The Cotswolds have conquered cosy, but now their better hotels are proving that a glorious view need not be the most interesting thing on the plate. Across three hotels, from Tetbury through Painswick to Castle Combe, kitchens of ambition, South American livestock in the wedding industry, and country-house hospitality that occasionally exceeds its own publicity are on display.
Calcot & Spa: Comfort taken to new heights
Founded as a hotel in 1984, Calcot & Spa was once a considerably more formal proposition. Richard Ball helped loosen the starch, recognising that welcoming children need not entail abandoning civilisation. The transformation has arguably made the property more interesting.
The treehouse, called Skylark, is a remarkably well-appointed timber residence which happens to be elevated. Designed and built by Blue Forest, the two new Treehouses occupy part of Calcot's 220-acre estate near Tetbury. Ours contains two bedrooms, a kitchen, extraordinarily soft bedding, and a complimentary pantry stocked with soft drinks. A private sauna occupies the terrace, from which blue tits can be observed at close quarters. The children's bedroom contains a handsome Hans Christian Andersen anthology, and a Tolkien quotation - 'not all those who wander are lost' - lends the bathroom further literary authority. Breakfast can arrive in a hamper, with the possibility of caviar and a half-bottle of Taittinger.
Cooking with ambition at Calcot
Children are everywhere, although the atmosphere is remarkably composed. In the Brasserie, younger diners confidently order Rainforest mocktails. The cooking is considerably better than it needs to be. Gloucestershire-born executive chef John Jewell began his career at Calcot in 2005 before working at Gordon Ramsay's Maze and at several ambitious Cotswolds kitchens, including Barnsley House and The Village Pub, now part of The Pig collection. His return in 2024 has brought admirable seriousness to a restaurant which could probably survive on location alone.
A substantial scallop is magnificent. Pigeon Wellington arrives with foie gras and the bird's legs alongside, a level of generosity recalling the Savoy Grill rather than the average country-house brasserie. Seasoning is unusually restrained, to the dishes' advantage. Even the cauliflower cheese retains a proper al dente bite. Nearby, Cirencester's Corinium Museum supplies a different perspective on civilisation. Alongside a Roman eyebrow comb of suspiciously generous proportions is evidence of what ancient teachers could earn. Rhetoric commanded five times the rate for gymnastics.
The Painswick: Alpacas and hidden ambition
Painswick grew wealthy on wool, a prosperity still evident in its handsome stone buildings. The hotel, part of the same Calcot Collection, occupies a Palladian house which became the village vicarage in 1897. Reverend William Henry Seddon employed architect Detmar Blow to enlarge it. His wife, Isobel, was the daughter of a proprietor of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, whose fortune reportedly helped finance the improvements. Today, the hotel's restaurant is called SAUCE.
George's Suite, named after the hotel's fictional sheep mascot, has a sitting room with wood burner and a stone balcony overlooking the garden and rolling hills beyond. Before dinner, we walk downhill to meet the residents of Tibbiwell Alpacas. Their owners, Sean and Sandie Randle, have assembled an engaging cast including Pan, Apollo, Pablo, Tegan, and the magnificently named herd leader, Dumbledore. Two miniature Shetland ponies, Mr Bojangles and Elsa, complete the company. Originally from the South American Andes, alpacas make wonderfully improbable additions to the Gloucestershire landscape. They are also occasionally enlisted for weddings.
SAUCE: Technique behind a simple menu
Back at the hotel, SAUCE is overseen by Kian Puerta-Terron, a young chef whose straightforward-looking menu conceals an unexpectedly elaborate culinary education. His grandparents still run a pub in Bude, Cornwall, where he began washing pots aged eight. His subsequent career has taken him through three Michelin-starred kitchens: Cheltenham's Lumière, Paul Ainsworth at No.6 in Padstow, and Bristol's Bulrush. The latter proved particularly influential, its combination of foraging, Japanese techniques and classical foundations encouraging him to look beyond conventional British combinations.
Chicken and mushroom-stuffed padrón peppers, accompanied by quince and port ketchup, sound relatively straightforward. Inside, however, is a chicken mousse enriched with roasted mushrooms and black garlic. West End Farm pork loin and glazed cheek with ancho chilli mole and Swiss chard involve still greater complexity. The pork is brushed with koji and smoked over the barbecue, while the mole incorporates seeds, dried fruit and tamarind. Fresh and fermented kumquats provide acidity against the richness. 'There's lots going on in the background,' Kian explains. He prefers to let technique elevate the dish rather than advertise every intervention. Certain established favourites, including twice-baked soufflé and beef Wellington, remain for regulars.
The Manor House: Beyond Castle Combe's perfection
Castle Combe looks as though it was designed by somebody who considered the rest of England insufficiently picturesque. Tourists swarm through the village beyond The Manor House's gates in such numbers that, viewed from a distance, they resemble ants crawling over a sugar lump. The Manor House belongs to Exclusive Collection, founded in 1981 by Giuseppe Pecorelli, an Italian hotelier who rose to managing director of both Trust House Forte and Ciga Hotels before establishing his own empire. His collection now includes Pennyhill Park, South Lodge, Lainston House, Royal Berkshire, Fanhams Hall and Ansty Hall, alongside The Manor House.
The principal building occupies 365 acres of parkland, formal gardens, woodland and cottages converted into accommodation. The grounds include Italian gardens, walks beside the Bybrook, beehives, an orchard, and productive kitchen gardens. Further afield lies an 18-hole, par-72 championship golf course designed by Peter Alliss and Clive Clark. A short walk into the village leads to The Castle Inn, a substantial establishment with 12 bedrooms above. Its focused menu includes an exuberant Ploughman's, incorporating a pork, stuffing and Stornoway black pudding sausage roll, Bath Soft Cheese, piccalilli and something wonderfully named Hogs Inn Duvets.
Bybrook: Michelin-starred cooking
The estate's principal gastronomic attraction is Bybrook, the Michelin-starred restaurant overseen by Robert Potter. Its dining room, redesigned by Trevillion Interiors, negotiates between country-house heritage and contemporary elegance. Potter arrived in 2016 following appointments at Lucknam Park and The Royal Oak Paley Street. His signature Chalk Stream trout with Porthilly oyster and English wasabi, enclosed in squid-ink shell, is more concerned with flavour than aggressive heat. Bread deserves its own paragraph. A towering brioche is gloriously flaky and comforting, while a glossy, pillowy roll made with Ramsbury beer arrives with Ampersand butter.
Devon crab with XO, finger lime and warm bisque offers greater intricacy. Wild fallow deer follows, pink and faintly smoky, accompanied by Delica pumpkin, chanterelles, and Wiltshire truffle. Pastry chef Luke Woodward proves every bit as accomplished as his savoury colleagues. Dessert brings superb fig-leaf ice cream together with blackberry, sheep's milk and almond, supported by salted caramel. Petit fours include excellent canelé, baked in copper moulds, and a sharply refreshing clementine pâte de fruits. At the end of dinner, we are presented with chocolates in a box addressed to us by name. Breakfast is the best of our trip: poached egg, smoked haddock and spinach, the fish contributing gentle smokiness to a combination requiring neither embellishment nor reinvention.
The achievement of these hotels is not simply that they offer three different interpretations of comfort. At Calcot, genuine gastronomic skill coexists with an understanding of families. The Painswick brings technical sophistication to the more intimate, informal atmosphere of a townhouse hotel, without frightening away the neighbours. The Manor House combines a remarkable physical inheritance with cooking which makes the journey worthwhile even for those unmoved by honey-coloured stone. All three understand that hospitality requires more than architectural preservation, thread counts, and an enthusiastic application of cushions.
