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10 of the best Cotswolds hotels

The fresh air and honey hues of the Cotswolds make it a perfect destination for a mini-break (iStock)
The fresh air and honey hues of the Cotswolds make it a perfect destination for a mini-break (iStock)

From its photogenic honey-stone cottages to its postcard-perfect country pubs, there’s very little that isn’t ridiculously good looking about the Cotswolds (and that includes its celebrity residents).

Stretching across Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire, this area of outstanding natural beauty delivers charm in spades. Hotels range from sprawling countryside estates and shirt-and-tie manor houses to cosy restaurants with rooms and boutique B&Bs.

Options are plentiful, so it’s all about finding the right fit and making yourself at home. Here’s the cream of the crop.

The Independent's hotel reviews are unbiased, independent advice you can trust. On some occasions, we earn revenue if you click the links and book, but we never allow this to affect our coverage.

Hotels in England can reopen from 17 May.

Best for village vibes: Thyme

Neighbourhood: Southrop

 (Rich Stapleton c/o Thyme)
(Rich Stapleton c/o Thyme)

Dotted throughout Southrop Manor’s sprawling 150-acre estate you’ll find the cosy pub, 17th century cottages, two restaurants and al fresco pool that make up Thyme, which is not so much a hotel as a village-within-a-village. Guests can have the run of the place, swanning from central-hub-slash-watering-hole Baa (which also happens to be a bar, set in former lambing sheds) to the first-class Meadow Spa that offers probiotic treatments in soothing surroundings. When it comes to sleeping, 31 restful, neutral-hued rooms are set in restyled farmhouse buildings (including a former rectory and a magnificent tithe barn) while ex-Quo Vadis chef Charlie Hibbert is doing wonders in the kitchen.

Address: Thyme, Southrop Manor, Lechlade, GL7 3NX

Phone: 01367 850174

Price: Rooms from £245

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Best for channelling your inner lord of the manor: No 131 The Promenade

Neighbourhood: Cheltenham

 (Simon Brown c/o Number 131)
(Simon Brown c/o Number 131)

If you have designs on one day rattling around a grand Georgian mansion, make it this grand Georgian mansion. Traditional on the outside and eclectic on the inside, this good looker from the team behind The Lucky Onion is a (really big) home away from home. Each of its eight opulent rooms is decked out in statement wallpapers, industrial lights and moody blues with brassy touches, while antique knick-knacks rub up against original artworks by David Hockney and Banksy. A new addition is events space The House, which can be booked out in its eight-bedroomed entirety for OTT weddings and parties.

Address: 131 The Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1NW

Phone: 01242 822939

Price: Rooms from £117

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Best for grown-up glamping: The Fish

Neighbourhood: Farncombe Estate

 (The Fish)
(The Fish)

With shepherd’s huts, forests prime for stomping and adult-friendly tree houses poking out from towering silver birch trees, The Fish is a veritable playground for the Cotswolds set who want lashings of luxe with their long country walks. Set on 400 glorious acres, it’s dog-friendly, romance-friendly (we’re talking twin soaking tubs and prosecco in the minibar) and seafood-focused, with elegant restaurant Hook serving up poached fish, tender mussels and Porthilly oysters that are a bracing coastal walk on a plate.

Address: The Fish Hotel, Farncombe Estate, Broadway, WR12 7LJ

Phone: 01386 858000

Price: Rooms from £155

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Best for hearty suppers: The Wild Rabbit

Neighbourhood: Chipping Norton

 (The Wild Rabbit)
(The Wild Rabbit)

The most genteel sort of pub with rooms, The Wild Rabbit is actually a meticulously transformed 18th-century coaching inn. Set just a few fields apart from Daylesford’s Bamford Haybarn spa and organic farm shop (where posh sorts get their eggs and kale), the hotel is a brilliantly mellow space filled with blonde wood, honey-stone and nature-inspired touches, like tree-trunk four-poster beds and twig coat hooks. But grub is the real name of the game here and menus are based on what’s in season on the Daylesford Estate. Dishes are not cheap, but the market garden Jerusalem artichokes and cote de boeuf with Roscoff onion cooked over charcoal is more than worth it.

Address: The Wild Rabbit, Church Street, Kingham, Oxfordshire, OX7 6YA

Phone: 01608 658389

Price: Rooms from £150

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Best for boutique chic: Foxhill Manor

Neighbourhood: Farncombe Estate

 (Foxhill Manor)
(Foxhill Manor)

This small and intimate modern manor has only eight rooms, so you’re unlikely to get trampled by a rush of welly boots on your way to breakfast. Here, privacy is king and you’re as welcome to hole up in your airy room (with rolling views of vales and mountains) as you are to settle down with head chef Richard Thorpe in the cushion-strewn dining room to discuss menu options. Grounds are pretty and well-maintained; ask the kitchen to pack you a picnic and head out to explore the 400-acre woodland on your doorstep, or Dormy House and its bounty of high-end amenities are just a short transfer away.

Address: Foxhill Manor, Farncombe Estate, Broadway, The Cotswolds, WR12 7LJ

Phone: 01386 854200

Price: Rooms from £417

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Best for posh countryside pampering: Soho Farmhouse

Neighbourhood: Chipping Norton

Still holding strong as one of the Cotswolds’ most exclusive addresses, Soho Farmhouse is a rare thing: a countryside escape, set in 100 acres of lush green land, where there’s very little in the way of actual mud (you’ll find no manure-scented breeze here). Instead, everything is wonderfully spick and span. Timber-clad rooms have a luxury Canadian cabin feel, with hurricane lamps, untreated floorboards and roll-top baths. Outside, electric milk-floats whizz guests around the human-made lakes, en route to best of British dinners in the cavernous Main Barn restaurant and hammam rituals in the Cowshed spa. The Mill Room pub stays open way beyond any “last orders” but if it’s seclusion you’re after, you can simply get Soho Negronis delivered to your room via milk float. Genius.

Address: Soho Farmhouse, Great Tew, Chipping Norton, OX7 4JS

Phone: 01608 691 000

Price: Rooms from £330

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Best for the whole gang to enjoy: Calcot Manor & Spa

Neighbourhood: Tetbury

 (Calcot & Spa)
(Calcot & Spa)

For a family-friendly space that welcomes tiny tearaways with open arms, Calcot Manor is decidedly chic. Drop the small ones off in the play zone for mask-making, den-building or other such mucky craftwork with the enduringly cheery staff, then make straight for the heated indoor pool or al fresco hot tub for a champagne-in-hand soak. The 35 rooms are splashed with Farrow & Ball and decked out in restful neutrals, and many of them sit under sloping eaves or ancient beams. The Gumstool Inn serves unpretentious pub grub that still tastes great, from Gloucester sausages with mash and shallots to Jerusalem artichoke risotto with porcini.

Address: Calcot Manor & Spa, Near Tetbury, Tetbury, GL8 8YJ

Phone: 01666 890391

Price: Rooms from £269

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Best for fillies and stallions: Lucknam Park

Neighbourhood: Colerne

 (Lucknam Park)
(Lucknam Park)

Is there anything Lucknam isn’t good at? From its Michelin-star restaurant to its award-winning spa, everything here is superlative – including the gloriously glossy horses that trot round the on-site stables. Set in a 500-acre estate, guests at this grand 43-bedroom property (alongside three cottages) have access to tennis courts, croquet lawns and manicured gardens. Rooms and suites – which are of the chinoiserie silk and chandeliers variety – look out onto green views, and downstairs chef Hywel Jones (who earned the opulent restaurant its Michelin star more than a decade ago) does wonders with hearty meats and seasonal ingredients, such as wild garlic, morels and lemongrass.

Address: Lucknam Park Hotel, Lucknam Park, Bath, Colerne, SN14 8AZ

Phone: 01225 742777

Price: Rooms from £295

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Best for contemporary country-pile chic: The Slaughters Manor House

Neighbourhood: Lower Slaughter

 (The Slaughters Manor House)
(The Slaughters Manor House)

Forget opulent chandeliers and duck-printed cushions, Slaughters Manor House takes the country-house archetype and hurls it gleefully out the window. This place looks more like a boutique city crashpad than a stuffy country grande dame, with rose gold and marble in the dining room and strokeable aubergine and taupe in the bedrooms. Nineteen rooms and suites make The Slaughters wonderfully intimate, and some even open up onto their own private gardens. Outdoorsy sorts can take part in anything from rock-climbing to duck herding, but if you’re more of a homebody, the in-room spa treatments are the epitome of indulgence.

Address: The Slaughters Manor House, Copsehill Road, Lower Slaughter, GL54 2HP

Phone: 01451 820456

Price: Rooms from £180

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Best for spa junkies: Dormy House

Neighbourhood: Farncombe Estate

 (Dormy House)
(Dormy House)

Think of welcoming Dormy House as your secretly posh uncle’s second home, with 38 rooms and a spa so decorated with awards it draws in zen-seekers from across the country. The owners are Nordic, so interiors are suitably scandi-inspired, with clean lines and calm, quiet washes of colour on the walls, and at the property’s heart is a 17th-century farmhouse, replete with flagstone floors and flames crackling in imposing stone fireplaces. If you don’t fancy clay-pigeon shooting or quad-biking around the estate, then surrender to the salt-infusion steam room or the hands of the skilled massage therapists for an afternoon of knot-busting.

Address: Dormy House, Willersey Hill, Broadway, Worcestershire, WR12 7LF

Phone: 01386 852711

Price: Rooms from £269

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