BURFORD HOUSE

Olde-worlde place to be coddled in the Cotswolds

SMALL BUT PERFECTLY FORMED, this Tudor house with its low ceilings, leaded windows, old beams and log fires stands proud in a pretty Cotswold town bursting with antique shops and tea rooms. But there's nothing twee about these luxury lodgings, whose rooms are ravishingly styled with a mix of old oak furniture, books, family pictures and porcelain.

Expect Tudor-style four-posters and plenty of cushions.  Shiny bathrooms are designed for spending time in, with roll-top tubs, power showers and an array of bubbles positively encouraging steamy goings-on. We loved Sherborne, with its tub for two.

There are only eight bedrooms here, so breakfast is an informal rather than a starchy affair, with a feast of local fare. If you're peckish later, light lunches and wicked teas are also on the menu.  Think freshly-baked granary bread and delicious home-made cakes, locally smoked salmon and aged farmhouse cheeses.

Wicked teas and damson gin

It's also well worth staying in for the evening, when the honesty bar – stocked with home-made damson gin, quince vodka and a dozen malt whiskies – comes into its own.

But it's the hands-on touch and attention to detail of hosts Ian Hawkins and Stewart Dunkley that makes this stylish abode so special, with hand-written menus, a resident cat, vases of fresh flowers and classical music creating a relaxed sense of ease. If you can tear yourselves away from the bedrooms, the garden is awash with flowers. (Betrothals are apparently rife here).


Burford House was reviewed for Room for Romance by Amanda Kingston

Click on any picture to enlarge it and move through the gallery.

Dining in
The restaurant does not serve dinner but your hosts keep an up-to-date list of great places to eat nearby. Stay in for morning coffee with toasted crumpets and wicked afternoon teas with homemade scones, cakes and pastries. The light lunchtime menu includes  home made spicy Welsh rarebit and Cassoulet. All ingredients come from local suppliers, with granary bread, smoked salmon, clotted cream and fresh garden produce delivered each day are from Cotswold farms.

There’s an honour bar with a fine array of old malts, cognacs and Armagnacs, as well as home made damson gin and quince vodka. Prefer to stay upstairs? Have drinks served to your bedroom – or bathroom. Enjoy a glass of champers in your bubble filled tub.

Breakfast
Full English breakfast is served until 9:30am. Try the smoked haddock, home poached fruit compotes, special-recipe muesli and local honey.

Room service
Available morning and evening.



See & Do
Admire the spires and colleges of historic Oxford University, stroll hand in hand along the banks of the River Windrush and take advantage of the hotel’s chauffeured Scenic Drive around the picture perfect Cotswolds.

Diary Dates

May
Chipping Campden’s music festival in the second half of May has something for everyone.

June
Join the locals at the Burford Festival for a taste of all that’s local.

July
Have a night at the opera – the village of Longborough has a fully fledged opera house, and there’s a 90-minute interval for picnics on the lawn.

GETTING THERE

Location
High Street, Burford, Oxfordshire OX18 4QA

Parking
There is plenty of free parking in the vicinity

Trains
Charlbury station – eight miles

Taxis
GBP 18 approx from the station

Airport
Heathrow – 60 miles

ESSENTIAL INFO

Rates
From GBP 150

Open/closed
Closed Christmas and two weeks in January

Check-in
1pm

Check-out
10:30am

Minimum night stay?
Two nights at weekends and between May – October.

Children
Welcome

Pets
No

Air conditioning
No

Wedding license?
No, but many guests evidently end up proposing here!