goldilox

I am currently in the early stages of planning a trip to the UK in the spring of 2007.

I need some guidance on where to stay in Stratford-upon-Avon.

So far, the two front running inns seem to be Welcombe and Ettington Park.

Does anyone have any opinions on these two or other suggestions?

Price is not a concern... I am looking for the finest accommodation the area has to offer.

halfapair

Will you have a car? Do you want to stay in the town of Stratford? Or do you want to experience a true English village?

We stayed at Willow Corner in Armscote, about 7.5 miles from Stratford. We had a great stay at this B&B and would highly recommend it. It's the best B&B experience we have ever had, and it is reasonably priced too.
Here is the web site:
http://www.willowcorner.co.uk/

Let me know if you would like pictures.

walkinaround

i went to stratford regularly for business for a while and stayed sometimes at the menzes welcombe. it is a beautiful hotel but not really my style. first, it is on a golf course and i despise anything to do with golf. secondly, it is not within walking distance of town. nor is there even a pub or restaurant that is walkable (the hotels facilities are all you have without getting into a car). finally, the place is usually filled with cigar chomping executives that tend to be rather noisy. i spent many sleepless nights as the loud, bollocks talking gents had late night drinking sessions on the terrace.

the suites, however, are very nice and the gardens and hotel itself are beautiful. they are adding on to it...i believe a spa (i was last there about 1 year ago).

i cannot recommend any of the other hotels in which i stayed as they were not great. DO NOT stay at the stratford manor (hate it, and it's out of town) or the stratford victoria (bad but not as bad as the manor, in-town). these are very poor places that charge far too much. the management of the manor is a joke. i have heard that the manor was supposed to be renovated but this place is beyond hope.

the moat house is ok and in town but more of a business style place (no character at all).

the grosvenor is less expensive and passable (exec rooms) but nothing special (recently joined best western group. the white swan is pretty on the outside but simply awful.

if you want to stay in town, i would look into the thistle. it is very well located right across from the rsc and the river. it's the best location in town and it looks nice from the outside (although a bad measure of a hotel...especially in stratford). it is in the "upscale" category.

be warned that in stratford, hotels and restaurants are often poorly managed and very poor value.

i spent far too much time in this town...hope i can help.

goldilox

Thanks for all of the information thus far. ('Walkinaround'- your review of Welcombe was fabulous... I have heard that Ettington Park hosts a lot of weddings, so I may have to choose between cigar-chomping executives and liquored-up brides... )

I will have a car and don't mind driving a bit for better accommodation.

Though I run a B&B (in the other Stratford... Stratford Ontario Canada...) I am not really a B&B person. I prefer country inns.

I would also be interested in any dining suggestions.

sheila

My information may be somewhat out of date, but when I were a lad, the Alveston Manor was the classy place. It had the advantage of being within a few feet of the town centre- maybe 5 minutes walk from the theatre?-but on the other side of the river and thus away from the riff raff.

It's a bit of a culinary desert, I fear.

halfapair

Dining: The Howard Arms Pub in Ilmington
http://www.howardarms.com/awards.html

walkinaround

>>>>
It's a bit of a culinary desert, I fear.
>>>>>

sheila is right. i would not spend a lot for a meal in stratford...recipe for disappointment.

i do like "the one elm" which is a casual gastro-pub (excuse the overused now nearly meaningless term). what i mean is that it is a modern place with decent food that is still essentially a pub. not great, mind you, but decent value and good for stratford. popular with locals...slightly off the tourist track so it doesn't get any walk-bys. but it is still centrally located.

russons is pretty good...a well run quality place with many regular locals. not that this is necessarily bad but the restaurant atmosphere and service just seem a bit mundane for a place that charges a fair bit. it basically feels somewhat like an ordinary high street tea room with the lights dimmed a bit.

most of the places on sheep street have been around forever but really aren't that great. they look like fine restaurants but can be very disappointing. i have eaten many times on sheep street but generally stay away if i'm picking the place.

being a tourist and day-tripper mecca, stratford has quite a few restaurants that look great from the outside - charming and historic, but are really very overpriced and survive on those who visit stratford once in their lives.

in all my time in stratford for business i was taken to many great country pubs in villages near stratford but i can't remember them, sorry.

Huitres

Stratford-upon-Avon is lovely but nothing truly spectacular. Other than Shakespeare's house and the Trinity Church/cathedral, there isn't a lot of charm to the town (IMO). I was there end of November (9 months ago). Contrarily, I really liked Canterbury which of course has its famous cathedral, along with a neat town centre with a medieval touch.

walkinaround

i agree with huitres, however, stratford does have a better atmosphere in the summer. november can be painfully gloomy. it is not a particularly pretty town (although not ugly as relative to other british towns). like many places in britain, it is shut tight by 6pm or so...including the coffee shops.

in the summer, students arrive from all over the world to study theatre. with a nice bright day and lively students about, it can have a decent feel.

remove the internationals and add a pea soup sky and the place can look and feel dreadful.

bellini

Ettington Park has to be a good place to stay- what's good enough for the G6 leaders...? They are staying there this week. AND it's a wonderful Gothic building. We'd recommend a small restaurant in Union Street Stratford called "Malbec"- modern British with good selection of wines provided by "Vinology" a Stratford wine merchant.
"The Howard Arms" is consistently good. It's in a lovely old village, Ilmington, about 7 miles out of Stratford.
If you like art, visit "Where I fell in Love Gallery" in Shipston On Stour where the charming French owner, Bruno, will provide a coffee whilst you browse.
Compton Verney Art Gallery near Kineton is also very interesting. It houses the collection of Peter Moores of the football pools family in a wonderful Georgian manor house by a lake

Stanleyps

I stayed in Ettington Park in November. It's a wonderful experience. It's a bit "worn" around the edges, but certainly delivers an experience. There's not much to do in the area, but luxuriating at Ettington Park makes you feel as though you're in a Merchant-Ivory production. Highly recommend it.

jelane

Our best friends live in Straford and I visit the town often. The Elm is my number one choice of restaurants. If you want a good reasonable restaurant for Italian go to Bella Italian on the high street, not fancy but a good choice. As for the accomodations, I would say Ettington Park. You will be over the town in a day, two at most.

nona1

Off the point but I wish people would stop calling Stratford-upon-Avon just Stratford. Stratford is a deeply grotty area in East London.

The first time someone told me they were going to stay in Stratford on holiday I spent ages trying to convince them what a bad idea it was...

jelane

then perhaps you should have asked more questions. I know many people in this town and ones that have lived there all their life, they call it Stratford, doesn't seem to be a big concern to them.

sheila

Not tat it's a big deal, nona, but I have visited Stratford all my life (I have cousins there) and everyone I know calls it Stratford.

If you say Stratford, meaning EAST Stratford, you're more likely to be misunderstood than the other way round

Cimbrone

I have to agree with those who say it's not the most picturesque town. The Shakespeare connection, predictably enough, has given it a very commercial feel to it.

There are a million other towns in England I'd choose over Stratford. If I were going there to see a play, I'd undoubtedly choose a place out in the country nearby to stay.

ben_haines

With a car, and looking for an attractive old town, I would pick Warwick, less than ten miles to the east. Like Stratford, it has day trippers, but nothing like the crowds in Stratford. It has churches, an almshouse, a market place, pubs, restaurants, and the buildings that appertain to a county town, and is good for strolling, especially in the evening. The best area is up on the hill, near the market. I am afraid I have not stayed for ages, but when I search Google for Warwick Hotel, and a map, I find four hotels at 65 to 85 pounds for double, with breakfast, and bathroom en suite, in a seventeenth century building. The Rose and Crown and the Tilted Wig are on the Market Place, the Warwick Arms is on the High Street, and the Lord Leycester is on Jury Street. Each has a web site, and you could look at each, look especially what they have for parking if you’ll bring a car, and pick your favourite. For a week or less you need no car. Buses run in 40 minutes to Stratford, to Alcester and many other fine old market towns, to Kenilworth castle, and if you like spas to Leamington, three miles away. The bus leaves Stratford after the curtain drops. These are real places (and Stratford half-real) , whereas Warwick Castle belongs to the show business, Madame Tussaud’s.

Please write if I can help further.

Ben Haines, London
[email protected]

nona1

Oh alright then, call it Stratford. I guess that I think of the London one as that is nearer to me.

(But Sheila, the London one is called just plain old Stratford, not east Stratford. It is in east London but that doesn't change its name to include east anymore than Richmond become West Richmond just because it is in the west of London.)

I just wonder if any tourists in London ask for a ticket to Stratford and wonder why it is so cheap...and why they only travel a handful of stops ;-)

janisj

nona1: sort of like the poor tourists trying to get to Leeds castle and ending up in Leeds (or Liverpool vs. Liverpool Street)

In theory I agree w/ you. I always try to use Stratford-upon-Avon when posting here so there is no confusion. But when in Warwickshire (or Oxon, Bucks, etc) just plain old "Stratford" is pretty clear.

nona1

now I'm picturing tourists trying to figure out which council house Anne Hathaway lived in ;-)

Yes, I suppose it's natural to just think of the one that is nearest to you so if you are in the area then of course Stratford would mean Stratford-upon-Avon.

But I'd recommend any tourists in London asking for a train ticket to ask for the full name, otherwise you may well end up in east London!