Imagine that a ‘stylishly renovated’ château has been lifted from the Loire valley and set down in ‘magnificent’ parkland with lake, fountain and 17th-century dovecote, all in deepest Worcestershire. Part of the Eden Collection (see also Mallory Court, Leamington Spa), the hotel has a ‘splendid hallway with deep, cosy seats by a fireplace’, beyond which bedrooms range from ‘classic’ to ‘feature suite’. A ‘very spacious’ first-floor room was ‘tastefully but soberly decorated, with well-chosen pictures each side of a marble fireplace’. Extra touches included ‘fresh fruit, jars of nuts, pickles, mini-bottle of milk in a fridge’. A bathroom had luxury toiletries, a bath and separate shower. At dinner, Tim Jenkins’s menus (one for veggies) include ‘interesting surprises… pre-starters in amazing upside-down glasses with a hollow; roasted granola on starters’. Typical dishes: pan-fried hake, roasted cauliflower, braised chicory, golden raisins and white balsamic; salt-baked Jerusalem artichokes, sprout leaves, baked yeast with chestnut dressing’. Breakfast, overseen by a ‘pleasant and jovial maître’, brought ‘smoked haddock, perfect poached eggs’. ‘A beautiful place.’ (F and IW, SJ)