I spent our first dawn at The Gleneagles Hotel sodden, semi-sheltering under dripping trees as I prayed that the puppy would decide to pee. An hour later it became apparent…
Hotel Reviews
Rothay Manor: in the heart of the Lake District
Rothay Manor – good for Food Walking Dogs The Lake District has romance stitched into its reputation: those winsome trees perched atop a rocky outcrop stir even the stultified into…
The Barnsdale hotel review
For many of those who have grown up in or near Rutland, Barnsdale Lodge will long have been a fixture. In my memory it played host to a hunt bash…
The Exmoor Forest Inn and Duredon Farm review
WHILE many of us make the late summer caravanserai to Scotland, there is another destination for discerning sportsmen and naturalists which is the wide open moorland of Exmoor. Here, stags…
The Inn at Whitewell review
In John Martin Robinson’s magnificent book A Guide to the Country Houses of the North West (1991), there are many examples of the private mansions of Lancashire that no longer…
The Peacock at Rowsley hotel review
As one gratefully breaks away from the M1 and sets sail west past Chesterfield’s crooked spire, it is when the hedges give way to stone walls that the transition to…
The Arch, Fonthill – a pitstop in Wiltshire’s best sporting country
The Arch at Fonthill is cartoon grand: a soaring masterpiece built in 1755 to mark the entrance to the original Fonthill estate and welcome a steady flow of Georgian A-listers…
The Victoria – a perfect coastal escape
On the North Norfolk coast the night sky is vast, devoid of light pollution and rather wonderful. This quiet stretch of coastline has been a familiar destination, even before the…
The Pig at Combe: a welcome escape
I’M PRETTY sure the Elizabethans would have experienced the same bonhomie on welcome when The Pig at Combe was first built, in 1580, as we did on arrival. Walking through…
The Goring: an excellent London stay
IT can be trying to find the right place to stay in London; too corporate, too poky, too faceless. But there is one place that seems to encourage a head…