It isn’t easy to stand out among such a competitive field – I’m talking about the ‘best hotels in the Cotswolds’ category, of which there are many – but the award-winning boutique Hotel Dormy House more than meets the challenge. From the moment I walked in the door and saw the cosy sofas and roaring fireplaces, to the friendly welcome at reception and then finally, arrived at The Snug, one of the nicest hotel rooms I’ve stayed in, I knew I was in for a treat for my stay in the Cotswolds.
Dormy House has cosy lounges with roaring fires to welcome you the moment you arrive
Located on the massive Farncombe Estate, which is perched on the hills above Broadway, one of the prettiest towns in the the Cotswolds, Dormy House was originally a 17th century farmhouse and has been owned by the same family since 1977. However while the building is charming, it is certainly not fusty or old-fashioned, and the luxury hotel spa – handily in the main building – could hardly be more modern, with its sleek 16-metre infinity pool, salt steam room, tropical shower, glass-fronted Finnish sauna and outdoor hot tub.
As a spa hotel in the Cotswolds it ticks all the boxes – you can walk straight from your room to the spa in your fluffy robes – and as a foodie hotel it also delivers. The atmosphere is very much in the Soho Farmhouse/Pig Hotels bracket of smart, chic, professional, but it is also welcoming, friendly and casual rather than snooty. After spending the night here, I can safely say Dormy House certainly deserves its reputation as one of the best luxury hotels in the Cotswolds.
Our bedroom in The Snug – minimalist and very relaxing
Our bedroom in Dormy House
Our bedroom in Dormy House was one of the nicest I’ve stayed in. It was called The Snug and had a separate lounge – with a sofa, TV, mini bar and all the modcons you’d expect, and a wonderful cosy bedoom in calm Scandi colours.
The bathroom was immaculate, with a massive walk-in shower and the deepest bath I have ever bathed in: a massive tin tub in which I soaked for a good hour, my magazine propped up on the soap dish stand and sipping a pre-dinner G&T while listening to music from the bedside radio. Even the in-room iPod, which isn’t usually my type of thing, scored points because you could easily order cocktails through it – and the little room owl (above) was very cute.
To book directly with the hotel go to Dormy House
To compare prices go to Expedia – Hotels.com – HotelsCombined
To read more reviews and see the latest prices go to Dormy House on TripAdvisor
The simply massive tin bath
Dormy House restaurant
We’d decided to eat in the more informal Potting Shed at the front of the hotel as breakfast would be in the Garden Room restaurant, and it was certainly a more relaxed atmosphere, with music blaring out from the walls (they did turn it down) and a friendly but casual service. I started with wild mushrooms on toast with crispy duck egg (£8) while my guest had the potted Brixham crab with warm blinis (£9) – the crab was delicious and the wild mushrooms were divine, perfect for a cold wintry evening.
Delicious wild mushrooms
As the occasion called for something hearty and comforting we decided to push the boat out and share the 20 oz T-bone steak (£40) cooked in the new ‘Bertha’ charcoal and wood-fired oven – it was very nice but plonked down without ceremony, which was a shame and an opportunity missed and the baked beetroot we’d ordered had been completely forgotten. The seasonal greens were terrific though and after all that we were way too full for dessert.
Our porterhouse steak – tasty but lacking a certain aplomb
While the Potting Shed wasn’t the kind of place to linger long after your meal, thankfully there were no shortage of places to sit so we relocated to one of the front rooms by a roaring fire which was being well-looked after by the many staff, and enjoyed coffee and petits fours before turning in.
Back at The Snug – we had a lounge, hall, bedroom and bathroom to ourselves
Spending the night at Dormy House
The bed was beautifully comfortable, the sheets top quality and it was with a heavy heart that we headed for breakfast the next morning, knowing it would soon be time to leave our Snug and return to the real world. Thankfully breakfast, as you’d expect for a luxury boutique hotel, was excellent – you can’t fault a place which offers free Bloody Marys and Bucks Fizz as a matter of course – and came with a whole range of cooked options from dippy eggs to kippers, smoked salmon and ‘the Full Dormy’.
The Garden Shed dining room which serves breakfast as well as a more formal dinner in the evenings
There was just time for a walk around to check out some of the other rooms, some of which, like the Rose Cottage were separate to the main building. However I was delighted to see that none, in my view, were as lovely as my Snug.
Dormy House, Willersey Hill, Broadway, Worcs WR12 9LF
01386 852711
[email protected]
Dormy House is a member of Pride of Britain Hotels group, Small Luxury Hotels and Mr and Mrs Smith and was the Small Luxury Hotels Hotel of the Year in 2017. Rooms start at £255 a night for bed and breakfast and there is a two-night minimum stay at weekends
To book directly with the hotel go to Dormy House
To compare prices go to Expedia – Hotels.com – HotelsCombined
To read more reviews and see the latest prices go to Dormy House on TripAdvisor
If you like reviews of top hotels in the Cotswolds then you’ll also love reading these reviews:
Barnsley House hotel and spa – a wonderfully cosy Cotswolds hideaway
Cosy Cotswolds charm at The Painswick award-winning hotel
Calcot Manor luxury hotel: a family-friendly hotel in the Cotswolds
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