How would you feel if you were given the Byron Suite at the Nutfield Priory Hotel and Spa, a Hotel sat in 12 acres of glorious grounds, overlooking the mature beech and ash trees of the extensive Surrey Downs? Would Bryon’s reputation – “mad, bad and dangerous to know” according to former girlfriend Lady Caroline Lamb – trouble you?

Of course, it is a beautiful light-filled suite, spread over three floors soaring upwards into a Neo Gothic Tower, giving breath-taking views over three counties: Surrey, Sussex and Kent. Then there is the indulgent luxury of a vast, sumptuous four poster bed for a deliciously quiet romantic getaway. Nor should one underestimate the serenity of relaxing in a free-standing Victorian-style deep bath, with views to neighbouring woodland, in a bathroom of distinctly aristocratic dimensions.

But named after Lord Byron? A bisexual serial seducer living in an age when homosexuals were hanged. A man so recklessly irresponsible with money that he had to flee England to escape from his debts – and, also, run away from the rumours of an incestuous relationship with his half-sister. A poet who wrote such irreverent poems that readers challenged him to duels. Is this a man to inspire the naming of a suite? Or would you be happier with the Jane Austen Suite?

Byron was the pin-up poster boy of Regency England, a prototype for the 20th century bad boys of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. But in the cause of historical accuracy remember that Byron died from a fever in 1824 – fighting in the War of Independence for Greek freedom from the Turks – nearly a quarter of a century before the foundations of Nutfield Priory were dug. How Byron, on his fevered death bed, would have appreciated the cool air-conditioning of the contemporary Nutfield Priory Hotel and Spa.

Not a single thought for Byron was given as the Neo Gothic Nutfield Priory grew upwards in the 1850s. A building of soaring verticals, Gothic arches and tall windows allowing God’s light to flood in to a heavenly ecclesiastical creation. A grandiose family home that celebrated the spiritual beauty of the Medieval age. Yet, simultaneously, a political statement condemning the immoral inhuman squalor of the infested slums of the Industrial Revolution.

If you are struggling to picture New Gothic then think of Westminster’s Houses of Parliament softened by the rural idyll of the Surrey Downs and gleaming after sensitive, sympathetic restoration from Hand Picked Hotels. Only in the last couple of decades have the feature rooms been linked to great writers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

And what would Lord Bryon make of Nutfield Priory Hotel and Spa today? As the first man to swim the Hellespont, the stretch of water between Asia and Europe, Lord Byron, with a strong claim to being the inventor of open water swimming, would probably have enjoyed the calmer, warmer waters of the the Spa’s indoor pool. For all his heroic qualities Byron suffered from a club foot. A soothing massage at the spa would have soothed his aching muscles.

Way ahead of his times, Byron ran a sophisticated Public Relations machine, carefully managing the images he released. He would have adored the Spa treatments on offer, helping him to work on an appearance that coined the term Byronic: dark, handsome and alluringly remote. Yet, with a waist measuring 54 inches, Byron would have found that the gym offered far more effective methods of weight-loss than playing cricket wearing seven waistcoats and a great coat.

For all the aesthetic beauty of the Cloisters restaurant, overlooking gardens of pink roses and lawns, the menu may not have appealed to Byron’s gargantuan appetites. Reputedly, he frequently breakfasted on two pigeons, three beef steaks, a glass of brandy and some champagne.

Alec Mackins, Executive Chef, has a more refined approach to food in the two AA Rosette restaurant. Byron would probably have raced past the vegetarian options of a Celebration of Heritage Carrots and the perfectly Poached Asparagus, possibly opting for the Chateaubriand or Pigs and Porridge: that’s pork on a bed of thyme and Parmesan porridge. Nor would the famously carnivorous Byron have visited the cold buffet of cereals and fruit before ordering his cooked breakfast. Undoubtedly he would have been impressed by the quality of Mackins’ exquisite menu but may have been less impressed by 21st century portion sizes.

Luxuriate in the Byron Suite and you may well see the world through the Lord’s eyes. Maybe on a return visit you could stay in the room honouring A A Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh, and take a Pooh Bear slant on blackberrying in the woods, savouring Afternoon Tea in the Library and enjoying honey for breakfast.

Alternatively, on a return visit, you could see Nutfield Priory Hotel and Spa through the perspective of Rudyard Kipling, George Orwell, William Wordsmith or any one of the writers honoured. This is a hotel that will draw you back again and again.