“Panache, not pretension”, reads the Cotswold House Hotel’s website, and nothing could better sum up this paragon of a Cotswold luxury hotel. The boutique hotel fronts onto the market square in Chipping Campden, an almost laughably perfect little mellow-stoned Cotswold market town.

The Cotswold House Hotel is owned and run by Ian and Christa Taylor, who do a great job of creating a genial, relaxed atmosphere. Underneath this, the boutique hotel runs like a precision Rolex, with polished service from the excellent staff.

Ian and Christa have left the elegant bones of the house in place, but have done it all up in a smart, luxurious, contemporary-country style. Happily, it does not feel over-designed. It’s unfussy and not fancy-fancy, but luxurious in that everything in this boutique hotel is of the highest quality. It’s accessorised with some beautiful, ultramodern glassware – a light sculpture in the bar, a chandelier above the lovely, swirling original staircase.

The facilities

Cotswold luxury House incorporates a brasserie, Hicks’, and a restaurant, Juliana’s, both of which are very well-regarded. The boutique hotel's restaurant has views out onto the gardens – two acres of fragrant plants spilling out of giant, lichened urns; little hideaway benches; terraces for summer dining. It adds an alluring, secret-garden dimension to the boutique hotel – quite magical.

The rooms

The rooms at the Cotswold House Hotel are split into three main areas – the main house, the new Montrose House (adjoining) and the cottage-style rooms in the gardens. All are stylish and extremely comfortable – before you go, you can choose from a pillow menu, pick the bedding you prefer and even decide what you want in your minibar. All the rooms in this boutique hotel are also different in layout, so that you will be surprised by a little balcony, or a sense of high-ceilinged grandeur, or a gas log fireplace in Cotswold stone.

For a real treat, pick a room in Montrose House or a cottage suite in the garden. The Montrose House rooms are particularly chic and luxurious, with delicious beds and linens. Room 17, a junior suite, has a huge black leather chaise-longue in front of a fireplace, and an idyllic view over the gardens and distant hills. Room 18 is a thrillingly romantic loft room, tucked under the exposed beams, with a bathtub in the bedroom. The adorable Garden Cottages are spacious split-level suites, most with bedrooms under the eaves; two of these have private walled terraces with outdoor hot tubs.

A word about the bathrooms, which are in a league of their own. Again, all the rooms have something different to offer, from a combination walk-in shower/steam room to an egg-shaped stone bathtub large enough for three. Christa and Ian have not stinted on amenities in their boutique hotel with heated floors, plasma tvs, adjustable lighting, delicious goodies. Half an hour in the bath and you feel like you’ve had a day at a spa. The boutique hotel also has some extremely high-tech gadgetry, which is great fun. In Room 17, you can lie in bed and control the fireplace, the tv/dvd and the music. There’s even a remote control for the lighting effects, which vary from brisk Monday morning bright to seductive, Friday night dim. Lush.