Minster Mill

Cotswold escapes don’t get much better than this. With a small but inviting spa staffed by truly expert therapists and a fantastic restaurant serving comforting but expertly prepared dishes in a dramatic timbered barn, you might find it difficult to leave Minster Mill once you’re checked in. But do try, because there’s lots to love about the surrounding areas too.

Set in the tiny village of Minster Lovell, the hotel is right on the edge of the Cotswolds, just 2.5 miles from the market town of Witney, where Cogges Farm was a location for Downton Abbey filming and 2018’s Colette starring Keira Knightley. The cottages that line the streets in Minster Lovell are as quaint and chocolate-box as they come in the Cotswolds, all golden sandstone and creeping climbers. But the main draw in this village is the spectacular ruins of Minster Lovell Hall and Dovecote. Built by one of the wealthiest men in England in the 1430s, it’s now a crumbling mess of turrets, stairways and former dining halls surrounded by grassy banks and woodland. Following renovations, the accommodation has expanded to the Old Swan, a nearby quintessential country inn Minster Mill's sister hotel, featuring 15 charming guest rooms, a cosy pub and a restaurant.

It's dog friendly, with beds, bowls and treats provided for dogs, and they can be left in the room while you dine at breakfast, lunch or dinner, plus Minster Mill is a great base for exploring this area of the Cotswolds, with Bampton – also of Downton Abbey fame – Burford and Bourton-on-the-Water not far away.

The hotel’s grounds sprawl along the River Windrush, with lawns, trickling streams and patios with fire pits. Bedrooms come in various guises, from cosy first-floor hideaways to ground floor rooms with patios. The Garden Rooms are the finest of them all, though. Right at the top end of the property, they have their own conservatories cloaked in grapevines, private patios and their own parking spaces, too.