Hampton-in-Arden, United Kingdom

Hampton Manor

Price per night from$212.80

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (GBP168.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Table manor

Setting

Hampton in Arden-tly epicurean

Once owned by Sir Robert Peel, Hampton Manor used to host the cream of British society, but today it’s better known for its acclaimed restaurants, artisan bakery and distinctly unstuffy atmosphere. It was Sir Robert’s son Frederick who transformed the house into the gothic showpiece it is today, complete with an ornate clock tower, walled garden and grand rooms fit for lavish entertaining. These historic features are now back to their best, but owners James and Fjona have also breathed new life into the 45-acre estate, sweeping away stiffness in favour of a more familial atmosphere. The individually designed rooms are now bright and welcoming, with period features mingled with bold colours and striking patterns. Restaurant Grace & Savour is cut from similar cloth, serving delectable British cuisine amid a Victorian walled garden.

Smith Extra

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A cocktail each in the Parlour

Facilities

Photos Hampton Manor facilities

Need to know

Rooms

24, including one four-bedroom cottage.

Check–Out

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More details

Rates don't include breakfast, but it can be purchased for £15, served in the oak-panelled dining room.

Also

Each room is stocked with little extras like fresh cookies, coffee beans and a hand grinder, and Fjona’s guide to the local area.

Hotel closed

The hotel is closed from 24 to 26 December each year.

At the hotel

45-acres of grounds with free maps to explore, gardens with fresh produce, wellies to borrow, free WiFi throughout, laundry. In rooms: flatscreen TV (in all but the Walled Garden Suites); Audio Pro Bluetooth speaker; minibar; tea and coffee kit; 100 Acres bath products.

Our favourite rooms

We’re particularly taken by the Feature rooms, which are all completely different in style – which one you book will be entirely a matter of taste. The deep, dark tones and bold patterns in Henrietta Maria suggest a wild garden beneath a star-studded sky; if a bright, organic palette is more your thing, book De Montfort, full of leafy greens and earthy neutrals.

Spa

There are two treatment rooms tucked away in the woodland, which are part of the esteemed Hampton Clinic run by Dr Lorraine Hill, who spent 20 years as a GP before specialising in skin treatments. She and her team offer aromatherapy massages, reflexology treatments, manicures and high-tech hydrafacials (one of the clinic’s specialties), which combine spa techniques with advanced medical technology.

Packing tips

Don’t weigh down your bag with reading material – you’ll find a selection of books in your room.

Also

All public areas except the first floor are wheelchair accessible, and there’s an adapted room on the ground floor.

Children

Over-12s are welcome, but the hotel’s not particularly geared towards children.

Sustainability efforts

The hotel recycles glass and plastic, uses renewable energy throughout, and organic waste is used for compost. The hotel restaurants and bakery pride themselves on using exclusively local and organic produce, and the hotel have hired an organic gardener to plant a vegetable garden for future seasons.

Food and Drink

Photos Hampton Manor food and drink

Top Table

Go for a Walled Garden suites that overlooks the open kitchen at Grace & Savour.

Dress Code

Country casual – there’s no need to dress up here.

Hotel restaurant

Chef David Taylor has come to man Michelin-star-earning Grace & Savour, a Scandi-inspired restaurant with imaginative tasting menus, set in a number of Crittall-doored suites, with an open kitchen, that face the Victorian walled garden. Arrive hungry, 15 courses are on the cards here; menus frequently change, but you can expect pickled magnolia and homemade carrot nectars served alongside pine-smoked beef brisket, buttered monkfish and freshly-caught red prawns. Where restored wood tables and rustic red-bricked walls meet fresh foliage, you’ll find Smoke – the more relaxed of the two. Here, chef Stuart Deeley (a Masterchef: the Professionals winner) dishes out oak-smoked trout, Spenwood-sauced risottos, duxelle-doused courgette flowers and sea-to-saucer sole finished with s’mores round the fire. Also helmed by Stuart Deeley is the Tasting Room, a private table for up to eight guests that looks straight into the kitchen and delivers Smoke’s top dishes in the form of a five- or seven-course tasting menu.

Hotel bar

Fred’s Bar may look modest – the owners themselves refer to it as a ‘cosy nook off the lobby’ – but it’s a case of quality over quantity. The cocktail list was created by Frenchman Loïc Crétel, the hotel’s resident forager and master mixologist – he’s also a dab hand in the kitchen, which helps to explain his mastery of flavour. Loïc took inspiration for his drinks from the life and works of William Morris, whose designs and ideas crop up throughout the hotel. If it’s mid-afternoon, try the Icelandic Sagas, which pays homage to Morris’ Nordic love affair with lapsang souchong vodka, almond sugar syrup and Fernet Branca. If you’re after an aperitif, try the Roots of Mountains, a medley of Hendrick’s Orbium gin, Goral vodka and Loïc’s homemade nettle and sweet Jurançon cordial; a drop of eucalyptus adds a refreshing botanical finish. Drinks are also served in the spacious parlour, which looks into the gardens.

Last orders

Grace & Savour serves dinner Wednesday to Saturday (lunch is also available on Saturday); Smoke is open for dinner Tuesday to Saturday and for a classic roast lunch on Sundays. The Tasting Room is available to book for dinner only.

Room service

Available round-the-clock, mostly comfort food like charcuterie plates, fish and chips and smoked salmon. Sweet treats like the seasonal crumble and warm brownies will satisfy any sugar cravings.

Location

Photos Hampton Manor location
Address
Hampton Manor
Shadowbrook Ln, Hampton in Arden,
Solihull
B920EN
United Kingdom

The hotel is on a 45-acre estate in Hampton-in-Arden, a woody borough of Solihull.

Planes

Birmingham International is just five miles away, putting the airport within a 10-minute drive.

Trains

Hampton-in-Arden is the closest station, around five minutes’ drive from the hotel. Hop on a direct train from London Euston, or go via Birmingham New Street if you’re coming from the north.

Automobiles

With the airport and train station within easy reach, you won’t need a car – but you'll want one if you’re planning day trips into the countryside or nearby towns. There’s free parking outside the hotel and transfers from the airport can be arranged on request.

Worth getting out of bed for

Alongside the restaurant, the 45-acre estate is one of the hotel’s biggest attractions, ensuring there’s enough space to find a spot to call your own, whether it’s beneath one of the stately pine trees or in the walled garden. Generally, an atmosphere of leisure reigns supreme – book in for some mid-morning pampering at the Hampton Clinic, then settle in for afternoon tea in the parlour, which features single-batch teas from Lalani & Co. In the evenings from Tuesday to Sunday, gin, whisky and sparkling wine tastings are held at the Maker’s Table. There are only eight seats for each session, so be sure to reserve in advance. If, on the other hand, you’re feeling adventurous, there’s a booklet in each room full of staff recommendations, including some of Birmingham's best bars, restaurants and street-food spots. To the south of the hotel is Packwood House, a Grade I-listed manor that was refurnished in the Tudor style by Graham Baron Ash, a socialite and inveterate antiques collector who spent more than two decades modifying the house. For an adrenaline rush, book a session at the Land Rover Experience Solihull, where there’s over 14 miles of terrain to play with – the same land that the engineers use when developing new models. If you’re in the mood for an amble, try the towpath that passes by the Knowle Locks on the Grand Union Canal. And, if you get thirsty, the King's Arms pub makes a fine stopping point before you come back the other way. Hampton Manor is also a short hop from Shakespeare’s hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon, where the bard was born and spent much of his adult life. Alongside both his family homes, you can visit Anne Hathaway's cottage (Shakespeare’s wife, not the actress) and the Jacobean cottage that belonged to their daughter, Susanna. All the buildings are now managed by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, who let you pick and choose which buildings you’d like to visit.

Local restaurants

If you’re in Hampton-in-Arden, stop in at Sandwiches at No.6, a sarnie specialist that also serves excellent pastries, cakes and coffee. In Knowle, don’t miss the Bread Collection, run by Frenchman Giles and his team of Gallic pastry chefs. Their speciality loaves are baked fresh using flour sourced from France and the Cotswolds, and the almond croissants are some of the best in the business. Back in Hampton-in-Arden, the Beeches Bar & Grill is a good spot for a casual, gastropub-style dinner. The menu is full of country classics like pan-fried sea bass and pork tenderloin wrapped in pancetta, but one of their most popular dishes is the fried chicken, served American style with skinny fries and corn-on-the-cob.

Reviews

Photos Hampton Manor reviews

Anonymous review

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 gourmet getaway in Hampton-in-Arden and unpacked their list of must-visit cocktail bars from resident mixologist Loïc Crétel, a full account of their foodie break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Hampton Manor in Solihull…

At first glance, Hampton Manor can seem like a bit of contradiction. It’s a gothic manor sitting on a sprawling 45-acre estate once owned by Sir Robert Peel, but owners James and Fjona refer to it as a mere ‘restaurant with rooms’. To call it such seems at odds with the history and grandeur of the place, but it’s a perfect indication of the kind of the down-to-earth atmosphere that the hotel exudes. From the rooms to the restaurant, the formality of the original features has been softened by Fjona’s redesign, which shows her talent for adding finishing touches that make a place feel like home. In the rooms, it’s details like fresh cookies and a hand-operated coffee grinder; in Grace & Savour restaurant, grand crittall doors and an open kitchen are offset by Scandi-designs. On that note, the restaurant really is the feather in the hotel’s cap – foodies come from afar to sample chef David Taylor’s ever-changing menus, which are paired with a wine list that champions some of the best organic and biodynamic wines on the market.

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Price per night from $212.80