For more information and to book please visit www.mrandmrssmith.com or let us arrange your whole trip, by calling +44 (0)20 8987 4312 or from the USA dial 1 866 610 3867.
Cotswold House
- Style
- State-of-the-art comfort zone
- Setting
- Charming Chipping Campden
If you want your country retreat with wide-screen TV and power shower, then Cotswold House hotel is your dream designer pad, in a breathtaking rural setting. It's a family-friendly hotel, too.
Need to know
- Rooms
- 30, including seven suites.
- Rates
- £150–£800, including breakfast.
- Check-out
- Midday.
- Facilities
- Gardens, croquet lawn, DVD/CD library, pillow and bedding menu. In rooms, flatscreen TV and some bathroom TVs, CD/DVD player, bespoke minibar, tea/coffee, free broadband internet access. Suites have bathroom TVs and giant egg-shaped baths.
- Children
- Cotswold House is family-friendly: there is a children’s menu, and cots and high chairs are free to borrow. Foldaway beds can be provided for £35 a night. The spacious Grammar School Suite also has two bedrooms.
- Also
- Dogs can be accommodated; ring ahead for details. Two-night minimum stay at weekends – no Saturday arrivals.
In the know
- Our favourite rooms
- All the Cottage rooms are lovely; ask for one with a four-poster bed or its own fireplace. Hidcote Cottage and Longborough Suite have private gardens with outdoor hot tubs. Rooms in the newer Montrose House wing are all-singing and all-dancing, with in-shower mood lighting and bath tubs built for two: room 11 has a steam bath; the Sezincote suite has a stone bath. The Grammar School Suite is particularly decadent, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchenette; it's ideal for families.
- Packing tips
- Something more comfortable to slip into. A blanket to sit on if you plan to picnic alfresco.
- Also
- You can pre-order supplies for your minibar, specify how you’d like the bed made up (feather pillows, duvets etc), and request which toiletries you’d like supplied in the bathroom.
Food & drink
- Hotel restaurant
- Juliana’s Restaurant serves Modern British and Mediterranean cuisine, with an emphasis on local produce. Hick’s Brasserie is open all day for informal, café-style eating.
- Dress code
- Things are nicely relaxed here, but you may want to snazz up a little for dinner in Juliana’s. No jeans or trainers.
- Top table
- Dine outside, weather permitting; inside, near the French windows.
- Last orders
- Food: 9.30pm in both restaurants. Bar: as late as residents like. Refuel in the morning between 8am and 11.30am.
- Room service
- There’s a full menu until the kitchens close at 9.30pm; the late-night service offers cold snacks.
- Hotel bar
- The Pavilion Bar serves drinks and light meals on the terrace in good summer weather. Juliana’s Bar is open as long as residents are cosied up on its inviting sofas. The Hick’s Brasserie bar makes delicious champagne cocktails – we like the Bellinis.
Smith card offer Choose from afternoon tea for two, or a bottle of champagne
If you're a member of Mr & Mrs Smith, you can get special privileges at every Smith hotel you book through us. Just show your Smith card at check-in to claim the offer featured on every hotel page (like the one above).
Not a member? Join now
Smith concierge
If you’d prefer to talk to someone, or you’re having trouble booking online, ring our travel team on 0845 034 0700 (+44 20 8987 4312 from outside the UK). We guarantee you’ll get the best available rates, and we don’t charge a booking fee.
Local restaurants
A 10-minute drive away in Shipston on Stour, The George (+44 (0)1608 661453) has a relaxed bar with all-day eating options, as well as a dining room with more refined fare on offer. If you crave all-out luxury, hot-foot it to Cheltenham, where, as well as culinary heavyweight Le Champignon Sauvage (+44 (0)1242 573449) and upscale Lumière (+44 (0)1242 222200), there’s The Daffodil (+44 (0)1242 700055), elegantly housed in a converted art deco cinema. Expect a neat line in mouthwatering modern Anglo-Mediterranean dishes.
Local bars
On Church Street in the centre of the village, Eight Bells (+44 (0)1386 840371) is a traditional pub that’s ideal for a Sunday roast after a long walk, or a casual supper. You’ll need to book – but if you’re lucky, you might be able to get an alfresco table on the lovely terrace. Also on the Square, The Kings’ restaurant (+44 (0)1386 840256) oozes country charm and cheer, and has a ‘greatest hits’ menu of British classics with an experimental streak: try steak and kidney sausages with bubble and squeak. The Feathers at Woodstock (+44 (0)1993 812291) is a well-respected inn and restaurant. Montpellier Wine Bar in Cheltenham (+44 (0)1242 527774) has a lively atmosphere.
Worth getting out of bed for
Cotswold House can organise all manner of diverting activities, from quad biking and clay-pigeon shooting to horse riding and trout fishing. Cirencester Park Polo Club – the UK’s oldest – is set in gorgeous grounds and offers day membership to visitors; rock up on a Sunday and enjoy a picnic while you watch a couple of chukkas, followed by a few sundowners at the bar (www.cirencesterpolo.co.uk). Archery, quad-biking, hot-air ballooning and clay-pigeon shooting can be arranged through Rob Ireland (+44 (0)1608 650413). For horse riding, try Jill Gabb (+44 (0)1386 584250), Willersey Stables (+44 (0)1386 858189) or Oaklands Riding School (+44 (0)1926 640053). Coarse fishing at the Lemington Lakes (+44 (0)1608 650872) or trout fishing at Salford Trout Lakes (+44 (0)1608 643209). There are several golf courses nearby, too.
Diary
Beautiful gardens, honey-coloured stone buildings, a sweeping spiral staircase and romantic night views from the French windows – you couldn't ask for a more picturesque setting.
If you book the hotel's 30 rooms you will have exclusive use of the property. Other packages are based on booking 20 rooms; these packages are all-inclusive. The latest parties can sit down for dinner is 6.30pm, and a £2,000 deposit is required on booking. The hotel can help with everything from weddings cars and music to flowers. Alternative services and same-sex commitment ceremonies are also welcomed. A qualified childminder can be on hand to look after little ones throughout the day. Afterwards, couples can retreat to one of the honeymoon-perfect rooms with romantic baths for two, outdoor hot tubs or a steam room.
Cotswold House can create a bespoke event for you, whether it's an intimate gathering of friends or a sit-down dinner for 96.
Recommended rooms
The Grammar School suite has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen. First-floor Griggs and Ashbee cottage rooms in the garden share a landing. Rooms 7, 9 and 10 are located over the restaurant and are therefore within range of most monitors.
Activities
This child-friendly hotel has two acres of garden to play in, and a croquet lawn. There are lots of good walking trails in this area, and visitor attractions nearby include the Cotswold Farm Park, Cotswold Wildlife Park, Birdworld and Bourton Model Village. If your children are a bit older, cycling can be arranged, too. There are several riding schools in the area that can provide lessons, hacks or courses during the school holidays.
Meals
Both of the restaurants welcome children; the less formal Hicks' Brasserie, open from 9am, serves meals all day until 9.30pm. There's a children's menu, and they are happy to provide child-friendly packed lunches, and heat up milk and baby food. During the summer months, meals on an outdoor terrace are great for messy eaters, or for parents to enjoy a drink while children play.
Babysitting
This can be arranged, and costs £12 an hour. Please give as much notice as possible.
Baby-listening
They don't provide a listening service or baby monitors, but rooms 7, 9 and 10 are located over the restaurant and within range of most monitors.
No need to pack
High chairs are available in both restaurants.
