‘As soon as you pull up, a besuited employee emerges, bags are lifted, car keys handed over for valet parking.’ Inspectors were impressed by a stay at this luxury hotel and ‘superb’ spa (Relais & Châteaux). One of the more ‘modestly priced’ rooms (‘there are huge suites’) was ‘lovely, with blue and cream, broad-striped silk wallpaper, two pink armchairs placed for watching TV, a wood-clad bathroom with a shower over a curved bath, candles, robes, slippers, L‘Occitane toiletries’. The spa has an indoor/outdoor pool and an ‘assortment of beautifully designed, differently heated rooms – sauna, steam room, caldarium’. A stroll revealed gardens divided into ‘rooms’, ‘many lawned, with a water feature’. There are ‘impressive’ public spaces, a ‘welcoming’ bar. In the dining room, Michelin-starred chef Niall Keating cooks tasting menus for omnivores, pescatarians and vegetarians. There is simpler fare in the brasserie (‘excellent chargrilled prawns, perfectly cooked lamb loin, lemon posset and raspberry sorbet’); small plates in the Green Room. A ‘beautifully presented’ breakfast brings ‘excellent crisp croissants, perfectly poached eggs with smoked salmon’. One’s cup runneth over. This hotel is also a member of Pride of Britain.