascot race weeks push everything up. For weekend leisure, base yourself elsewhere; for business, book Village Hotel Bracknell and take the free parking.