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 (GBP833.33), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
If the Cotswolds embody the quintessential English idyll, then Temple Guiting Manor & Barns distils the region’s ample charms further into 15 acres of rustic-retreat perfection. Within its walled gardens, a Tudor-era manor house sits at its heart, all honey-hued stone, chunky beams and mullioned windows. Former livestock lodgings have also been immaculately repurposed with snug nooks, crackling fires and better-than-home comforts. And whether wild lake swimming or hot tub simmering, poolside flopping or tennis-ball thwacking – for all its quaintly old-world charm – activities abound at this spiffed-up slice of bucolic bliss.
Smith Extra
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A luxurious ceramic-bisque-encased candle with a Regency-era-inspired scent from brotherly stay Henry’s Townhouse
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 4pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £1000.00, including tax at 20 per cent.
More details
Rates do not include breakfast, but it’s available from £45 a person. There’s a minimum seven-night stay over half-term holidays, Easter, July, August, Christmas and New Year, three nights over bank holidays and high season and two nights over low season.
Also
The grade-one-listed Peacock Shed within the secret garden is licensed for civil marriages.
At the hotel
Tennis court, rowing lake, hot tubs, free Wifi, children’s play area, cinema and media room, butler service (for a fee). In rooms: Pool towels, 100 Acres bathroom products, free Blenheim mineral water, Dyson hair dryer, tea- and coffee-making kit, iPod docks, barbecue with charcoal (for summer stays), firewood (for winter bookings).
Our favourite rooms
With a perfect combination of historic charm, contemporary comforts and art-filled character, we’re big fans of the Barn accommodation. Its private patio hot tub and exclusive pool access certainly add to its appeal too.
Poolside
The swimming pool is exclusive to the Barn (or open to all guests with exclusive estate use). There’s a changing shed as well as plenty of loungers and a swinging teepee poolside. The pool is heated and open from the start of May to the end of October.
Spa
There’s no spa, but massages, facials, manicures and pedicures can all be arranged for in-room in a jiffy.
Packing tips
It would be easy to forget your swimmers for a trip to the Cotswolds, but even if you don’t have use of the pool a cooling summer dip in the lake is a must.
Also
Although there is gravel throughout the estate, the hotel has a set of mobility ramps and an accessible ground floor Gold room in the converted barn.
Children
Little Smiths are easily accommodated here, with plenty of kid-friendly activities on site and cots and extra beds available on request.
Best for
Babies and up.
Recommended rooms
The Manor is great for families and includes a bedroom with two built-in child-friendly single beds, which connects to the master bedroom.
Activities
Lots for all ages, including a woodland play area for toddlers and older children, boating on the lake (with life jackets provided), crafting activities, table tennis, video games consoles, and a private cinema with movie library.
Swimming pool
The pool is big enough for kids to splash about in, plus swimming and even mermaid lessons can be arranged for the little ones.
Meals
Cots and highchairs are available on request.
Babysitting
You can arrange a nanny through the hotel for £25 an hour.
Although you won’t find a restaurant onsite (accommodation is essentially self-catering) the hotel’s chefs are available to arrange meals in advance. Whether it’s catering for large groups or informal afternoon tea, put in your request and leave the rest to them. They can even create picnic hampers for lunch-on-the-lawn or a day trip in the countryside. If you’d rather handle it yourself, they can provide you with the necessary tools and ingredients to host your own private dinner party or barbecue.
Room service
There’s no room service, but you can arrange for your accommodation to be fully stocked with food and drink for your arrival. You can also easily order a delivery from a local supermarket yourself, or indeed hire a private butler to do it all for you.
Temple Guiting Manor is located in a quaint hamlet of the same name, deep in the Cotswolds countryside and about half-an-hour drive from Cheltenham.
Planes
The nearest place to fly into is Birmingham Airport, an hour-and-quarter away by road. The next closest would be Bristol Airport, an hour-and-half away. Both have domestic and international connections from around Europe. The hotel can arrange car or minibus transfers from either airport.
Trains
When arriving by rail Moreton-in-Marsh is your best bet, with direct trains from London Paddington about every hour. Transfers from the station can be arranged through the hotel for £30 one-way.
Automobiles
If you’re heading over by car from London, you can expect it to take around two-and-a-half hours. Having your own wheels is certainly the best way to explore the Cotswolds, and the hotel has ample free parking.
Other
If you’re thinking of making an entrance, you’re welcome to helicopter into the estate’s field.
Worth getting out of bed for
At least for the first day or two, we wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to stray beyond the picturesque confines of the hotel grounds. Simply strolling around the superbly maintained landscaped gardens is enough reason to linger, with its tinkling fountains, scented shrubbery and the sigh-worthy views of the surrounding Cotswolds countryside. When you’re ready to break a sweat, an all-seasons tennis court is available to guests, with loaner rackets and even an umpire chair if it gets serious. Other onsite activities include archery and shooting, but for something a little more restful yoga and pilates can be easily arranged. Foodie-friendly classes like baking, cocktail mixing and wine tasting can also all be organised in advance. The hotel’s private lake offers boating, paddleboarding and wild swimming opportunities, too.
When you’re ready to explore the glorious Cotswolds, if you’re travelling with kids in tow, a visit to Cotswold Farm Park will put a smile on their little faces. It has over 50 breeds of British farm animals, some you can pet and feed, including fluffy chicks you can hold. Rich in royal history is nearby Sudeley Castle, famed for its 10 separate gardens, including a rose garden four English queens have strolled through. There are loads of local hiking trails to choose from too (with guided walks on offer from the hotel) with a leisurely hour-and-a-half trail to Snowshill among the most popular.
Local restaurants
A cosy country pub should be on anyone’s must-do list when in the Cotswolds, and few come more cosy and country than the Hollow Bottom. It’s about a 10-minute drive away but what’s better is working up an appetite with the scenic hour-or-so walk there. Choose from rural favourites like a hefty Ploughman’s lunch (best shared) or their cracking fish pie, or get there on Sunday for a traditional roast with giant Yorkshire puddings and ‘proper’ gravy. Another top-notch local boozer is the Horse and Groom in nearby Bourton-on-the-Hill. Book the table by the crackling log fire for a toasty meal over chillier months, or order your fish-and-chips and foamy local ale to bask in the beer garden on sunnier days. For finer dining, the Wild Rabbit is about 20 minutes by road but with an outstanding menu of local and seasonally-inspired cuisine unmatched in the area.
Local cafés
For a quaint village cafe look no further than Honey Bea's in Winchcombe, perfect if you fancy some tea and cake after a visit to nearby Sudeley Castle. This bee-themed, pooch-friendly tea room bakes all its own offerings, with their daily-changing scones a particularly popular pick. Afternoon tea is a highlight at Hunters Tea Room in Broadway, with crumpets, scones and toasted teacakes accompanied by thick clotted cream and homemade jam.
Local bars
The Plough Inn is an award-winning pub with the seal of approval for its cask ales, too. The locally brewed Donnington Ale is the one to go for here, but if beer's not your thing they’ll happily whip you up a jug of Pimm’s. Expect a local character or two. Adding seasonal cocktails to their list of artisan ales is the Fox at Oddington, a popular pub and community hub which closes late at weekends.
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 country estate hotel in Gloucestershire and unpacked their artisan cheese selection and homemade chutneys, a full account of their rustic-deluxe break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Temple Guiting Manor & Barns in the Cotswolds…
With its gently undulating landscape scattered with thatch-cottage villages and rolling farmland, the beauty of the Cotswolds has long been officially designated ‘outstanding’. And its collection of snug centuries-old pubs, cosy tea rooms and golden-stone manor houses all further add to its pastoral appeal. With its Tudor roots and grade-one-listed status, Temple Guiting Manor & Barns is a rather fine example of the latter. The fact that it’s squeezed in the likes of hot tubs, a heated pool and other luxe-level comforts detracts little from its olde-world charm.
Geared towards group stays, you can book the main house, one of several converted farm buildings, or the whole estate – the hotel regularly hosts weddings too. Awash with romance, the meticulously landscaped gardens could also have been plucked from a Jane Austen novel. It’s the sort you might ‘take a turn around’ before a furtive proposal behind sculpted topiary. Footnote: the sister hotel – Henry’s Townhouse in London’s Marylebone – once belonged to the writer’s favourite brother.
