Off to The Cotswolds this time, taking time away from London. It was just a little over an hour train journey to Kemble and a quick taxi ride to The Rectory Hotel in Crudwell.
It was only a short stay so we wanted to make the most of it. We had purposefully arrived earlier …
To have lunch at the hotel’s sister pub, The Potting Shed, just down the road.
Do you think they purposefully sat us at this table next to a gallery wall of dog portraits? LOL!
After a lunch of fish-n-chips, as one does, we returned to the hotel and couldn’t wait to see our room!
Oh, Mum, look! Just what you wanted – a rolled-top bath tub!
And the view from our window …
And yup! The bed was mighty fine too!
We went to explore the grounds – we could see the All Saints’ Church next door to which this Rectory once belonged.
And we were told that this is the original baptism pool for the church.
A very English garden …
Did you say we’re going to the pool?!?!?! Yay!
How cool is this that we can hang out by the pool? But no swimming for us though … no worries, we’re not swimmers!
It was full of guests in the afternoon. We waited there towards the end of the day when it had cooled down just a tad before we sat for a little while.
In the evening, we had choice to dine in the bar or the drawing room.
By then sun was starting to set and the temperature outside was a lot cooler – and Mum fancied a glass of rose outside.
And went on to have dinner under cloudless skies in the garden.
There were a few other doggies who were also staying and we would see one passing ever so often.
An evening stroll in the garden after supper.
And one of the doggies staying in The Cottage saw us and came to say hello.
Even in the night, the garden was magical.
Early next morning, we wandered over to the church next door for a scamper …
And back in time for breakfast in The Drawing Room.
All too soon, our Cotswolds escape was coming to an end … and we had a little run around the front garden before we headed back to London.
We loved our little Cotswolds adventure – one of our favourite counties.
May’s comment: This early eighteenth century stone-walled Georgian clergy house was once the residence of the rector of the All Saints’ Church. It was designed with a large number of bedrooms to accommodate the rector’s 14 children.
A contemporary, relaxed Cotswolds country house hotel and restaurant, it has 18 bedrooms. Three are allocated as dog-friendly rooms but they will allocate some of the other rooms and charge a higher cleaning fee.
Some rooms have the rolled-top bathtub. I would normally be excited to have a hot bath in the evening but this time I wanted to fill it with cold water! It was 29 degrees outside. Just remembered to only ask for bath tubs in cooler climate!
The only place at The Rectory where dogs were not allowed was in the restaurant, but the same menu of classic food with a contemporary edge was served in the bar, outside in the garden or in the drawing room.
We were allowed to sit by the pool, but on a very hot Summer’s day it really wasn’t ideal for the dogs – even though we were there at the end of the day.
The Rectory Hotel is a definite return to place. Simply idyllic English countryside. Crudwell, Malmesbury SN16 9EP
