Hotels for Royal Ascot 2027

Royal Ascot is one of the world's most prestigious horse racing events, held at the racecourse in Windsor. Where you stay affects both your commute on race day and the atmosphere of your visit—from being steps away at the course to basing yourself in London's wider scene.

Royal Ascot began in 1711, when Queen Anne, riding out from Windsor Castle, found a stretch of open heath she judged 'ideal for horses to gallop at full stretch' and had a course laid out on it. The first meeting ran that August for a prize of 100 guineas. The royal procession that now opens each day's racing — carriages carrying the monarch and guests along the straight mile to the Royal Enclosure — came later, introduced by King George IV in 1825, and has been repeated every day of the meeting since.

Three centuries on, the course still carries its royal founder's mark: strict dress codes, the Royal Enclosure and the daily carriage arrival all trace back to the same idea, that racing here should be a social occasion as much as a sporting one.