A happy new year
A COTSWOLDS STATELY HOME IS THE LATEST ADDITION TO THE ADULTS-ONLY WARNER LEISURE HOTELS PORTFOLIO. EDWARD STEPHENS WAS THERE TO WELCOME IN 2023
SET in 440 acres of countryside, the Manor House at Heythrop Park in the Cotswolds looks out over lush green fields and forests as far as the eye can see.
But nowadays the stately home hotel also has a forest of a much more modern kind, discreetly tucked away just out of sight.
It’s a metal forest of more than 40 electric car charging points – more than I’ve seen anywhere – as the 18th century property retains its character but accepts that it must also move with the times.
The house reopened to the public in September as the newest property in the Warner Leisure Hotels portfolio after a spend of around £100 million, sympathetically blending the old with the new to give guests the best of both worlds. And while enthusiastic Warner regulars currently checking out Heythrop may not yet need such a vast number of charging points – located in the hotel’s car parks – the infrastructure will, as general manager Dean Saunders confided, “futureproof ” the company’s new flagship property.
Built in 1710, Heythrop is a magnificent country pile which suddenly looms up in front of you at the end of a long, winding driveway almost a mile from the main highway, close to the pretty Cotswoldstone village of Chipping Norton. At one time it was home to top executives from NatWest bank and some books in its library still reflect the banking world today.
But nowadays Heythrop is all about the world of leisure rather than the world of finance and guests are spoiled for choice when it comes to relaxing in style or enjoying sporting activities.
There’s a challenging 18-hole golf course on site – the only one at a Warner’s property – and a top-class spa complete with gymnasium and a 20-metre swimming pool.
And after dinner, in a choice of three distinctively different restaurants, guests can opt for one of two large theatres, both with lively shows each night. As an adults-only hotel it tends to attract a more mature guest but that often means a more discerning one too, so the product has to be right. And nowadays guests are getting younger as the company targets customers in the 35-40-plus age group. Certainly when I went along over New Year there was a cross section of age groups, all happy to pay the higher festive break prices.
Some of the 337 bedrooms are in the Manor House itself and enjoy high ceilings and four-poster beds while others, in the new south wing, have a more contemporary look. My elegant en-suite room was in the new section but I found it fascinating to wander around the public rooms in the main house with their elegant décor, carved wooden fireplace surrounds and delicate chandeliers.
The interior is all the more surprising when you learn that a fire in 1837, so fierce it could be seen 40 miles away, gutted the building and it stood abandoned for 33 years before restoration work started.
But if the interior of the house is worth exploring so are the grounds, and I joined estate manager Paul Young on a walk to learn the secrets of the landscape.
And while it was perhaps not surprising to see muntjac and roe deer in abundance it was surprising to be shown a small cave which formerly housed the skeleton of a whale, a memento of the travels of railway magnate Thomas Brassey, who bought Heythrop as a wedding present for his son Alfred in 1869.
The interior is all the more surprising when you learn that a fire in 183 gutted the building
Badgers and moles are also in evidence, with Paul joking that the latter are “on steroids” and the size of rabbits.
“But here we work with the animals, not against them, and try to preserve life,” he said.
Walk over, it was time for dinner, and on New Year’s Eve we were booked into the hotel’s smallest and most intimate eatery, Brasserie 32, housed in one of the elegant rooms of the main house.
If you want to dine in style at Heythrop
this is the place to opt for, and there’s no supplement to pay.
After dinner, we and fellow diners headed for the Late Lounge – a theatre in all but name to distinguish it from The Theatre on the other side of the building where a rock and roll show was in full swing.
If after-dinner entertainment is one of the essentials of your holiday Heythrop is the place for you. During a threeday stay we caught brilliant tribute acts featuring the songs of artists ranging from Take That and Elton John to Neil Diamond and Adele.
And on New Year’s Eve there was a real blast from the past with Union Gap UK – remember chart topper Young Girl? – before those who hadn’t eaten enough at dinner tucked into a late serving of haggis with whisky sauce.
After a late night followed by a late breakfast on New Year’s Day we decided to chill a little, although there was a full programme of events on the schedule – a little like on a cruise ship – for those who wanted to take part. I did summon up enough energy for a long game of table tennis with my wife though, followed by an enjoyable archery lesson, although my accuracy – or lack of it - meant even the muntjac were happy to graze nearby knowing they were in no danger.
Then it was time to think about dinner again. It’s a hard life staying at Heythrop Park.