Hotel ‘exceeding expectations at every turn’ named country’s best
Top GQ magazine award for 19th Century house which only opened to guests last year
A REBORN Ashbourne hotel has been crowned the best in the country by a national lifestyle magazine.
Callow Hall Country House Hotel, near Mappleton, has won the best hotel award at the eighth GQ Food and Drink Awards.
Despite being a new hotel, which only opened in September last year, this is already the second major accolade it has picked up after being named the UK’S best place to stay by The Sunday Times last autumn.
It claimed the GQ award at a prestigious awards evening held in London, where staff were presented with engraved Waterford Crystal ice buckets.
The Grade Ii-listed venue, in Mappleton Lane, which has also been rated five out of five from 66 reviews on Tripadvisor, is nestled in 35 acres of gardens, wild meadows and woodland.
The Victorian country house hideaway boasts 15 bedrooms transformed by up-and-coming British designer Isabella Worsley, two treehouses and 11 woodland hives.
The Garden Room restaurant and bar serves seasonal food, while the converted Coach House offers wellbeing experiences, from cycling to treatments such as yoga classes.
The house dates back to the 1850s, with the cedar tree near the front door dating back 800 years.
Callow Hall is the first project of a company called Wildhive, run by a pair of entrepreneurs who managed to raise £7 million to transform the historic house.
Ed Burrows and Charles Randall started the hospitality brand with the aim of creating “unique and characterful” locations in lesser-known parts of the UK.
The venue also hosts weddings, catering for a small, intimate day, which will not require exclusive use, or accommodating up to 80 guests exclusively.
Praising Callow Hall, a GQ spokesperson said: “Individually designed bedrooms? Tick. Garden Room restaurant and Library Snug for an evening, post-walk round of Scrabble and scotch? Tick.
“Acres of woodland and meadows to explore? Tick. Converted Coach House offering first-rate wellbeing treatments for our weary limbs? Tick.
“Oh, and that’s before you’ve stumbled upon their oakshrouded treehouses and woodland hives. The restoration of this Victorian house in Derbyshire exceeds expectations at every turn.
“It is testament to the team’s vision that, despite welcoming its first guests in September, Callow Hall already feels like a ‘timeless classic.’
“If there was a tonic to all that the last two years has thrown at us, a weekend spent hunkering down at Callow Hall might be it.”
Other accolades were also handed out to an array of venues at the GQ Food and Drink Awards on the night, such as best restaurant, best chef, best bartender and best pub.
Judges consisted of a panel of industry experts – leaders in the world of hospitality, interiors, media and food and drink.
The judges included Tom Kerridge, the TV chef who stars on The Great British Menu, and Paul Ainsworth, winner of best chef and best pub at the GQ Food and Drink Awards 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Callow Hall Hotel won over the Gilpin Hotel and Lake House and The Mondrian.