If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (GBP366.67), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Estelle Manor is shaking up the Cotswolds. From the outside, this 60-acre Jacobean estate seems all Jane Eyre, but don’t let its façade fool you; inside, rooms rock bold colour profiles, giving a modern feel to this otherwise classically English estate nestled in 3,000 acres of private land. There’s little that famed hotelier and owner Sharan Pasricha hasn’t considered, laying on golf carts for guests and offering pastimes from axe-throwing to archery. Dishes at the three restaurants diverge from English pub-grub, and sprawling Roman-inspired baths grace its grounds. It may look like Eyre's Moor House, but this manor’s a whole new story.
Noon; check-in, 3pm. Both are flexible, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £440.00, including tax at 20 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional service charge of 5% per booking on check-out.
More details
Rates include an à la carte breakfast served in the Brasserie.
Also
The hotel is well-equipped for those with limited mobility; the car park, entrance and most shared spaces are all wheelchair accessible, and some of the rooms and suites in the Manor House and Walled Gardens have been adapted.
At the hotel
Leafy 60-acre estate, croquet lawn, gym with a yoga and pilates studio, private members’ club, free-to-use bikes, charged laundry service, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, sound-system, tea- and coffee-making kit, minibar, free bottled water, and Commune and George Northwood bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Book a room in the Manor House for opulent interiors and grand sash windows with vast views over the garden’s topiary – the Estelle Suite is the best of the bunch. If you’d rather something a little more secluded, the Walled Garden and Stable suites sit pretty in the estate’s grounds, and some have private courtyards. And, for those planning on staying a while (we don’t blame you), the cottages are primed for longer stints.
Poolside
Set on the South Terrace, the 25-metre heated outdoor pool is the manor’s summer locale, where striped parasols front the scarlet bar, and friendly staff serve poolside tipples till the sun sets. During the chillier months, head to one of Eynsham Baths' five adults-only pools, just note that entry isn’t free.
Spa
The Roman-inspired Eynsham Baths spa is the ace up Estelle Manor’s sleeve, with ten treatment rooms, a breathwork pool, ceremony suite, experience showers, and five thermal baths all impressively wrapped in a 3,000-square-metre, marble-adorned tepidarium hall. Masseurs are trained in traditional Indian, Tibetan and Chinese healing methods and use home-infused oils, balms and scrubs to rejuvenate and refresh. You’ll also find a domed tea lounge admiring the baths, where a lengthy list of immune-boosting brews are paired with light bites, and a members-only pool outside that’s flanked with an exclusive, alfresco bar. If you prefer something that'll get the heart pumping, head to the fitness room that's tricked out with Technogym equipment, as well as a studio for pilates, yoga and training classes. Spa access is free for members, but otherwise it'll be £95 a visit.
Packing tips
Leave the bustles and breeches to Jane Eyre and follow the manor’s more modern suit.
Also
Estelle Manor is the first overnight outpost of owner Sharan Pasricha’s famed Mayfair members-only club, Maison Estelle, which has a VIP-heavy roster.
Welcome in the Walled Garden Rooms and Suites; extra beds are £50 a night (under-fives stay for free). For members only, there’s a kids’ club for three- to eight-year olds that’s primed for playing from 9am to 5pm.
Best for
Estelle Manor has something for everyone, but over-threes are especially well catered for.
Recommended rooms
The Walled Garden Rooms and Suites, welcome under-13s. But we’d suggest one of the cottages for ample playing space.
Crèche
Trained-staff at the kids’ club will be happy to take any little Smiths aged three to eight off your hands from 9am to 5pm, daily (for members only).
Activities
No one is left out here… There are mini Land Rovers that over-threes are welcome to chauffeur around the hotel’s grounds, and over-fours can head into the surrounding forest to forage for wild flowers, fruit and vegetables.
Swimming pool
Children are welcome to use the outdoor swimming pool, on the South Terrace, between 3pm and 5pm (10am till noon on Sundays).
Meals
Little Smiths can dine at the Glasshouse whenever they please, and the Brasserie will welcome them until 7.30pm. The Billiards Room is one for the adults.
Babysitting
Babysitting can be booked with 48 hours’ notice for £25 an hour (minimum three hours).
No need to pack
Things to keep them busy, Estelle’s staff will do that for you.
Also
Please note that children won’t be allowed in the private members club at any time.
Bounce into a banquette at the Brasserie or cosy up by the Billiards Room’s ornate fireplace.
Dress Code
Any and all glamorous garments.
Hotel restaurant
There are three to pick from; the grand Brasserie is the Manor Houses’ main restaurant, where seasonal British classics (we’d strongly suggest the beef Wellington and cheddar soufflé) are served in a setting of marble tables and teal-toned-velvet banquettes. Similarly splendid is the Billiards Room, rich with regal hues and ornate fireplaces, where a dim sum-based brunch is held at the weekends and flavourful Asian fare is dished up during the evenings. Nestled within the walled gardens, the Glasshouse’s sharing menu is more laidback than the rest: wood-fired fare seasoned with herbs grown in the grounds just beyond the restaurant walls.
Hotel bar
The hotel bar, fittingly referred to as the Living Room, decants wines from its very own vintage collection, shakes cocktails behind the maroon-marbled bar and pours hand-selected spirits to a background beat of gentle jazz.
Last orders
Breakfast at the Brasserie is 7am–10am (11am at weekends); lunch, noon–5pm and dinner, 5pm–11pm. The Billiard’s weekend brunch is 11am–3pm; dinner is 6pm–11pm, Wednesday to Saturday. The Glasshouse opens from noon–11pm (closed Sunday evening and Monday).
Room service
Dishes can be delivered to your door from 7.30am until 11pm (midnight on Friday and Saturday).
Estelle Manor is set in 60 acres of private land, just outside of North Leigh in Oxfordshire.
Planes
Most international flights will land into Heathrow or Gatwick; the first is just over an hour’s drive away and the second is a further two hours. The hotel can arrange private transfers from Heathrow for £200 each way.
Trains
Direct trains run daily from London Paddington to Hanborough Station, a 10-minute drive from the hotel. Private transfers can be organised for £40 each way.
Automobiles
A set of wheels will come in handy if you’re planning on exploring Oxfordshire’s surrounding countryside; there are plenty of rental booths at the airport and once you’re on the road, it’s a straightforward journey up the M40.
Other
If you’d rather arrive in style, Estelle Manor has a helipad on site.
Worth getting out of bed for
Once you’ve tired of lazing in the spacious spa and sipping martinis poolside, Estelle Manor’s extensive grounds await exploring (you needn’t travel far for adventurous afternoons). Spend some time mastering axe-throwing and archery with in-house experts, head deep into the forest for shooting sessions with one of the hotel’s air rifles, or visit birds of prey with an introduction to falconry, run by the estate’s very own expert. There are also guided walks and bike rides that’ll take you beyond the grounds and around neighbouring villages. If you’re heading into Oxford, be sure to spend some time punting along the River Cherwell (punts are available to rent from Magdalen Bridge Boathouse). And, don’t forget, Blenheim Palace is practically on your doorstep in Woodstock.
Local restaurants
Options are limited around the hotel, but if you find yourself in Oxford (a 30-minute drive away) stop by family-run Cherwell Boathouse for classic English cuisine served right on the river. On the High Street, Quod serves seasonal fine-dining dishes and afternoon tea in its idyllic courtyard. You’ll also find the Mason Arms at the Artist Residence Oxfordshire just 10 minutes down the road.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this hip-and-happening hotel in Oxfordshire and unpacked their memories and martinis, a full account of their bucolic break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Estelle Manor in the Cotswolds…
In its past life, Estelle Manor (then Eynsham Hall) housed police trainees before serving a maternity ward during the Second World War. Now, courtesy of hotelier-extraordinaire Sharan Pasricha, it's settled into the sweet life of the luxury hideaway, although it hasn’t forgotten its various roots. The manor was already quite decadent in style, but under the watchful eye of Sharan’s wife, interiors have become grander still with silk-upholstered sofas, antique armoires and restored panelling that works with the estate’s original bones. But resplendent rooms are just the start – guests are whisked around the 3,000-acres of private land in golf carts (there are even mini Land Rovers for little Smiths to man); an outdoor pool, with parasols inspired by the French Riviera, hosts spirit-sipping sunbathers, and each of the three restaurants veers away from countryside classics in favour of dim sum brunches and seasonal spreads. Add in a 3,000-square-metre spa and we’re sure you'll be very reluctant to step back outside the honey-hued stone gateposts.
