For his daughter Rose’s tenth birthday, Alex Larman finally makes the long-awaited pilgrimage to Coworth Park — and discovers a five-star retreat where Michelin-starred dining, indulgent spa treatments and horseback adventures combine to create the ultimate family-friendly countryside stay…
A confession, Arbuturian readers. I have wanted to visit Coworth Park in Berkshire ever since it opened in 2010, but for one reason or another, I have never managed to make the relatively short trip over from Oxford. Yet it was my daughter’s tenth birthday recently, and there seemed no better reason to head to the idyll than to celebrate her arrival in double figures. After all, Coworth Park, part of the estimable Dorchester Collection, prides itself on being family-friendly to a point that other hotels aren’t. Given how hard Rose is to please – something that I have extensive first-hand experience of – was this establishment going to live up to its harshest and most uncompromising critic’s expectations?
We arrived at Coworth Park on a chilly Saturday towards the end of that long, miserable winter, but the warmth of the welcome -and the sincerity thereof – immediately lifted our spirits. We had been upgraded to the Derby suite, and when we walked in there, complete with magnificent, sweeping views of the grounds, no expense had been spared to make our first impressions welcome. A bottle of champagne (Veuve, naturally) sat coquettishly in an ice bucket, and a selection of sweet treats awaited our inspection, including a miniature birthday cake for Rose.
And, best of all, were a selection of gifts, including a personalised balloon of a horse and a Juicy Couture jewellery-making box. The suite was expansive and beautifully appointed, with a free-standing copper bath, a luxurious four-poster bed and a vast amount of space. It was luxurious and intimate at the same time, and it would have been the easiest thing in the world to spend the entire weekend there, but work had to be done. If ‘work’ was the mot juste.
The lavishly appointed spa complex is a short walk from the main house, and post-refurbishment last year, it gleams with modernity and purpose. Rose was thrilled to dive into the semi-subterranean swimming pool, complete with underwater music – heaven knows how they managed that one – and a selection of saunas and even a ‘snow shower’ on the side, but it was time for me to surrender to the tender ministrations of a more than usually excellent spa therapist in the form of Courtney for an hour’s ‘relax and rejuvenate’ treatment.
Using the fine ishga products, half an hour’s rigorous and refreshing back massage was followed by an equally comprehensive facial to leave me feeling both relaxed and rejuvenated; it very much lived up to expectations, and sent me out of the spa feeling like a million dollars.
However, the trip was not just about me, but about Rose, and so there were treats aplenty in store. The hotel has two restaurants, the Michelin-starred Woven by Adam Smith and the more casual (and therefore family-friendly) The Barn. One of the delights of Coworth Park is that because it’s such a large site is that guests can be ferried between the various locations in buggies, and so we arrived at the Barn after a suitably breathless nighttime ride (although, charmingly, there is the quirkily specific touch that there is a speed limit of 9 and a half mph). Inside the warmth, both literal and metaphorical, is mirrored by a carefully chosen menu of comfort food classics that are deliberately aiming at a very different clientele to Adam Smith.
Starters of grilled octopus and goat’s cheese beignets are delicious, just as mains of melt-in-the-mouth beef short rib and trout live up to any gourmand’s expectations; the restaurant’s no slouch on the drinks front, either, with tip-top cocktails including a perfect Old Fashioned and a very excellent espresso martini, to say nothing of a well-chosen wine list whether by the glass (a very fine Riesling) or the bottle (an equally quaffable Chianti). And Rose was provided for amply, too, whether it was the child’s trout and chips that she enjoyed for a main course, the decidedly virgin mango cocktail she enjoyed or the soft serve ice cream, complete with sprinkles, that wrapped the meal up deliciously. I could only look on enviously from my equally excellent banana split, which rounded the dinner off with style.
After an excellent night’s sleep, it was time for a deeply satisfying breakfast in Woven – the pastries were a particularly sumptuous delight – and after some time spent in the pool, there was a last treat for Rose in the form of a not-too-challenging but thoroughly enjoyable equestrian adventure, in which she saluted Coworth Park’s horseriding associations by going on a gentle, but still rather thrilling, escorted horseback saunter around the grounds for an hour.
The experience was somewhere between soothing and dramatic for our little equestrian, who had been nervous about the prospect but very swiftly came to enjoy the unusual sensation, and swiftly decided that she would like her very own horse; not likely, alas, but certainly something to consider in the next lifetime.
At last, it was time to leave. We could have done with another day to wander round the grounds and admire the unusual, striking modern sculpture, courtesy of the artist Carol Peace, and of course had more time to luxuriate in the stylish and comfortable surroundings. Coworth Park is the luxury hotel of your dreams, somewhere that is rich both in splendour and five-class, hugely friendly service, and leaving was a terrible wrench. But rest assured we shall return, and I cannot wait for such a reunion. And nor can Rose. Perhaps she can foot the bill next time.
Coworth Park is part of The Dorchester Collection. For more information, including details of Woven by Adam Smith, please visit www.dorchestercollection.com.
