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.
Lower Slaughter Manor 
- Style
- Refined country seat
- Setting
- Gloucestershire’s prettiest village
This stately Cotswolds country manor knocks the stuffing out of traditional rural retreats, with all the boutique-hotel trimmings you'd expect of a designer pad in town. Get your fresh air, fine dining and fabulously romantic weekend away all in one fell swoop…
Need to know
- Rooms
- 19, including nine suites.
- Rates
- £295–£825, including full English breakfast and VAT.
- Check-out
- 11am, but flexible subject to availability. Check-in, 2pm.
- Facilities
- Five acres of landscaped gardens, croquet lawn, tennis court, DVD library. In rooms, Vi-Spring mattresses, TV, CD/DVD player, iPod dock, free WiFi, bottled water and sherry, fresh fruit, L’Occitane toiletries.
- Children
- Lower Slaughter Manor is a good choice for getaways en famille, particularly if your children are young. Three sets of rooms can be connected for families. Cots (free) and extra beds (£45 a night) can be provided.
- Also
- Two-night minimum stay at weekends.
In the know
- Our favourite rooms
- For an extravagant weekend of romance, book one of the ground-floor Garden rooms in the Coach House: Valentine Strong is a decadent suite with a bathroom featuring twin roll-top baths that gives onto a private garden with a hot tub; Magnolia is a huge double with a freestanding bath and private garden. Deluxe and Master rooms on the second floor of the main house have wonderful views of the village; Mrs Smiths will love Longborough – it has a freestanding roll-top bath and a separate dressing room.
- Packing tips
- Slippers, robes and luxury toiletries are all provided. Bring your bathers if you fancy a dip in the hot tub, and activity-proof clothes if you want to try quad-biking, rock-climbing or any of the other more mud-prone outdoors options.
- Also
- Book in-room beauty treatments, or get the hotel to arrange boredom-busting activities: they can sort out anything from archery and rock-climbing to murder-mystery evenings, blind 4x4 driving, and duck herding. Yes, you did read that correctly.
Food & drink
- Hotel restaurant
- Silk-lined, crystal-spangled Lower Slaughter Restaurant offers French fine dining with a British twist, courtesy of chef David Kelman. His desserts can break even the most die-hard dieter’s resolve; don't deny yourself a Valrhona chocolate soufflé.
- Dress code
- It’s not stuffy here, but pack your smartest casuals.
- Top table
- An intimate table for two overlooking the gardens.
- Last orders
- 9pm in the restaurant.
- Room service
- Gourmet comfort food (slow-roasted duck with herb mash; fillet burgers and frites) can be delivered until 10pm.
- Hotel bar
- There’s no bar, but waiters will bring you whatever you desire. The drinks menu will melt whisky-lovers’ hearts, and the restaurant's sommelier has amassed an impressive cellar of vintage champagnes and prestige wines.
Smith card offer A bottle of champagne in your room on arrival, and late check-out (subject to availability)
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).
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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
Set in a honey-coloured rectory in Upper Slaughter, the whisper-quiet, romantic restaurant at Lords of the Manor is known for its on-trend British cuisine (+44 (0)1451 820243). At the Royalist hotel in Stow-on-the-Wold, 947AD (+44 (0)1451 830670) has a menu that reads like a mediaeval banquet of meat, fish and game, including ox cheeks, mackerel and guinea fowl. Next door, its gastropub Eagle and Child (+44 (0)1451 830670) is a popular lunchtime stop-off, serving British favourites cooked with flair – we love the steak, kidney and thyme suet pudding. Booking is advisable at both on busy weekends. In Chipping Campden, have a pre-dinner champagne cocktail at the bar in Hick’s Brasserie at Cotswold House hotel, before moving into Juliana’s Restaurant to enjoy its excellent Modern British and Mediterranean menu (+44 (0)1386 840330).
Worth getting out of bed for
The Georgian charms of Cheltenham are a few pleasant miles’ drive away. Have a nose around town, or attend an event at one of the festivals (www.cheltenhamfestivals.co.uk). Horseracing fans will know that the famous Cheltenham Gold Cup is held at the nearby racecourse (www.cheltenham.co.uk), but there are plenty of other race meetings throughout the season. You're also close to Batsford Arboretum and delightful Cotwolds towns including antiques-shop heaven Stow-on-the-Wold and Bourton-on-the-Water. Give something back to the community and take part in dry-stone wall reparations or tree-planting projects organised by local groups (www.gvcv.org.uk).
Diary
March The Cheltenham Festival horse-racing fixture culminates in the famous Gold Cup (www.cheltenham.co.uk). May Cheltenham Jazz Festival (www.cheltenhamfestivals.com) brings in big musical names for goateed men to nod along to. September Find a tuffet to sit on and enjoy the curds and whey at Cheltenham’s Great British Cheese Festival and British Cheese Awards (+44 (0)845 241 2026). Tastings, workshops and cheese tossing!
Weddings here are showstoppers. It's all in the mix: an idyllic setting and a tailormade approach. If you want to arrive in a Rolls Royce, be accompanied by a flock of white geese or leave in a helicoper, you only have to say the word.
If you take the hotel on an exclusive basis you are given a complimentary menu tasting. The hotel's licensing agreements mean that they can't offer a marquee reception.
A senior member of the management team will take you around the hotel and describe the services they offer in detail. A dedicated events team is on hand to organise every aspect of your big day, and the hotel recently underwent a multimillion pound refurbishment.
Recommended rooms
Most rooms take at least one extra bed (£45 a night, including breakfast), or cot (no extra charge). There are three sets of interconnecting rooms in the Coach House. Magnolia has a private garden (with hot tub), and interconnects with Cedar.
Crèche/day care
There isn't a crèche, but the hotel has a list of registered nannies who can look after the children during the day. Parents must book this service themselves, so contact the hotel once you've made a reservation to get the list and book a nanny.
Activities
The garden is large, and there's a tennis court and croquet set. Bikes are available to hire during warmer months, and staff can point families in the direction of everything from rock climbing to duck herding, as well as attractions such as the model village at Bourton-in-the-Water.
Meals
(Well-behaved) children are welcome in the restaurant at all times, and there's high tea on offer from 5pm (please book in advance). There's a dedicated childrens menu, and the chef is happy to cook specific meals on request. Staff will heat up bottles and baby food. 24-hour room service is also on offer.
Babysitting
Ask at reception for details of an approved babysitting company, which the guest must book direct. It costs around £10 an hour.
Baby-listening
You can take your own baby monitor into the restaurant.
No need to pack
There are high chairs in the restaurant, and Wellington boots to borrow – just take a pair from the rack by the front door.
