When you’ve experienced as many luxury hotels as I have, you know there are 5-star hotels and 5-star hotels, and Whatley Manor, a short drive from the enchanting Cotswold towns of Malmesbury and Tetbury, is up there with the best. Nestled in 12 acres of parkland and beautiful landscaped gardens, the award-winning Aquarias Spa and Michelin starred restaurant, The Dining Room, are merely added extras to this rural idyll which gives every guest sweeping down the drive the sense that they are miles away from ordinary life and everyday cares. Whether you’re checking in for the weekend, enjoying a spa day, or visiting for a gourmet dining experience or afternoon tea, there’s no better spring pick-me-up after a long winter.
The Landolt family who purchased Whatley in 2000, not only lovingly restored the grade-II listed manor house back to its former glory, but imbued in every member of staff a sense of pride and belonging which translates as the personable, welcoming feeling which guests experience the moment they step through the door. And it is this and not awards, star-shaped or otherwise, which keeps guests returning year upon year. It is easy to think that Whatley has been established as a hotel for far longer than it has because of the ownership and team.
Dating from the 18th century, it’s hard to conceive that the property was once the heart of a working farm. Now surrounded by immaculate gardens, just as it was during the 1920s when it was known as ‘Twatley Manor’ and privately owned by a Canadian fellow by the name of Herbert Choplin Cox, who added a wing and commissioned the Arts and Crafts gardens that Whatley Manor’s team of gardeners have devoted themselves to recreating; offering room-like spaces, each with a unique atmosphere of their own. During March, Whatley’s gardeners complete their pruning in the elevated rose garden; guiding the tendrils of the climbing varieties over the stone walls to ensure a cascading floral spectacle come the summer.
As Easter weekend approaches, the pops of colourful tulips parade in the deep borders, while the trumpets of the narcissi sway so merrily in the gentle breeze they look as though they were about to sound a march from Pomp and Circumstance – a welcome sight indeed. While every month offers up an English horticultural paradise at Whatley, it is the glimpse of the cherry trees dressed in white blossoms that reminds me to visit more often. Next, it will be the turn of the wisteria gracing the manor, then the apple trees in the orchard who will deck themselves out in their pink blossomed finery. Come summer I’ll make my way to the wild flower meadow and run my fingers through the tall grasses in order to reconnect with nature.
Set apart from the ornamental gardens is the no-dig kitchen garden, allowing chefs to develop menus around the carefully planned bounty and offer diners the chance to sample the finest homegrown produce throughout the calendar. The majority of plants are propagated in the Victorian glasshouses, where the gardeners also cultivate a wide variety of fruit and vegetables including cucumbers, tomatoes, chillies and aubergines.
In addition to serving the hotel’s two restaurants, including one Michelin-star The Dining Room under Chef Ricki Weston and the more informal Grey’s Brasserie, where a 2-course lunch is served to Garden Tour guests (on selected dates from May – September 2026), the Whately-grown delights are also a key feature of the hotel’s seasonally-changing afternoon tea, served in The Drawing Room or on the terrace during the summer months.
Although our visit coincided with a joyously sunny spring day, with Italian meringue clouds on a Peter Rabbit blue sky, there was still a chill in the air and we were grateful to settle in armchairs by the log fire, following a walk to the nearby-flowing River Avon with our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, whom the staff always fuss with genuine affection. Besides a generous supply of gravy bones, stored in Kilner jars and kept at sheltered locations around the garden or inside entrances, fresh towels, bowls and blankets are also on hand. Twas the calm before the long Easter bank holiday weekend when families will get together, some of whom may not have seen each other since Christmas, and we could sense the expectancy in the air. There really are few pleasures greater than enjoying afternoon tea in an English country house hotel as charming as this.
Presenting us both with 3-tier cake stands shortly after the arrival of our tea choices, the restaurant manager recommended a glass of the refreshingly crisp Bolle blanc de blanc 0.5% to accompany our savouries; a canape-sized red pepper tart and a trio of finger sandwiches including Coronation chicken, Bibury trout with dill cream cheese and cucumber, Sherston egg mayonnaise with mustard cress. This was followed by the best gluten free buttermilk fruit scones I’ve ever tasted, served with silky clotted cream and strawberry jam and a selection of what I like to call ‘fancy cakes.’ What better way to start the Easter weekend?
Afternoon tea at Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa, Easton Grey, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, SN16 0RB, is served from Monday to Saturday from 12.30-3.30pm and Sundays 2-3.30pm. priced at £42.50 pp (gluten free, vegan and vegetarian menus available), with the option to add a glass of Gusbourne English sparkling wine, an alcohol free cocktail or a glass of Bolle Blanc de Blanc 0.5%. Bookings must be made in advance. Gift vouchers are available. For more information and reservations please visit the website.
