The Cotswolds and their country houses
Luxury hotels in The Cotswolds
4 hotels
The Cotswolds are a hundred miles of limestone hills between Oxford and Bath. Honey-colored villages, drystone walls, wool churches and market towns are strung along the valleys of the Windrush, the Coln and the By Brook. The best hotels here are country houses first, from the Thames at Lechlade to the edge of Bath and on into Somerset: a Palladian mansion in its own park on the Bath fringe, a village of restored barns and cottages on a Thames-side estate near Lechlade, a stone manor in its gardens outside Malmesbury, and an estate at Bruton that dates from 1687, with gardens on a grand scale. We looked at every serious address in the hills and kept only those whose service holds up to the house. Four made the cut – two hold five-star standing and two hold four-star standing, and the copy says which is which.
The neighborhoods
The southern Cotswolds
The southern hills between the Thames and the Avon, home to two of the four hotels. Lechlade sits at the head of the navigable Thames. The hills also take in the Coln valley and Bibury's Arlington Row, Cirencester on the site of Roman Corinium, Tetbury and Westonbirt Arboretum, and Malmesbury and its abbey on the Wiltshire border, with Kemble station for the London trains.
The Bath fringe & Castle Combe
The southern edge of the Cotswolds where the hills drop toward Bath, with one of the four hotels. Colerne sits on its ridge above the By Brook, the stone village of Castle Combe lies in the valley below, and Corsham and Box complete the fringe. Bath itself is six miles away, with the Roman Baths, the Royal Crescent and Bath Spa station.
Somerset: Bruton
The market town of Bruton and the rolling country south of Bath, at the end of the Cotswold road. Bruton keeps its galleries on the High Street, its packhorse bridge and its dovecote; the Hadspen estate is here too, with Glastonbury and the Somerset Levels to the west and Stourhead and the Wiltshire border to the east.
Good to know
Which are the five-star hotels in the Cotswolds?
Two. The five-star hotels we list in the Cotswolds are Lucknam Park, Emblems Collection, in its park at Colerne on the southern edge of the hills, six miles from Bath; and The Newt in Somerset, on its estate at Bruton, half an hour south of Bath. Alongside them we keep two four-star addresses that hold four-star standing and are never called five-star: Thyme, on the Southrop estate near Lechlade; and Whatley Manor Hotel and Spa, at Easton Grey outside Malmesbury. Each has its own page, reached from the list above, with a concierge behind every stay.
Which part of the Cotswolds should I stay in?
The southern Cotswolds hold two of the four – Thyme at Southrop, between Lechlade on the Thames and the Coln valley, with Bibury, Cirencester and the Windrush villages within half an hour; and Whatley Manor at Easton Grey, two miles west of Malmesbury and its abbey, with Tetbury, Westonbirt Arboretum and Castle Combe close by. The Bath fringe holds Lucknam Park at Colerne, in five hundred acres of parkland six miles from Bath, with Castle Combe and the By Brook valley on one side and the Roman Baths and the Royal Crescent on the other. Somerset holds the fourth: The Newt in Somerset on the Hadspen estate at Bruton, half an hour south of Bath, with Glastonbury and the Somerset Levels to the west. Choose the south for the villages and the river; the Bath fringe for the park and the city on the doorstep; Bruton for the gardens and the galleries.
When is the best season for the Cotswolds?
May to September are the months the hills were made for – the gardens open, the hedgerows and the meadows in flower, long evenings on the terraces and the river at Lechlade at its best; they are also the weekends that fill first. Spring brings the lambs and the blossom; October the color at Westonbirt Arboretum and the woods around Colerne. Winter is quiet and handsome, with fires lit in the country houses and the villages to yourself. The Cheltenham Festival in March and the Badminton Horse Trials in May take the rooms of the southern Cotswolds months ahead. Thyme's spring-fed pool opens for the summer months; the concierge confirms what is open on your dates before you book.
How do you get to the Cotswolds – and do I need a car?
By train, the Great Western line from London Paddington reaches Kemble, the station for Cirencester, Tetbury and Southrop, in about an hour and a quarter, and Chippenham and Bath Spa, the stations for Colerne, in a little more. By road, Heathrow is about an hour and three-quarters to the southern Cotswolds along the M4, and Bristol's airport is under an hour from Colerne. Once you are there a car earns its keep: the villages are spread across the hills, the lanes are the pleasure of the place, and Bath, Bibury, Castle Combe and Westonbirt are each a short drive from one hotel or another. The hotel arranges a car from the station or the airport with your booking.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.
