The couple had estates in both England and France, but their close friendship with the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark) made a country house within easy reach of London and Windsor essential.

The original building would have looked like the core of the present hotel, its Gothic Tudor [clarification needed]mix of styles the height of Victorian fashion.

[4] After the fire, the land reverted to the Elibanks and remained derelict for some years, but towards the end of the century the ruins were rebuilt and Berystede was converted into a hotel.

An entry in Kelly's Directory for 1931 states that the hotel was 'now rebuilt and re-equipped to meet the high standards of modem luxury; two hard and two grass tennis courts, 30 acres (12 ha) of woodland and heated lock-up garages'.

In the early stages of the Second World War, the Berystede accommodated the titled and wealthy who were fleeing the German army's advance across central and eastern Europe.

[5] For the last two and a half years of the war 30 officers of the 8th and 9th United States Air Force, the First Allied Airborne Army and the IX Troop Carrier Command were accommodated in rooms 20–35, as they were stationed at nearby Silwood Park.

[6] Rosalind Renshaw writing in the Reading Evening Post in April 1988 opined that the Berystede was "utterly, quintessentially English" and "perhaps the most prestigious hotel in the Thames Valley".

[4] BBC Radio 2 broadcast a series of half-hourly concerts titled "Tea at the Berystede" as part of its Sunday afternoon Vintage Years programme from 29 October 1995 until 3 December 1995.

The series was presented by Leonard Pearcy and featured the Palm Court Trio led by Martin Loveday, accompanied by a different weekly guest.

Pat Moore writing in InBritain magazine in 2006 describes the hotel as having a "wonderfully opulent, yet friendly atmosphere" and mentions its "sparkly" chandeliers, red tapestry-covered sofas, baronial fireplace and the "wheezily" ticking of a grandfather clock.