The Best Hotels to Book Near Cotswold Farm Park

With its stylish interior and rustic surroundings, Slaughters Manor is the quintessence of English country charm | Courtesy of Slaughters Manor / Booking.com

Suzy Pope

5 October 2021

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Opened in the 1970s and run by TV farming presenter Adam Henson, Cotswold Farm Park is all about protecting rare breeds. It’s a working farm as well as a park, and there’s plenty of fun ways for all the family to interact with the animals. The Cotswolds is where you’ll find honey-hued coaching inns-turned-boutique hotels, and the phrase ‘pub with rooms’ means seasonal fine dining and four-poster beds. Here’s our pick of the best places to stay near Cotswold Farm Park, bookable on Culture Trip.

The Slaughters Country Inn, Lower Slaughter

Double bedroom at the Slaughters Country Inn, with a freestanding bath, neutral decor, and a large bed with blue headboard

Courtesy of the Slaughters Country Inn / Expedia

With all the charm of an authentic country inn, the Slaughters lies in the heart of the Cotswolds, in the idyllic hamlet of Lower Slaughter. It’s a 15-minute drive to Cotswold Farm Park, and there are numerous riverside walks and country trails on your doorstep. After a day in hiking boots and wellies, you can return to the welcoming pub restaurant for a pint of ale, Gloucester black pudding salad or a country terrine served with home-made chutney. Toddle up to bed, where a sound sleep or long soak in a claw-footed bath awaits under timber beams. This one is particularly family-friendly, with picnic hampers, barbecues and treasure hunts organised in the riverside garden of the inn.

The Lion Inn, Winchcombe

Courtesy of The Lion Inn / Booking.com

Each of the eight boutique bedrooms is dog-friendly at this intimate country inn. Rooms retain their ancient coaching inn roots with exposed stone, arched hearths and wood beams. Choose between a plush king overlooking the picturesque Winchcombe Street at the front of the inn, a room housed in the old skittle alley or a peaceful retreat in the converted hayloft. In the winter, dine by the crackle of the fire in the bar with its excellent champagne selection and seasonal menu of elevated pub food. In summer, it’s all about the wooden cabins and craft cocktails in the fairy light-dappled garden.

The Bell at Stow

Courtesy of The Bell at Stow / Booking.com

The feel is rustic yet boutique at the Bell at Stow, just like its bucolic Cotswolds village location. Focus is drawn to the food here; the seasonal menu is served in covered garden pods in summer, and in the cosy pub year-round. The Sunday roast, piled high with produce from the surrounding Gloucestershire fields, draws the crowds and is best washed down with a pint of real ale. There are dog-friendly bedrooms on offer, with plush interiors and unique decor representing the wildlife you might spot in the garden of the inn.

The Wheatsheaf Inn, Northleach

Courtesy of The Wheatsheaf Inn / Booking.com

This village coaching inn has been welcoming weary travellers since the 17th century. The pub decor has been upgraded a great deal since then, but a fire still roars in the grate and the thick stone walls remain on display. The menu’s changed a bit, too, with the mutton stew replaced by al dente pasta dishes and salads topped with fresh, creamy burrata – though regional classics, such as devilled kidneys and a wild pigeon wellington, stay true to the inn’s roots. Bedrooms with antique headboards keep a hint of old-world charm; the most lavish has a copper soaking tub.

The Beckford Inn, near Tewkesbury

Courtesy of The Beckford Inn / Booking.com

In the quiet village of Beckford, near Tewkesbury, the Beckford Inn offers fabulous dining and a comfortable place to lay your head. Pub classics including scotch eggs are given a makeover with a pea and broad bean crumb, and local farms are name-checked on nearly every dish on the menu. The Sunday Roast is a particularly lavish affair, offering vegan and vegetarian options. Boutique rooms – of which eight are dog-friendly – are decked out in country-chic decor and feature soft beds and organic, local toiletries in every ensuite.

Ellenborough Park, near Cheltenham

A bedroom with four-poster bed and two chairs at Ellenborough Park in the Cotswolds

Courtesy of Ellenborough Park / Booking.com

Perched on the edge of the Cotswolds, this 15th-century English manor is like a Downton Abbey experience. Canopied four-poster beds sit beneath chandeliers and timber-beamed ceilings, and the Grand Restaurant features towering bookcases in between wood-panelled walls. In summer, the Taittinger Terrace serves champagne in the sunshine alongside a street-food-style menu in the Horsebox Restaurant. This is the perfect spot for a spa break, as the on-site spa specialises in Indian treatments and has a sunken jacuzzi.

Dumbleton Hall Hotel, near Evesham

Courtesy of Dumbleton Hall Hotel / Booking.com

Strolling through the 7.5ha (19 acres) of ground at Dumbleton Hall Hotel you’ll find woodland trails, vast lawns and a picturesque lake. The former manor house was rebuilt in the 19th century and the lavish rooms hosted guests such as the Mitford Sisters and poet Sir John Betjeman. Today, a grandfather clock still ticks in the lobby, and antique chairs and sofas fill the lounges. The rooms feature contemporary clean lines, with original windows and brocade throws still hinting at the past. There’s a full restaurant and grand lounge serving snacks, but the highlight is the book-lined library bar, illuminated by candelabra.

Slaughters Manor, Lower Slaughter

Courtesy of Slaughters Manor / Booking.com

Tennis courts, croquet on the lawn and a wood-panelled billiard room – this country house hotel is the stuff of proper English breaks. The Manor is set within 2ha (5 acres) of grounds, where walled gardens bloom with roses and the hedges are perfect topiaries. Rooms are individually decorated; the most lavish – the Garden Suites – comes with a four-poster bed swathed in thick curtains. Set around an original fireplace, the restaurant serves a refined menu of seasonal, local produce such as Herdwick lamb and Cornish crab. The chef also offers luxury hampers to take with you on day trips into the countryside, or to enjoy as a picnic on the grounds.

Thyme Hotel, Lechlade

Spa Hotel

Courtesy of Thyme / Booking.com

This fabulous little boutique hotel embraces the English cottage garden that is ubiquitous across the Cotswolds. There’s a botanical theme here: each room is named after a herb and features floral print walls. Garden rooms come with private gardens filled with greenery; Elegant rooms are housed in the farmhouse under timber-beamed ceilings. Staying true to its roots as a former farmhouse, Thyme’s restaurants use crops from the on-site garden to flavour chef Charlie Hibbert’s precise menus.

These recommendations were updated on October 5, 2021 to keep your travel plans fresh.

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