AN INSPECTOR CALLS
He pays his way and tells it like it is
THE De Vere Beaumont Estate in Old Windsor is huge. There are more than 420 rooms spread over the campus of what used to be Beaumont College, a Jesuit public school which closed in 1967.
De Vere moved in five years ago and has just lavished £12million on it, with more to come in the next 12 months.
Harry and Meghan will virtually be neighbours when they take up residence in nearby Frogmore Cottage.
It’s close to the River Thames and ideally placed for Windsor and Legoland. Ideally priced, too. You can get a family room for not much more than £100.
On arrival we are handed a map and given rough directions to our room along a 100-metre corridor, at the end of which there is meant to be a lift.
We get completely lost and end up barging through a door marked Staff Only. A chef promises to deliver us safely, but he can’t find it, either. ‘I know where the kitchen is,’ he says in a bid to break the ice.
When we do get there, it’s such a let-down that I ring the front desk and ask if, at the very least, we can have a room that has been refurbished.
‘That is one of our refurbished rooms,’ says the receptionist, who, to her credit, takes pity on us and adds that she will try to find something more agreeable. She tells us we should just leave our stuff where it is. Someone will move it while we have dinner.
That’s exactly what happens, and our new high-ceilinged room is a big improvement.
This is ostensibly a conference hotel. There’s a pool, gym, chapel and three places to eat. We opt for 1705 restaurant just off the lively main bar, and it exceeds our expectations. The Italian manager knows his wines and isn’t phased when he’s told that the selection of those by the glass is pitiful.
‘Leave it with me,’ he says — and comes back with two glasses of delicious Argentinian cabernet sauvignon that aren’t on the list.
There’s something to be said for big hotels, just as there is for big cruise ships. Space, choice, a sense of occasion — and you get plenty of exercise going to and from your room. De Vere Beaumont Estate Burfield Road Old Windsor Berkshire SL4 2JJ 01753 640 000, devere.co.uk Doubles from £119