Whatley Manor

I love everything about Whatley Manor. The service is lovely, the food is sensational (especially in the 2Michelin star dining room) The rooms are huge, and very comfortable.
Spa treatments are superb, and the indoor/​outdoor pool is stunning… even in Mid-​march it was amazing to be able to sit in the pool, taking in the fresh cotswold air.
I almost prefer this place to Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons– the only reason Le Manoir are still ahead by a whisker, is their bread basket at dinner is amazing– often almost 20 types of bread; and that their scones are out of this world. Whatley Manor’s are fabulous, but Le Manoir’s remain, as yet, unbeaten…

Whatley Manor is a 5, decadent, opulent, luxurious and expensive hotel, but if you want quality in every single way, then Whatley Manor is the first place to visit.
As you approach the hotel down the huge drive, you are met with lots of greenery, trees and spacious countryside. The large gates open on approach, revealing the large courtyard and the hotel itself.
Two valets met us as we drove to the entrance, they valeted the car and took our luggage into the hotel. The receptionist was French (as are all the workers as far as we could tell as the owners are French) and greeted us very warmly, and then telephoned the manager of the hotel who came down to greet us personally. The personal touch really was amazing, he knew where we were from, our names and was very genuine and friendly.
The porter then took us up to the room where our luggage was already waiting for us. The room was not as large as many other places we have stayed in, but was incredibly sufficient and again, decadent.
There was a large bed, large tv with sky channels, and an exceptional bathroom which reflected the spa that is in the hotel as the shower was a high tech spa shower! The view was incredible, over looking the outside eating area and the gardens.
We went to the bar area which serves any kind of cocktail you could think of and I had a Strawberry Bellini made by a very competent barman who seemed to be capable of making any kind of drink in the world!
Then came the canapes and menus, absolutely chocked full of the best food possible. As usual, we had the beef for mains, and the maitre’d allowed us to ‘mix and match’ certain things on the set menu with the a la carte menu.
The actual dining room was not anything special, fairly spacious but not very intimate.
I had the goats cheese starter which was exceptional, followed by beef with veal kidney (which I could not even bear to look at let alone eat!) which again, was absolute top quality. I had black truffle ice cream to finish, and the service had been perfect the whole way through.
Breakfast in bed, full English as always, yet again was phenomenal for very little charge.
I would highly recommend Whatley Manor for anyone with money as it is incredibly expensive as you would expect for a 5 hotel.
There is an inhouse cinema with home made popcorn as well as a large spa.