Buckland Manor Country House Hotel
Buckland
by Sarah Shuckburgh
This must be one of the best country house hotels I've ever
stayed in. The location is picturesque, the rooms are
spacious and comfortable, the food is superb, and the
service is highly efficient but very friendly. The attention
to detail is excellent, and nothing seems too much trouble.
It isn't cheap, and while we were there, some guests arrived
by helicopter for lunch.
Parts of the many-gabled manor date from the 13th century,
like the church which still stands beside it. Other parts
were added in later centuries, but this hotel has no ugly
modern extensions. The fourteen bedrooms all have stone
mullioned windows and views over the garden. Several rooms
have four-poster beds, and some have coal fires, which look
real and feel warm, but are run on gas. Perhaps my only
serious criticism is that guests are allowed to smoke in all
bedrooms, so a sensitive non-smoking nose might detect the
smell of old ashtrays. A more trivial criticism is that the
hotel information in our room was full of spelling and
punctuation mistakes.
Downstairs, huge (real) log fires burn all day in the three
panelled sitting rooms. There are polished parquet floors
with rugs, framed portraits, warm lighting, and plenty of
sofas.
The hotel garden includes a wooded slope with tiny brooks
zigzagging between the trees, rushing noisily over little
waterfalls, and filling small ponds, before flowing through
the rose garden. The garden also has croquet lawn, tennis
court, and an unpretentious outdoor swimming pool, edged
with stone, and with lovely views of the Cotswold hillside
and, on a clear day, the distant Malvern hills.
The hamlet of Buckland has hardly grown since it was
described in the Domesday Book, 1000 years ago. It consists
of a quiet lane of pretty stone cottages and houses,
including one of England's oldest rectories, built in 1483.
The tarmac stops at the head of the combe, just beyond the
hotel, and footpaths continue up the hill, joining the
long-distance Cotswold Way, and other tracks which lead to
Broadway or to unspoilt villages such as Snowshill, Stanton,
Stanway and Laverton. This is a designated Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the hotel is perfectly
placed for exploring on foot. Stratford is a short drive
away, and the hotel provides pre-theatre suppers.
Buckland Manor Country House Hotel
Buckland
Near Broadway
Worcestershire WR12 7LY
First published by Travel Intelligence Ltd
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