Confused Cotswolds
Nov 2nd, 2005, 02:53 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Confused Cotswolds
Am going to the Cotswolds for the night in December and can't decide between The Dormy House hotel in Broadway and the Charingworth Manor in Chipping Campden. Any input gratefully received!!
Nov 3rd, 2005, 09:37 PM
#5
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
No idea about the hotels.
But Broadway is a pretty, prettily located, village whose economy is based almost 100% on tourism. It also has an exceptionally boring, relatively new, main church, and a general feel of being a stage set.
Chipping Campden is a wonderful (and mostly pretty) small town, with a significant life beyond tourism. It feels like what it is: a place people use (and have used for centuries) to do things in, whether that's going to WI meetings, buying wine from an excellent wine merchant or drinking in proper pubs. Its church epitomises a near-millennium of continuous involvement with the town. It also has more twee thatched cottages than there's room for on all the chocolate boxes in the Cadbury factory.
Unless there's a significant difference between the hotels, Ch C wins several hands and feet down IMHO.
But Broadway is a pretty, prettily located, village whose economy is based almost 100% on tourism. It also has an exceptionally boring, relatively new, main church, and a general feel of being a stage set.
Chipping Campden is a wonderful (and mostly pretty) small town, with a significant life beyond tourism. It feels like what it is: a place people use (and have used for centuries) to do things in, whether that's going to WI meetings, buying wine from an excellent wine merchant or drinking in proper pubs. Its church epitomises a near-millennium of continuous involvement with the town. It also has more twee thatched cottages than there's room for on all the chocolate boxes in the Cadbury factory.
Unless there's a significant difference between the hotels, Ch C wins several hands and feet down IMHO.
Nov 4th, 2005, 10:19 AM
#6
I 100% agree w/ flanner. I don't know either hotel but if your only choices were Chipping Campden and Broadway - Chipping Campden hands down. I really only go into Braodway if I want to visit one of the couple of VERY high end antiques shops there. Otherwise - it really isn't a typical Cotswold town/village.
The two towns I'd look for as a base for the Cotswolds would be Burford or Chipping Campden w/ Stow-on-the-Wold a close third. Those three all have good shopping, pubs, restaurants, churches, etc.
But if you want a quieter place, there are MANY really lovely smaller villages all through the area w/ B&Bs and hotels.
The two towns I'd look for as a base for the Cotswolds would be Burford or Chipping Campden w/ Stow-on-the-Wold a close third. Those three all have good shopping, pubs, restaurants, churches, etc.
But if you want a quieter place, there are MANY really lovely smaller villages all through the area w/ B&Bs and hotels.
Nov 6th, 2005, 04:34 PM
#7
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 189
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We always stay at the Fosse Manor Hotel just south of Stow-on-the-Wold. It can be booked at www.smoothound.co.uk. You get a 20% discount using this site. Breakfast and VAT is included in the price. It's a lovely place to stay.
Nov 6th, 2005, 05:18 PM
#8
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,181
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We loved Crestow House in Stow-on-the-Wold. It's just across the road from the entrance to the town of Stow, so it's out of any tourist crunch that might develop, with wonderful views, behind the Victorian mansion, of those hobbit-perfect hills topped by little round trees.
We had a large, lovely room at the front of the house, with a queen bed and a daybed, and a huge bathroom with an old fashioned tub.
We tried to visit Chipping Camden once, and we could see that it was a darling place, but there was so much traffic overwhelming that sweet little town, just inching down the main street (this was in mid-September), we fled without seeing much of the town.
Maybe Flanneruk can tell us whether that kind of congestion is typical. I know it would cast a pall on my visit if I stayed there.
Website for Crestow House: http://www.crestow.co.uk/index.htm
E-mail: [email protected]. (The new website doesn't do justice to the place. Too many words and too few pictures.)
We had a large, lovely room at the front of the house, with a queen bed and a daybed, and a huge bathroom with an old fashioned tub.
We tried to visit Chipping Camden once, and we could see that it was a darling place, but there was so much traffic overwhelming that sweet little town, just inching down the main street (this was in mid-September), we fled without seeing much of the town.
Maybe Flanneruk can tell us whether that kind of congestion is typical. I know it would cast a pall on my visit if I stayed there.
Website for Crestow House: http://www.crestow.co.uk/index.htm
E-mail: [email protected]. (The new website doesn't do justice to the place. Too many words and too few pictures.)
Nov 6th, 2005, 06:57 PM
#9
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,581
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I spent four nights in Broadway this past spring and enjoyed it as a base for touring the Cotswolds. Another pretty option is Bibury. In Chipping Campden you'll have plenty of dining options along the main street. I doubt you'll have much traffic in any of these towns in December. The Malt House in Broad Campden looked like a charming place to stay. One night does not seem like a lot of time to enjoy the Cotswolds.
Nov 6th, 2005, 08:16 PM
#10
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 325
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have stayed on two separate visits at The Malt House in Chipping Campden. (It could be Broad Campden as someone mentioned.) I believe it is under a new owner, but it was a lovely place to stay. I highly recommend it.
Nov 6th, 2005, 11:03 PM
#11
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Chipping Campden is a real town. I once, three or four years ago, saw a serious traffic jam there, when it forgot it was a real town and hosted the British Cheese Festival, making parking and driving impossible for a couple of days.
It's generally stopped getting involved in that kind of tourist trap stunt. Otherwise I've never encountered the inching Mary Fran describes (though it's standard every weekend afternoon in Burford). But lorries can break down, the good parents of Ch C are as anti-social as anywhere else in using their 4x4s to transport kids perfectly capable of walking to and from school, walkers park at bus stops, bringing the town to a halt whenever a passenger wants to get off, and all the other things can happen that make us wait a few minutes.
They're marginally more likely in mid-December than in mid-summer, since the population's back home. Obviously, congestion drops just after Christmas, when everyone's off to Oz or the West Indies, and in August when they're reminding themselves how primitive the Dordogne is or how ghastly the weather is in America.
Like all real towns, it's the natives that cause the problems. Tourists have virtually no effect, which is why the Cotswolds' real towns - not just this group in the NE, but places like Tetbury in the SW - are so infinitely nicer to stay in than the stage sets choked by tourists during a summer day and devoid of any activity the rest of the year.
It's generally stopped getting involved in that kind of tourist trap stunt. Otherwise I've never encountered the inching Mary Fran describes (though it's standard every weekend afternoon in Burford). But lorries can break down, the good parents of Ch C are as anti-social as anywhere else in using their 4x4s to transport kids perfectly capable of walking to and from school, walkers park at bus stops, bringing the town to a halt whenever a passenger wants to get off, and all the other things can happen that make us wait a few minutes.
They're marginally more likely in mid-December than in mid-summer, since the population's back home. Obviously, congestion drops just after Christmas, when everyone's off to Oz or the West Indies, and in August when they're reminding themselves how primitive the Dordogne is or how ghastly the weather is in America.
Like all real towns, it's the natives that cause the problems. Tourists have virtually no effect, which is why the Cotswolds' real towns - not just this group in the NE, but places like Tetbury in the SW - are so infinitely nicer to stay in than the stage sets choked by tourists during a summer day and devoid of any activity the rest of the year.
Nov 7th, 2005, 02:59 PM
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks guys for such great input. I definitely like the sound of Chipping Campden over Broadway. The Charingworth Manor is quite pricey and the Malt House is only b & b. As it is only 1 night we do want to have a nice romantic dinner in the hotel. Any suggestions for a cosy hotel with good restaurant gratefully received. I agree with you luvtotravel, one night is not enough to enjoy the cotswolds. We haven't been for about 15 years when we stayed in Stow, the Slaughters and Bourton on the Water (at different times) and have travelled round quite a bit. I should imagine things must be a bit different now though. We went to Westonbirt last week for the day to visit the Arboretum. Had lunch at the Hare & Hounds and can thoroughly recommend it.
Nov 7th, 2005, 03:33 PM
#14
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,247
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You could have a great dinner in Broadway at the Lygon Arms but as others said while I love shopping for antiques at Lion HOuse , Broadway is just a stop along the way for us now. Probably one of the best dinners we've had in the Cotswold was at Wesley house in winchcombe, just outside Stow in the Wold. The hotel itself looks lovely , though we were staying at Lords of the Monor in Upper slaughter, we prefered the food at Wesley House. If you are into antiques, Stow is the place for you!
Nov 7th, 2005, 10:54 PM
#15
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Larraine:
"I should imagine things must be a bit different now though."
Well, if they are, tens of thousands of us will have failed spectacularly.
Apart from a general improvement in the quality of food, the sadly unstoppable metamorphosis of useful shops into kitchen gadget or ciabatta joints, a remorseless (but ever so tasteful and intensively scrutinised) sprucing-up of the real estate and surprisingly sharper service standards (as all those Poles and Aussies replace the clueless Sloanes), I'd have thought virtually nothing would strike a visitor as changing over the last three or four decades.
Round here we regard NIMBYism as dangerously friendly to destructive development. This is the global centre of NERNMBIRGism (Not even remotely near my beautiful, immaculate, rose garden).
Most of us are convinced our property values depend on absolutely nothing going within a hundred miles of that garden that doesn't look like it's been there for half a millennium.
Granted, Joanna Trollope (the inventrix of Aga Sagas) thinks the area's been overrun by merchant bankers. But even that's true only in the grisly theme park belt round Cirencester.
It'd be interesting (at any rate to me) to hear what visitors think.
"I should imagine things must be a bit different now though."
Well, if they are, tens of thousands of us will have failed spectacularly.
Apart from a general improvement in the quality of food, the sadly unstoppable metamorphosis of useful shops into kitchen gadget or ciabatta joints, a remorseless (but ever so tasteful and intensively scrutinised) sprucing-up of the real estate and surprisingly sharper service standards (as all those Poles and Aussies replace the clueless Sloanes), I'd have thought virtually nothing would strike a visitor as changing over the last three or four decades.
Round here we regard NIMBYism as dangerously friendly to destructive development. This is the global centre of NERNMBIRGism (Not even remotely near my beautiful, immaculate, rose garden).
Most of us are convinced our property values depend on absolutely nothing going within a hundred miles of that garden that doesn't look like it's been there for half a millennium.
Granted, Joanna Trollope (the inventrix of Aga Sagas) thinks the area's been overrun by merchant bankers. But even that's true only in the grisly theme park belt round Cirencester.
It'd be interesting (at any rate to me) to hear what visitors think.
Nov 15th, 2005, 03:41 PM
#17
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,667
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
i do like chipping campden, however, i do think that this real town description is a bit of an exaggeration. traffic only caused by locals...no way.
CC is a touristy place, that is certain. i do agree that it is not as much so as say burton on the water or SOTW or a few others but it is touristy and does get crowded with tourists.
CC is a touristy place, that is certain. i do agree that it is not as much so as say burton on the water or SOTW or a few others but it is touristy and does get crowded with tourists.
Nov 16th, 2005, 02:00 PM
#18
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Larrainebp: You might look into the Cotswold House hotel in Chipping Camden (www.cotswoldhouse.com). We stayed there four years ago and it was one of the highlights of our trip. The hotel was fabulous and their restaurant was very romantic with great food. Though it's been four years, I believe not much has changed in regard to quality as I frequently see the Cotswold House recommended on this message board. If you don't stay at the hotel, at least walk out back and see their garden. BEAUTIFUL!!!
Nov 16th, 2005, 02:39 PM
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Oklahoma_Traveler _ I did try to get into the Cotswold House but it is a 2 night minimum stay and we can only stay 1 night. I have found this with a lot of the hotels. As stated Dormy House and Charingworth Manor are the only 2 I can get booked into for 1 night over the weekend. I must say that having spoken to both hotels on a few occasions the staff at the Dormy seem a lot friendly whereas the staff at the Charingworth Manor come over a bit snooty. Has anyone else experienced this?
