Cotswold House Hotel — Review

We were invited as guests of the hotel for the purpose of this review

 

The Cotswold House Hotel and Spa is one of those hidden gem hotels.  You know the ones.  The ones you want to talk about but at the same time you don’t want too many people to know about it because you want to keep it a secret.

 

It also has one of the most beautiful walks from a hotel car park I have ever encountered, through a properly beautiful English country garden that perfectly epitomises this part of the world: Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds.   The main entrance to Cotswold House is on the town’s main square, but the entrance to the car park is on Back Ends, a pretty little country lane to the rear of the property.   So make sure you put that in your sat nav so it takes you straight there.

The car park is also where you will find the hotel’s spa.  A beautiful oasis of calm with seven treatment rooms, a steam room, a hydrotherapy pool and a relaxation room.   The latter so well known locally that even the local cat, Billy, who lives up the road spends his days there rather than at home.  There is a comprehensive treatment list with everything from facials to massages but it is strongly advised that you book in advance as last minute availability is scarce.   You can though use all the facilities from 1pm on day of check in to 1pm on day of check out so we made sure we made the most of it after breakfast on Sunday morning.  A lovely relaxing way to spend a morning.

The hotel has a wide variety of room types, ranging from classic to superior king rooms, cottage rooms to junior suites all of which overlook either the garden at the rear of the property, or the pretty high street.   There is even a hot tub cottage and a hot tub suite if you want something really special.   All rooms come with free wifi, tea and coffee facilities, en suite facilities, air conditioning and turn down service (which you can decline if you put your do not disturb sign on the door).

Our room had a bath tub that was so big I don’t think Mr B would have minded if I had reenacted my Mrs Starfish on the bed trick that I did on our first weekend away together (he ended up having to sleep in the bath because I fell asleep face down like a starfish and I took up the WHOLE bed)

Our room had its own access to the garden, the perfect shady spot to get out of the sun on Saturday afternoon and allowed us to wander across the lawns, catch a guitarist warming up and see a family making use of the giant Connect 4.   Honestly, I could have moved in.

 

 

The whole hotel has been recently refurbished so it all feels fresh and airy, and the staff were all friendly with ready smiles.  Originally four separate houses which have been acquired over the years it has a quaint ‘ooh what is down there’ feel to it with lots of doors and corridors.  We loved it.   This does mean it might not be quite so wheelchair friendly, however.

There are two restaurants to choose from, Fig which is their fine dining restaurant or the Bistro which offers a more laid back and relaxed menu.   There is also a gin garden with a huge gin collection, including one named after the Fig restaurant which I just had to buy for my own collection.

We booked into the Bistro and despite our reservation being for 7.30pm they were more than happy for us to sit down at 6.30 so we could eat and then get back to our room to watch the Champion’s League final on YouTube catch the setting sun in the garden.   It’s a small menu (much to my delight as sometimes I think restaurants can try and do EVERYTHING which means they do none of it very well), with a good selection to choose from (Mr B had hake and I had a steak).   Everything we tried was delicious, and it was also nice to see a good selection of wines by the glass too.

Breakfast is served from 7.30 to 10am in Fig and offers a full English, or a vegetarian option, eggs Benedict or porridge and a fine selection of fruits, cereals and pastries with a limitless supply of tea and coffee.   Heaven.

We loved our weekend at Cotswold House Hotel, it was good to be a tourist just a few hours away from home, we vowed to do it more often.  Probably right back here!

 

We were guests of the hotel, all images and thoughts are our own. 

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