A BASINGSTOKE hotel is marking 200 years since the birth of Emily Brontë with her literary classic Wuthering Heights being given away as part of a new winter leisure break.

Audleys Wood Hotel, part of Hand Picked Hotels, has launched a Novel Winter Escape designed to encourage guests to cherish the classic novels of British literature and spend their quality leisure time curled up with a good book instead of their smartphone.

The country house hotel group has created bespoke copies of the iconic novel from Brontë, born in 1818, for guests to find on their pillow when checking in to Audleys Wood on a Novel Winter Escape.

Julia Hands, chairman and chief executive officer of Hand Picked Hotels said: “As a fan of classic literature, I hope many of our customers will enjoy our new winter break, as we invite them to swap their phones for prose this season in order to properly switch off.

“In celebrating the anniversary of one of Britain’s most prolific writers, we are giving our guests the opportunity to delve into a bygone era, to soak up the atmosphere of a traditional country house where many classic novels are set and enjoy a real escape from it all.”