Cowley Manor

From the outside, Cowley Manor is an absolutely classical Italianate mansion, actually loosely based on Rome’s Villa Borghese. Seemingly a traditional English country house, this appears from a distance to be the sort of place one might set a BBC adaptation of a nineteenth-century literary classic. In fact, Lewis Carroll is purported to have first met Alice Liddell in the gardens of this very estate.

The interiors, though, have had a complete overhaul by the irreverent young London firm of De Matos Storey Ryan, making just fifteen rooms from the mansion itself, and another fifteen from the stable block. And it is the striking contrast of the ultra-modern interiors with their country estate environment that makes Cowley Manor such a special place.

Each room was individually conceived, with custom furniture and fabrics, and plans vary widely and boldly. Some have private terraces, some sitting rooms, and at least one has its bathtub out in the main room, at the foot of the bed. Wooden-floored bathrooms are a welcome break from boring old marble. The rooms, all quite spacious, are categorized from Good and Better through Great and Exceptional, and, in an impressive display of intellectual honesty, there is only one Best, astonishingly large, with breathtaking views of the hills and lakes.

Each also features high-speed internet and a thoroughly modern Loewe television set, complete with PlayStation, though one would surely feel some guilt at using them in these surroundings. Then again, why not? This place is all about unwinding, not forced-march self-improvement. The futuristic award-winning C-side spa deals in decadent treatments, each bespoke and exclusively designed for C-Side, with an emphasis on pampering rather than austere health and wellness, and the pools are for lounging, not time trials.

Some may consider the whimsical modernist décor theatrical, but the fussy traditionalism of most country house hotels is every bit as premeditated, it’s just a different kind of performance. Ultimately what matters is that the hotel is inspiring as well as functional, and takes utmost advantage of its idyllic countryside surroundings—and this one most certainly does.

How to get there: Cowley Manor is approximately a 1½-hour drive from Heathrow Airport and 20 minutes from Kemble train station.