Coworth Park is the country house hotel of your dreams. All horse-riding, afternoon tea and cocktails on the terrace, it is a place to indulge all your landed gentry fantasies, while achieving some practically minded rest and relaxation at the spiffiest eco-spa in the South.
For London families, it represents a kind of school holiday holy grail. A place that doesn’t require a long car journey, and is where parents can experience elite luxury, while the kiddies busy themselves with activities galore. It’s enough to make a grown dad weep with gratitude.
As the countryside hangout of the Dorchester Collection, this has the next-level service and flair you’d expect but with a homely feel that allows you to relax. Imagine Soho Farmhouse where everyone isn’t tensely fretting about who’s the most famous. No wonder Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had recently paid a visit (though they did erect a fence around Dower House, the separate three-bedroom Tudor residence here, which seems a little excessive).
Where is it?
Pleasingly close to London at Sunningdale, near Ascot in Berkshire, on the edge of Windsor Great Park. With 240 acres of grounds, you have a huge landscape to become lost in. Put it this way: it has its own polo field.
It has some serious history behind it too. The manor house dates back to 1776, but the land it stands on was first in the history books in 1066, Edward the Confessor gave it to Westminster Abbey. William the Conqueror soon took it over from them. Yes, that kind of serious history.
The place became part of the Dorchester Collection and reopened as a luxury resort in 2010, and now includes an eco-spa which has to be seen to be believed. Build into a hillside, it looks like the lair of a Bond villain who has turned from a life of crime to embrace the wellness trend.
Style
The interiors are Coworth Park softly scream country comfort. Think natural materials, a tastefully autumnal palette, elegant furniture and tactile art, including some stunning figurative sculptures around the gardens by Carol Peace which form their own trail exhorting freedom and wellbeing.
Designer Martin Hulbert last year renovated the aforementioned Dower House and also the crown jewel of the four restaurants on-site, Woven by Adam Smith. The Michelin-starred, rustic British cuisine experience has been matched with a down-to-earth, subtly organic, countrified style in the restaurant. A lighting installation by architect Umut Yamac created to look like threads on a loom is the final flourish in a restaurant that matches an intimate mood with serious flair.
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Generally the effect of Coworth Park, whether its in the Drawing Room for afternoon tea or on the garden-overlooking terrace for cocktails, is a seamless integration with the environment, where outdoors activities are as compelling as indoor indulgence.
Even among all this, The Spa at Coworth Park is spectacular. Talking of the indoor and outdoor being integrated, this eco-spa is so well integrated into the environment you could almost miss it as you walk through the grounds. And inside the sense of harmony is enhance by a light and serene place with huge windows overlooking a wildflower meadow and a soft elegance inside that gives ‘relax you uptight London media fool’ vibes.
Most pertinently, Coworth Park gives ‘best behaviour’ vibes to children without making them feel like abhorrent intruders.
The room
We stayed in the Mansion House Premium Suite, which is essentially a bucket-list uber-treat room that you can’t help but wander around in a kind of ecstatic trance. A beautiful four poster for the adults, luxe twin beds for the kiddies, with a central living room that has a natural, comfortable elegance. It’s the kind of room that makes bad weather outside seem like a gift.
The free standing copper roll-top bath was one of many stand-out features in the suite, while touches like the bottle of champagne on arrival plus cookies and chocolates for the children, made this one of those special memory-making events.
The view over the grounds and beyond across the countryside was spectacular, something truly special to wake up to each morning. And it’s just the quiet above anything isn’t it? After the caterwauling London white noise – foxes and maniacs in our case – it’s amazing how quiet things can be. How much you can appreciate carpets and soft beds. We all slept seriously, with intent.
Food and Drink
The Drawing Room is a picture of relaxed refinement which is perfect for lunch or for cocktails (my partner insisted her French martini was the best she’s ever tasted, and she’s had a few) or for the afternoon tea, which is as gorgeous as its counterpart at the Dorchester. We’re talking a selection of sandwiches (my fave: Waterford Farm roast beef with onion jam and sage on white bread) and sweet treats that are so good (a pecan and maple tart to die for) you even have the patience to try to explain to your children why cream must go on scones first, not jam.
The hot chocolate was a dream for the children while a glass of sparkling Wild Idol and Darjeeling tea were a nice combination for the adults. Extra points here for the atmosphere wrought by a piano player and an open fire, which brings a kind of heightened delight to the whole thing.
While Woven is the jewel here for evening meals, we knew from experience that fine dining and children don’t mix, so we headed to The Barn, which is a buzzy restaurant where the vibe is relaxed and chatty while the food knocks it out of the park. I’d recommend the world-beating Burrata and the beautifully cooked Cornish Sea Bream.
Also don’t forget the new spa café features nourishing dishes created by Coworth Park’s aforementioned executive chef Adam Smith, offering seasonal salads, vibrant bowls, fresh juices and herbal teas that can be enjoyed on the outdoor terrace overlooking the estate. Lovely.
Activities
Horse-riding is one of the big things here, my son and I were taken out by the team at Equestrian at Coworth Park on an unforgettable jaunt around the grounds. These are former racing and polo horses who love the exercise and quite simply there is no better way to explore the grounds than atop a mighty steed. Or indeed, a friendly steed who doesn’t made a couple of city slickers clinging on for dear life. Back at the stables, my daughter had a pony grooming experience which she adored; the staff here are ridiculously friendly.
Also on the horse front, Polo is one of the main draws of Coworth Park, where visitors from near and far come along to watch Guards Polo Club in action, which is always a fun day out. Guests can coincide their visit with a meet, and also have their own Polo lesson too.
But the Kids Club is unsurprisingly the biggest draw for the children themselves. Open Fridays-Sundays during term times and all week during the school holidays, the team there cater to all ages and provide a brilliant environment for pure fun. With our two children ageing out of the drawing and crafting stage, they were still more than happy to concentrate on the games consoles, air hockey and table tennis... we had trouble dragging them out, but then, we had trouble dragging ourselves out of The Spa.
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As mentioned, The Spa at Coworth Park is spectacular, but it was also reimagined last summer. Among the additions are thermal rituals which sit beside the marvellous indoor pool - children are allowed at certain times - and include a Finnish sauna, a citrine-lined steam room and a snow shower. You can spend a lot of time here debating whether its better to do hot or cold first, but I swear by following the steam room with a good rubdown with handfuls of snow. This clears your head nicely.
The gym features the UK’s first Technogym Luxury Artis line, which is highly recommended. Gyms can be quite gimmicky these days but this has a checkup station to offer personalised support and the machines cleverly work to your level whilst gamifying the activities in a way which never seems trite and condescending. Makes fitness-averse types like me willing to attempt to live a little longer.
The Spa also has eight refreshed treatment rooms, offering a menu of bespoke treatments in partnership with ishga, Wildsmith and Made for Life Organics. My partner had a Renewal Facial which seemed to do the trick for her, while my ishga Personalised Wellbeing Massage was that rare thing: a massage I liked. Apparently I was carrying a lot of tension in my body. My inbox has a lot to answer for. I made a mental note to visit the Spa as many weekends as I can, it suddenly felt like life or death.
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In Summary
Coworth Park must be the ultimate countryside break for families. No matter what you choose to do, it’s a vibrant luxe experience which leaves you with a big smile on your face.
As an added bonus for school holidays, there’s extra activities on offer too. This coming February half-term, your children - and you - can have a go at Falconry or Laser Clay Shooting or Archery or various arts and crafts classes.
The place seem to genuinely care about you having the kind of good time that feels like a recharge of batteries, and you (reluctantly) drive away from the place with a carful of rose-cheeked happy souls, in stark contrast to the London scowls you arrive with. What greater testament is there than that?
To book and for more information on half-term deals and events, visit dorchestercollection.com
