A recently refurbished four star hotel with a focus on top class leisure facilities, Tewkesbury Park, tucked among The Cotswolds and The Malverns, is a hotel offering elegance and tranquillity. I visited in the early autumn and enjoyed a relaxing spa treatment and marvelled at how peaceful the location is – I couldn’t hear a thing from my room.
HOTEL
Tewkesbury Park has seen a transformation over the last 6 months in the form of a multi million pound renovation as well as gaining new members of staff – one of whom was pleased to tell me how happy they were to work there and much of a friendly place it is to work – always good to know the staff are happy!
The bar, lounge and orangery are all on the lower floor, on differing levels, and are all decorated in the colourful, yet classy, blues, golds, yellows, creams, dark woods accentuated with soft fabrics with shelving holding books, plants, vases and ornaments. It is all very comfortable, relaxing, peaceful and welcoming and the contemporary reception had a glass roof and is open and light.
There are 85 rooms and nine suites, which have been updated, a 73 par golf course, also newly done I am told, a pool, gym, outdoor hot tub, plenty of fitness classic to partake in, outdoor squash and tennis courts, a golf bar and croquet lawn.
The hotel can cater for events such as weddings, parties and conferences in a number of dedicated spaces including a marquee in the 163 acres of grounds, large suites or elegant dining rooms recently decorated by Jane Clayton and Company. There are also lots of opportunities to enjoy Christmas throughout November and December including afternoon teas, party nights, private parties and a three night Christmas stay and two or three night New Year celebrations.
ROOM
The hotel overlooks the site of the 1471 Battle of Tewkesbury and the nine suites are named after key characters, who fought in the battle.
Speaking of which, I was put up in one of the utterly luxurious suites, which had beautiful décor and a bathroom to sell your granny for. Named King Richard III, it certainly felt fit for royalty offering triple aspect views of the resident 18 hole golf course, surrounding hills and Tewkesbury Abbey to peer upon. A huge bed with a soft grey headboard offered a centrepiece (and great night’s sleep) as well as complementing the duck egg blue or softer blue/grey walls. There was a small sofa at the end of the bed and a two seater sofa in the lounge area along with dark wood furniture and two dark leather armchairs.
The suite was bigger than my first apartment and was far better decorated – it was a beautiful setting to spend the evening. Lots of light features on dimmer switches, air con, a Nespresso machine and a bathroom mirror with built in TV and radio offered the contemporary luxuries, while the room retained a classic feel with patterned wallpaper and curtains and elegant, soft colours throughout. A walkway to the bathroom held a dark wood dressing table, a huge gold framed mirror and an inbuilt wardrobe, which held a safe and robes.
As mentioned, the bathroom was quite stunning with a toilet behind one door, a large walk in wet room designed for two, double sink feature and a stand alone bath perched in the centre of the spacious room. Dark wood flooring matched the sink surround and grey patterned tiles in the wet room matched the wallpaper behind the bath. The suite was beautifully decorated throughout, with sumptuous furnishings, oozing elegance and retaining a classic country hotel feel.
SPA
During my stay I enjoyed a spa treatment with Vicky, who met me at reception and was very friendly and chatty. She explained that there are three members of staff offering treatments over two rooms and a nail bar. The treatment area is located separately to the pool, which was nice when having the treatment and it was peaceful, but may not necessarily be easy to locate. The treatment list is small but covers a range of options, some quite unique, such as a detoxing tea wrap or candle massage. I opted for a bespoke facial, which was wonderful and included lots of luscious smelling thick creams and lotions by Natural Spa Factory of Bath being massaged into my skin. Halfway through I had an ‘illuminating’ face mask applied, and while it set I was treated to a shoulder, arm and hand massage, which was very therapeutic. The face mask was peeled off and more lotions were rubbed in and I was left feeling very relaxed indeed, Vicky did a great job!
FOOD
Breakfast and dinner are served in The Orangery and the main restaurant. The latter is yet to be refurbished but is next in line I was told, however The Orangery certainly has been made over. A beautiful space with windows galore and a glass roof, the décor of the area reflects the other public rooms in the hotel. Bathed in natural light, only a few lamps are dotted about to provide some soft lighting when dark and blues, creams, gold, geometric patterns and plants offer the elegant, modern décor that reflects elsewhere.
Executive chef Anuj Thakar is passionate about using top quality local produce, where possible, and serves up delights for dinner such as pan fried Lyme Bay scallops with a haddock bon bon broad beans and pea purée; Gloucester Old Spot Pork three ways – loin, belly, ham hock croquette – with apricot purée, tenderstem broccoli and nut muesli; or caramelised roast peaches with frozen yogurt, granola, white rum and honey syrup.
Sadly I wasn’t well enough to eat dinner (nothing to do with the hotel, I must stress) so I took myself to my room, which was a real haven, and Nick ordered room service – a pizza, which was delivered in good time and I was informed was delicious. I ate some breakfast – selected from a hot and cold buffet, which had the standard cooked breakfast items as well as juices, fruits, cereals, croissants and breads.
In a nutshell
I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Tewkesbury Park, as did Nick. You could easily lose the hours here on the golf course, in the pool or over a book in the lounge. It is welcoming, comfortable and tranquil, just what you need from a relaxing break away.
Address: Lincoln Green Ln, Tewkesbury GL20 7DN
Phone: 01684 272300
tewkesburypark.co.uk
GETTING THERE
We took a Cross Country train from the depths of Devon to Cheltenham Spa, taking in the glorious greenery and stunning waterside views around the Dawlish coastline – a real treat for the eyes for anyone travelling on that particular rail line. Within minutes of placing our bottoms on our comfy first class seats, Nick and I were greeted and offered some refreshments. There’s a Monday to Friday and weekend/bank holiday food menu as well as a drinks menu. All offer complimentary items (breakfast muffin, croissant, cream tea, orange juice, coffee) as well as extra paid for items (spicy meatball panini, cookies, wine). During our outbound journey we enjoyed some coffees and a breakfast muffin, which was filled with sausage, egg and bacon. We were regularly asked if we wanted anything else and we felt well looked after.
There was a worry that our return journey would be delayed as there were signalling issues in Bristol, however, it didn’t affect us and we arrived home on time. First class travel on board Cross Country Trains offers a more spacious environment with three wider seats covering the width of the carriage compared to four in standard class. In fact a lady wandered and asked us and another passenger if it was worth spending a bit more for first class as she had a long distance journey coming up and we all said yes! The train was on time, picking us up and dropping us off and it was a very pleasant journey.
