Travel Blog – Mr & Mrs Smith Boutique & Luxury Hotels

It may only be October and there’s all the fun and festivity of Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night to get through first, but wise birds are getting organised early for Christmas. Join them by booking in at this week’s hottest hotel, The Montpellier Chapter in the Cotswolds, for a December trip to buy gorgeous gifts at HRH Prince Charles’ Highgrove Estate…

Style Modern makeover
Setting Listed Georgian Villa

Why this week? Guests arriving on either the 7th or 14th December will be whisked off on a private visit to Prince Charles’ Highgrove Estate in Tetbury on this last-minute craft-based Christmas shopping offer. After picking up artisan goods for your loved ones’ homes and gardens, you’ll have cream tea on the estate, before a private transfer back to the Montpellier Chapter.

Our favourite bits This is a hotel for geeks: all the mod cons are here to be fiddled with. Even the wine list is brought to you by iPad. There are good old-fashioned books in the library, though. Foodies are also well catered for. Under the guidance of Simon Hopkinson, talented chef Tom Raines delivers seasonal Modern British fare under a soaring barrel-vaulted ceiling; we loved the pork wrapped in bacon, served with belly pork, crackling to die for, potato puree and apple sauce.

Mr & Mrs Smith say ‘Hospitality research shows that guests judge a stay largely by first impressions: obviously Swire, owners of the nascent Chapter hotel chain, have taken this lesson to heart. Who has not despaired when arriving at big-branded hotels to see queues to register and queues at the lifts? Give me the small, personal offering every time.

The interior is full of high ceilings, original parquet floors, luxurious thick carpets and heavy wooden doors. The bedrooms are very hi-tech: an iPhone in each with an app providing all the necessary information. We dump our luggage and head down to the bar for an aperitif. The chauffeuse remarks on the furniture: it is all genuine designer kit, like De La Espada and B&B Italia. She is impressed. I am more taken with the wonderfully reviving Bellini I’ve ordered. The fact that the waiter offered me a choice of three flavours is a symbol of how sophisticated the provinces have become in recent years. And very good news it is too…’

Read the full anonymous review of the Montpellier Chapter in the Cotswolds

You say ‘If you want a very reasonably priced stay at a cool contemporary hotel, with a room full of gadgets in the heart of Cheltenham, this is the hotel for you. The atmosphere in the bar and library in the evening was relaxed and warm, and the hotel restaurant is buzzy and hip.’
(Candyce, GoldSmith, stayed on 15 Jun 2011)

Read more Guestbook reviews of the Montpellier Chapter

Thanks to Sally Hackman for help compiling this post.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 28th, 2011 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Cotswolds, Hotel of the Week. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.