"This is one of England's best small country-house hotels, with exquisite food, cosy rooms and luscious grounds in Dartmoor."
Gidleigh Park is a smart 1920s mock-Tudor mansion set in landscaped gardens in Dartmoor National Park, overlooking the North Teign river. The owners are American, and have created their own ideal of a perfect English country hotel. The result is a cosy mish mash of log fires, wooden panels, thatched roof cottage and chintzy bedrooms with floral bedcovers and sprigged wallpaper. Definitely not a place for the minimalist.
Gidleigh Park definitely is a place for the foodie, however. The restaurant is rated one of the best in England. It has two Michelin stars, 5 out of 5 rosettes in the AA guide, and 8 out of 10 points in the Good Food Guide. Chef Michael Caines trained with Raymond Blanc, Bernard Loiseau, and Joel Robuchon before becoming head chef in 1994 and he is now known as one of the most innovative British chefs of his generation. The wine list is considered one of the five best restaurant wine selections in Britain. Restaurant, wine cellar and hotel have won myriad awards over the years.
There’s plenty to do when not eating – the hotel has tennis and croquet on site, and can organise walking, riding, huntin’ shootin’ and fishin’ on Dartmoor depending on the season. Service is apparently ‘always enthusiastic, personal and friendly, sometimes efficient’…
Address: Chagford, Dartmoor, Devon, England, United Kingdom, TQ13 8HH
Rooms | suites: 24
Booking info
Departure: Wed 10 Sep 2008
No. adults: 2
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Who stays here
A well-heeled and understated crowd; this is a hotel for people who like good food, walking, deep quiet, and service that's attentive but not at all pretentious.
Come for
- Beuaitful, smooth contemporary rooms
- Family holidays - very child-friendly
- Hiking on the moors
- Fly-fishing on the North Teign
- Championship croquet lawns and an 18-hole putting course designed by the legendary Peter Alliss
- The Pavilion, a self-contained thatched cottage in the grounds of the hotel
Not suitable for
- Those seeking chintzy traditional furnishings
- The easily lost: follow the hotel's directions, not your sat-nav
Awards
Conde Nast Traveller Gold List 05; 2 Michelin Star Restaurant
Children
The hotel welcomes families. There is a special children's menu, although children under the age of 8 are not permitted in the dinning hall during the evening. There is a Family Suite to accommodate larger families. The staff can arrange a babysitting service, and organize off-site horseback ridding for children.
Eating in
Michael Caine's innovative, modern European cuisine has earned Gideligh Park two Michelin stars and 'destination restaurant' status. This wine list is swoon-worthy. There are three separate dining rooms: Meldon is the traditional, elegant, oak-panelled main dining room; Teign is lighter and slightly more informal room with Lloyd Loom furnishings; and Nattadon is a more contemporary room with partial banquette seating and a wine wall. Unmissable.
