Ellenborough Park: Our Favourite Country Escape

My husband and I chose the greyest winter in our memory to stay put in London. In hindsight, what were we thinking, but in January this sounded like a smart plan: save up to treat ourselves this summer. Come April and we were both starting to research the symptoms of SAD. 

So when an opportunity to head out of London - even for a night - presented itself, we jumped at the chance. Since neither of us are born-Brits we had only been to the Cotswolds once prior, and the underlying memories from that trip were: fresh air, stars in the sky, and no mobile service - sign me up. We took a two-hour train trip out to Ellenborough Park, in Cheltenham, for all of the above.

You know you're not in London anymore when... Your cab driver gives you a 15-minute tour of the surrounding area and 'hot spots'. From that point on we were feet up...

Driving up to the hotel which is built on the old Cheltenham Racecourse we were convinced we were entering a castle - all Cotswold stone and towers, a Union Jack blowing in the wind. It was a picture, sprawled across the hillside, and dating back to the 1500s. 

We were treated to a tour of the 62-room property designed by Nina Campbell, which includes a new wing, where our room was located, that has fitness facilities, an outdoor heated pool (which saw a lot of use for early April) and a lovely view of the main house. We ended our mini tour in the spa - how any good tour should end - for a joint aromatherapy venture. After all, if you're only leaving the city for 24 hours you need to do all you can to unwind as quickly as possible. The massages worked a treat and we were down to the Tudor Club brasserie for lunch and coffee, where we had club sandwiches with salad (loved!), onion rings (would skip) and a butternut squash soup (very tasty).

As it was howling down rain for most of the afternoon, we were confined to the tea room, equipped with our books and a few magazines. No one, including us, seem too bothered to nestle up in this grand yet cosy room to wait out the rain. As we had just spent a couple hours chatting over a meal, we skipped the afternoon tea, but it looked decadent!

We grabbed cocktails in the bar before heading to the Beaufort Dining Room for a three-course meal later that night. I had expected good British fare, we got delicious, artfully prepared food all of which was locally sourced. The scallops starter was a treat, but the mains - Chateaubriand for me, and duck breast for my husband - really wowed us. For dessert my husband had beetroot, which came a close second to my pistachio and toffee parfait - which looked nothing like any strack treat I'd seen before, but it tasted better than any of them.

We had a final glass of wine before returning to our room - a plush suite overlooking the outdoor pool - for the night. Breakast the next day was a generous buffet of yoghurts, fruits and pastries as well as freshly prepared, egg-based hot plates. 

As always, our stay went too fast, but I'd be lying if I said we didn't enjoy the ride.

A two-night stay in a traditional room in May will cost from £495. A single aromatherapy massage will cost £75. Log on to ellenboroughpark.com for more information.

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