Tried & Tested

Hotel check: Coworth Park

4 Dec 2013 by GrahamSmith

BACKGROUND

The Dorchester Collection added this five-star, 70-room country house hotel and spa to its portfolio in September 2010.

Set in 97 hectares of Berkshire parkland, the Coworth Park estate dates back to 1776 and was owned by the Earl of Derby for the first half of the 19th century. This is the first time it has been a hotel.

WHAT'S IT LIKE?

That this is a top-end choice for a break is evident from the moment you make your way up the driveway through the grounds and spot the guests' cars – very pricey looking Porsches and Lamborghinis were parked up at the entrance when I arrived.

Finding a spot for my humble Astra, I made my way into the main building, the Georgian-era Mansion House, and received a warm welcome from immaculate staff.

Coworth Park

The property is split across the Mansion House, where 30 of the rooms and suites are located along with the fine-dining restaurant, bar and most of the meeting space, and – a short walk away – the Stables, which has a mini-village feel and even its own red phone box, from which you can call reception. There is also the three-bedroom Dower House, built in 1775 with its own kitchen and garden.

The Mansion House is beautifully furnished and has a modern, elegant and quite understated feel. One of the inspirations for the design was to "bring the outside in", and so there is lots of daylight, a natural, earthy colour scheme, English smoked oak flooring throughout and tongue-in-cheek horsey artworks (the property has its own equestrian centre and polo fields).

Reception is to the left as you enter and comprises a long wooden table with armchairs for you to relax in as you check in. The Summer Room is immediately ahead, with the Drawing Room leading off it to the right and the bar and Restaurant Coworth Park to the left in a series of adjoining rooms, which in turn lead on to the outdoor terrace and well-groomed grounds to the rear of the property.

Coworth Park Summer Room

The Summer Room

The grounds include a rose garden, a sunken garden discovered during excavations for the hotel restoration, a lake, a grove of lime trees and a 4.5-hectare meadow that blooms with wild flowers in summer. (I thought the autumnal look on my visit just as pretty.) It's a lovely place for a walk.

WHERE IS IT?

Near Ascot, on the A329 and close to the M25 and M3. It is well located for Heathrow airport, being only a 20-minute drive away, and is about 45 minutes from central London.

The estate borders Windsor Great Park and Virginia Water and is close to Wentworth. The nearest train station, Sunningdale, is a five-minute drive. The property has its own helipad.

ROOM FACILITIES

The nature of the buildings mean the rooms and suites are various shapes and sizes (some in the Stables are even duplex), the smallest being 31 sqm.

The entry-level category is Stable Superior, rising up to the Premium suites. Facilities that come as standard include king beds, Bang and Olufsen TVs, Blu-ray players, connectivity hubs, Nespresso machines, laptop safes, desks, and Mitchell and Peach bath amenities.

Coworth Park bathroom

My second-floor Mansion House Executive suite (the Shepheard suite) had a separate luxuriously furnished living room and a four-poster bed, the frame of which was designed to resemble bare trees, complete with a little bird perched on one of the branches.

The bathroom had underfloor heating, a walk-in rainshower and a free-standing copper bath by the window looking onto the grounds to the back of the property (about 90 per cent of the rooms have copper baths). It was a pleasure to spend time in and I had a great night's sleep.

RESTAURANTS AND BARS

Restaurant Coworth Park serves excellent fine-dining cuisine in an elegant setting.

It may have lost its Michelin star last year but the Sunday lunch I had was exquisite – my cauliflower soup with stilton and apple was served with just a nugget of cheese and slivers of fruit in the bowl, with the soup poured in at the table so that the stilton started to melt, the apple staying crisp.

The bar in the Mansion House

The bar in the Mansion House

That was followed by beautifully tender pork with delicately flavoured mash, cabbage and apple sauce, and a decadent milk chocolate ganache with Earl Grey ice cream and caramel. Two courses for Sunday lunch costs £32.95, three courses are £39.95.

I also had a good à la carte breakfast here, though this was the only time during my stay that the service slipped, both my companion's cereal and my glass of water being forgotten. Other than that, service throughout the hotel was excellent.

The Barn is the property's more relaxed dining offering, located next to the stables.

Housed in the original barn frame, now glass fronted to offer views on the parkland and with an outdoor terrace, open kitchen and upstairs bar, it serves fresh, well-presented comfort food such as an excellent potato gnocchi with wild mushrooms, parmesan and parsley (£11 as a starter, £18 as a main) and a flavoursome grilled Perthshire ribeye steak with baked vine tomatoes, mushrooms, chunky chips, and peppercorn or béarnaise sauce (£27.50). I also had a lovely lemon posset.

It had a lively, warm atmosphere on the Saturday evening I dined here.

The bar in the Mansion House offers a wide range of wines, spirits and cocktails, while afternoon tea is served in the Drawing Room, and light meals are available in the Spatisserie in the spa.

BUSINESS AND MEETING FACILITIES

There are four meeting spaces, three of which – the Oval, Garden and Oak rooms – are in the main house.

The first two of these are located on the lower ground floor with their own terraces and hold 80 and 90 delegates theatre-style respectively. The Oak room is behind reception and seats 30.

In the Stables area, the 30-capacity Tower House is an attractive period building with exposed brick walls, a vaulted ceiling and a breakout space in the turret. A marquee can also be set up for 300 guests, and both the Drawing Room and Restaurant Coworth Park have conservatories for private dining.

Activities such as duck herding, archery, ferret racing, falconry, apache buggies and laser clay shooting can be staged in the grounds.

Other possibilities for groups include treasure hunts, millinery classes, private tours of the nearby Maranello Ferrari garage, and "the Windsor Job", where participants drive around Ascot and Windsor in BMW Mini Coopers.

LEISURE FACILITIES

A couple of minutes' walk from the Mansion House is the attractive 1,300 sqm spa. Cleverly designed not to detract from the grounds, the lower floor, where the gym and pool are, is sunken into the ground to allow privacy and yet still let in plenty of daylight; there is also a living roof.

Submerge your head in the 18-metre pool and you will hear music from underwater speakers. It's surrounded by sun loungers, and in warmer weather there is an outdoor sun terrace.

The gym has Technogym equipment. There is also an experience shower and steam room, though no sauna, along with a manicure/pedicure salon, a relaxation room and eight treatment rooms. Carol Joy London, Kerstin Florian and Aromatherapy Associates are the products used.

Coworth Park has its own equestrian centre, stabling for up to 40 horses, a showjumping course, dressage arena and teaching paddock – riders aged four years upwards are welcomed. There are also two professional polo fields, a polo academy, a croquet lawn, tennis court (lessons available) and a kids' club.

In addition, the property has an agreement with nearby Wentworth allowing guests to play the three 18-hole golf courses there without being a full paying member.

VERDICT

A tranquil country setting, luxurious, comfortable surroundings and great dining and spa offerings make Coworth Park a great place for a refined and relaxing break. Its meeting facilities, space for group activities and location near Heathrow also mean it’s a good option for corporate gatherings.


FACT FILE

  • PRICE Internet rates for a weekend stay in January started from £366 for a Stable Superior room
  • CONTACT Coworth Park, Blacknest Road, Ascot, Berkshire; tel +44 (0)1344 876 600; coworthpark.com


Michelle Harbi

Loading comments...

Search Flight

See a whole year of Reward Seat Availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls