Dedham Hall & Fountain House Restaurant
Colchester, Essex
Good Hotel Guide Review
Wisteria festoons Wendy and Jim Sarton’s peaceful manor house, in a picture-postcard village at the heart of Constable country. Surrounded by brimming gardens with duck pond, it has ‘nothing chichi’ about it, just a ‘warm and comforting’ ambience, cosy parlours with beamed ceilings, cottage-style bedrooms exposing their oak ribs. The pricing is reasonable and no-nonsense: all rooms cost the same. Most are in converted buildings around the barn-cum-studio where residential art courses are held. We hear tales of the hosts’ kindness – a welcome with tea and home-made brownies by the fire; the day they got up at 5.30 am to cook breakfast for guests who had to make an early start. At night Wendy cooks a three-course dinner of local ingredients with choices at each course, always a vegetarian option. Maybe duck breast with green peppercorn gravy; pan-fried lemon sole with tartare sauce; mushroom and cream cheese pancakes. Art is in the air here: Constable attended school in Dedham; Munnings is remembered at the museum in his former home. After a freshly cooked breakfast you can cross the bridge over the River Stour into Suffolk and take a stroll to
Hotel details
Address
Brook Street
Dedham
Colchester
Essex
CO7 6AD
England
Telephone
01206 323027
Bedrooms
20. 16 in annexe around art studio, some on ground floor suitable for disabled.
Open
all year except Christmas–New Year.
Facilities
2 lounges, bar, dining room, restaurant, studio, free Wi-Fi, in-room TV, 6-acre grounds (pond, gardens), lounge and dining room wheelchair accessible.
Background music
none.
Children
all ages welcomed.
Dogs
allowed in some bedrooms, not in public rooms.
Credit cards
MC, Visa.
Prices
per room B&B single £75, double £120, D,B&B double £105–£180. À la carte/fixed-price dinner, for guests only (or by prior arrangement), £35.
Good Hotel Guide articles about
Dedham Hall & Fountain House Restaurant
- East Anglian Daily Times: 10 of the top hotels to visit in Suffolk and North Essex in 2019
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