The Peacock at Rowsley
Peak District, United Kingdom [view map]
- Style
- Chic manor house
- Setting
- Deep-in-Derbyshire riverside
There are visual flashes around the Peacock hotel in Derbyshire that seem to indicate, as you arrive, that time has stood still in the village.
Need to know
- Rooms
- 16 rooms, including six superior doubles and two special rooms.
- Rates
- £145–£210, including buffet breakfast. A minimum two-night stay is required at weekends.
- Check-out
- 11am, but if the hotel is quiet they can be flexible (subject to availability). Earliest check-in, 2pm.
- Facilities
- DVD/CD library, free WiFi, massage by arrangement, access to a nearby gym and golf club, fly-fishing. In rooms, flatscreen TV, DVD/CD player, open fireplace, Aveda toiletries. Four rooms have a minibar.
- Children
- Discouraged; under-10s are not welcome at weekends, and an unfenced river means the garden is not child-friendly. On weekdays, cots (£5) and extra beds (£25) can be provided, and chef will oblige with small portions or dishes ‘with chips’.
- Hotel closed
- Only the restaurant is open on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
- Also
- Dogs are welcome, for a fee of £10 per dog per night. Smoking is only permitted in the bar. A taxi to/from Chesterfield station is around £20.
In the know
- Our favourite rooms
- Room 1 and Room 7 are both cosy and overlook the garden; Rooms 12 and 15 are the quietest, at the back of the hotel, and have kingsize beds. Room 5 is the most romantic, with a wooden four-poster, but Room 3 has a beautiful antique bed that was originally from Belvoir Castle. Room 6 is a big, light double with a super-kingsize bed.
- Packing tips
- Wellies, bait and fishing net. Boxset of Pride and Prejudice – this is where the cast stayed during filming.
- Also
- Guests receive discounted entry to nearby stately homes Chatsworth House (10 per cent off) and Haddon Hall (50 per cent off).
Food & drink
- Hotel restaurant
- In the Wye Room, chef Dan Smith turns locally sourced ingredients into fine-dining feasts with an adventurous Mediterranean undercurrent; pigeon with spinach, puy lentils and a Madeira jus, for example. There’s a simpler bill of fare in the bar.
- Dress code
- Comfortable country living.
- Top table
- In the bar, go for the nook on the right-hand side as you enter.
- Last orders
- Lunch, noon–2pm; dinner, 7pm–9pm (8.30pm on Sundays).
- Room service
- The bar menu is available during kitchen hours, but sandwiches can be rustled up in the afternoon.
- Hotel bar
- The invitingly olde-worlde bar has bare stone walls, a huge hearth and a weighty, copper-topped counter. You can also order from the restaurant menu here. Staff will keep the beer, wine, cocktails or champagne flowing as long as guests stay up.
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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.
The Peacock at Rowsley
Rowsley, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 2EB