This Charming Luxury Hotel in The Cotswolds is like Stepping into a Romance Novel

Picturing a quintessential English countryside stay, complete with sheep-dotted rolling hills, stately stone architecture and cozy corners? Look no further than the bucolic Cotswolds estate of Charingworth Manor.

Refurbished in 2024, the 26-room, 54-acre hotel features original Tudor-Jacobean details like wooden beams and mullioned windows but with an updated quiet luxury twist. Independently owned, (unlike many properties in the area which operate under large hotel groups), there’s lots to do onsite with a pool, tennis courts and afternoon tea plus the bragging rights of following in the footsteps of T.S Elliot.

Just outside of Chipping Campden, a market known for its old wool merchant houses, the hotel makes an excellent base for exploring the north of the region. Rent a car and drive, as I did, up the winding driveway past a stone balancing sculpture by leading artist Adrian Gray whose book is neatly placed in each room. Inside, the main reception area is divided into several communal spaces – a mud room for hanging wet coats, a living room where guests gather to chat and further down the hallway, the semi-circular cherry-red bar.

Charingworth was mentioned in the Doomsday book (a survey of land and buildings from the time of William the Conqueror) and my room in the main house features plenty of old-world details. It’s the modern upgrades though, like a brand new mini-fridge, unusual for hotels in the UK (I wish more hotels would have this, like in North America), redone bathroom and a muted palette of furnishings that provides a welcome contrast. While there was no television, personal touches like fresh in-house baked cookies (“biccies”) in the room, a lovely window seat looking onto the beautiful gardens, and the ability to open the windows to hear the sound of the rain at night, make for pleasant immersion rather than constant diversion.

A tour bus of Americans arrives filling up the dining room with chatter. The restaurant serves a range of dinnertime meals from lighter salads and soups to heartier dishes like lamb. The desserts are the real star, though. A Napoleon (mille feuille), a dessert I would not usually order, comes with extra crisp rectangles of golden brown shortcrust, not the usual ethereal puff pastry, sandwiching dollops of chocolate pastry cream, neither too sweet nor too rich. It is drizzled with caramel and served with ice cream. Then there’s the peach frangipane that crumbles at the lightest touch and reminds me of home.  The buffet portion of breakfast is served from the bar with offerings like sourdough bread, large croissants taken to a delightful chestnut brown, cereal, fruit and overnight chia pudding.

Managers have the autonomy to make decisions on the spot, which means requests or inquiries are quickly resolved (when the downstairs printer was not functional, an upstairs office printer was sought).

Although my stay is far too short and it is pouring rain, I quickly sprint through the grounds. Even on a rainy day (this is England after all), you’ll feel like you’re living in a novel come to life.

This original article first appeared in the WINTER 2024/2025 issue of City Style and Living Magazine.

---