Brockencote Hall

We got married at Brockencote Hall back in 2009! Since then they have been taken over, given a lick of paint, changed the service and by the frames in the hallway, won a bunch of awards. It’s still magical going there and great to go for our very first Sunday Lunch. The food was gorgeous, the presentation awesome and the surroundings quality. This is definitely one of our most favourite fine dining locations in the world. For a special lunch or dinner, I highly recommend it. We also must stay again to see what the refurbished rooms look like!

A lovely country house built in the 20s in French château style. We stayed in a ground floor double room with a lovely view of sheep grazing over the ha ha. Comfortable bed, plenty of space, storage, seating, large bathroom (with natural light — no nasty, dark little box rooms here) with shower and bath and lots of hot water, tea/​coffee etc in rooms and fruit laid out on a table in the corridor. Friendly staff. Excellent breakfast (except for disgusting coffee). Beautiful grounds with a duck pond and dovecote. Idyllic village with church, two pubs, tea room, village shop, butchers, florists, salon, post office, etc. The only flaw in this otherwise perfect place was the appalling interior décor. Trying hard to be French château (with the occasional forray into tropical luxury — the conservatory lounge — and modern cool — the bar) and failing at every step. Ignore the ersatz attempts at pastoral sophistication and enjoy the comfort, friendliness, and good food. £150 for a double room with breakfast.