Danesfield defies the literal translation of its name, “Danish ditches”. The gleaming Neo-Tudor mansion with its crenellated towers and red-brick chimneys stands as tall as the majestic conifers lining the landscaped gardens that stretch to 30m chalk cliffs. It is as aesthetically far removed as the Iron Age encampment, which once occupied the same sacred turf. The hotel straddles the widest stretch of river, between Marlow-on-Thames and Henley, along which some of the most elite boats and most celebrated rowers in England parade every day.I first discovered the romantic allure of Danesfield when staying as a wedding guest of Sol Kerzner, who resided at nearby Ibstone Manor. However, a subsequent celebrity wedding catapulted Danesfield into the hospitality limelight. The first of several international nuptial celebrations of actor George Clooney and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin was held in the tapestry-adorned Great Hall and on the surrounding lawns, affording maximum privacy, during an English summer.The social stamp of approval aside, the real reason one should visit the historic haven is that it was the headquarters for aerial photography and reconnaissance during World War 2. Working symbiotically with the code crackers of Bletchley Park, the astute Danesfield analysts, most of whom were women, changed the course of history, if not the war. As you meander down the spacious passages, festooned with oil paintings and prints of rural and river scenes, you will see a display cabinet of original photographs that capture Danesfield and its charismatic and clever reconnoitring occupants, including designer Cecil Beaton and Winston Churchill’s daughter, Sarah, during this critical juncture of the war.The collection acts as the best amuse-bouche you could wish for before tucking into chef Matthew Edmonds’ delectable menu.If you are not a history buff and care not a jot about how aerial intelligence contributed to winning the war to end all wars, or about the hotel’s unusual architecture, rebuilt in 1901 for a wealthy Victorian soap magnate, you can immerse yourself in the award-winning Spa Illuminata. What sets this spa apart from the multitude of others in Buckinghamshire is its ability to bring the outside in. The large and inviting swimming pool has surround-glass windows overlooking an apple orchard, with the Japanese Gardens visible in the distance.On a warm summer day, you can walk straight out of the pool and sit on The Orangery deck or on a lounger on the lawn, sipping local wines and tucking into a crunchy salad. The pool perimeter is decorated in a Tuscan trompe l’oeil, in tribute to the Neolithic Roman encampment, lulling you into believing you are ensconced in a Florentine field, complete with olive trees and the aroma of baking ciabattas. But to wallow and wade indoors when you are within a stone’s throw of the banks of a real river and some of the prettiest river walks in England is sacrilegious. Danesfield enjoys the ultimate river location and is strategically situated for Britain’s most prestigious summer events — the Henley Regatta, the Henley Music and Art Festival, Ascot and Wimbledon. In between frivolously fraternising at all of the above, it is mandatory to forsake your top hat and champagne flutes, don your walking shoes and camera, and embrace the 13km walk along the idyllic riverbanks, linking the stylish Georgian town of Marlow to Henley-on-Thames. The pool perimeter is decorated in a Tuscan trompe l’oeil, in tribute to the Neolithic Roman encampment, lulling you into believing you are ensconced in a Florentine field, complete with olive trees and the aroma of baking ciabattas. This is a poet’s paradise and an easy-level path, too. Starting adjacent to the 19th-century suspension bridge, you pass the bronze statue of Steve Redgrave wielding his oars and launch forth underneath shady willows, through grazed meadows, with swans drifting lazily upstream, sheep grazing nonchalantly and red kites swooping like reconnoitering hurricanes from nearby RAF Medmenham. About 5km downstream you reach the Hambleden Lock and mill, and inland from here lies the famous village of Hambledon, with its brick-and-flint cottages and pretty church steeple, the location for a slew of quintessentially British films and TV series, including Midsomer Murders and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.Back on the riverbanks, you bypass the iconic Temple Island Meadow, somewhere in the vicinity of the Clooney’s riverside mansion, before descending down to Henley’s River bridge and the picturesque gardens of Phyllis Court Club, where the boat races finish. And there is no better venue to return to, having worked up a copious thirst, than the terraces of the Danesfield Bar, with its view of the Thames and a Volcán Blanco Negroni with a coffee kick.They call British tennis No 1 Emma Raducanu the Queen of Queens, referring to her short-lived surge to the finals of the recent Queen’s Club Championships, but the most authentic pseudonym belongs to Danesfield’s — the Queen of the Thames.Business Day