Monkey Island Estate
A Thames island at Bray with an eighteenth-century fishing temple on it.
Monkey Island sits in the Thames at Bray in Berkshire, reached by a footbridge, about an hour from London. It is not a remote island and does not claim to be: the river here is busy with boats, Bray is a village with two famous restaurants, and Windsor is minutes away. This register files it under River Islands rather than the main collection for that reason.
The estate holds a Palladian fishing temple and a pavilion built in the 1740s for the Duke of Marlborough, with a painted Monkey Room that gave the island its name, and around thirty rooms across the historic buildings and newer garden accommodation. There is a floating spa on the river. The property was restored and reopened under YTL Hotels.
A painted room from the 1740s. The Monkey Room's murals of monkeys in human dress are a genuine survival, and the reason the estate is listed rather than merely pleasant.
An island for a night, not a week. The proposition is a river island within reach of London, which is a different use from every tropical entry in this register.
Who it is not for
Monkey Island is wrong for guests seeking seclusion — the Thames is busy and the island is small. It is wrong for travellers wanting a resort's range, since thirty rooms and a spa barge is the whole property. And it is wrong for anyone expecting the privacy the word island implies elsewhere in this register. Those wanting a British island with real separation should look at Burgh Island or Eilean Shona.
Sources
- monkeyislandestate.co.uk — Thames island estate, 1740s pavilion and fishing temple, floating spa
- Room count and current ownership unverified. Confirm before publication.
Booking
Private Island Resorts arranges each stay on request, quoting the rates available for the island and dates. No benefit should be assumed unless it is confirmed in writing for the individual reservation.
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