The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury, United Kingdom
Hotel Overview
Review of The Vineyard at Stockcross, by Fiona Duncan
It's opera night at The Vineyard. Guests have paid £125 each to watch a group of fine singers, including principals from the ENO, perform Rigoletto, and to continue with dinner in the Michelin-starred restaurant. All proceeds go to the Pelican cancer foundation, a charity supported by The Vineyard's owner, Sir Peter Michael.
Like, one suspects, most things to which Sir Peter turns his hand, the opera evening is a resounding success. We meet engaging people at dinner: an Oxford chemistry don and a county court judge and their wives, who had stayed here before, and would, they tell us, happily come again, for the food, the wine, and the comfort.
Every hotel I visit has a human story behind it, and in the case of this five-star "food and wine destination" the story is that of Sir Peter. To describe the Vineyard as his plaything would be wrong, but for a man who made a fortune in electronics it's certainly a pet project, and a personal reflection of his passions: wine, food, music (he was a founder of Classic FM), art and sculpture.
His other leisure-oriented interests, from his winery in California to golf and private fishing are grouped together as the Peter Michael Collection "created and cared for by the family of Sir Peter Michael".
The Vineyard, whose obvious drawbacks are undistinguished buildings that are too close to the road, and no grounds, is filled with Sir Peter's paintings and sculpture, which are not to our taste, but that's subjective, and with his wine, which is.
An incredible 23,000 bottles in the cellar, to be precise. Sir Michael's first love may be Californian wines (his own ambrosial Les Pavots was described by Robert Parker as the fourth greatest wine in the world) but the rest of the world is by no means neglected.
The drink, which had my husband purring for days, is matched by the cooking of John Campbell, who combines an inventive, scientific approach with a proper regard for tradition and seasonal produce, and has recently been rewarded with his second Michelin star. Our dinner, including his signature slow-cooked beef with smoked mash and pickled beetroot, was sublime.
As for the 49 bedrooms, some contemporary, some traditional, they are the last word in luxury - of the standardised variety. The Vineyard, to me a killer combination of pretentious and dull, has been accurately described as resembling Southfork on the A4 (for those who remember Dallas).
Impressive Southfork-style flames may shoot from the surface of the circular pool in front of the hotel, but that doesn't compensate for sitting rooms that feel bland and impersonal, a spa that feels bland and impersonal and bedrooms - with no touches such as fresh flowers or current magazines - that feel bland and impersonal.
In Rigoletto's most famous aria, the duke cynically sings that "women are fickle" and that's true of me when it comes to this hotel. The opera evening was sheer pleasure, the food and wine were special treats and our night was one of spoiling comfort. But five star or not, I won't be there when the don and the judge return.
Facilities
Awards
Awarded 2 Michelin starsWho stays here?
Foodies and city-types after the perfect country retreat.
Come for...
- The very indulgent spaThe seriously good food
- Escaping the rat race
Not Suitable for...
- Shallow pockets
Children
Children are welcome to stay at the hotel, and they offer a babysitting service for guests. The restaurant is happy to prepare a special kid
Eating in
A gourmand's feast every evening from top chef Joh Campbell.
The Press Say
“While the UK may not be known for its wines, Fleeman-Hardwick swears by The Vineyard at Stockcross, a new wine-themed hotel in Berkshire owned by California wine-maker Peter Michael, where you can follow a lavish vinotherapy treatment with a gourmet meal in a restaurant with two Michelin stars that features a 23,000-bottle wine list.” Telegraph 07Reviews
Review of Vineyard at Stockcross, by Graeme Harwood
The Vineyard, with 15 bedrooms and 16 suites, is the smallest luxury 5 star hotel in England. Its razor-like attention to service - which begins with valet parking on arrival - plus a £1.5million kitchen housing Michelin starred John Campbell, one of Britain's most exciting new chefs, and a sommelier who's got 48,000 bottles at his disposal have, primarily, been responsible for the hotel winning a whole stack of awards since opening in 1998. Furthermore, it offers important golf (18 hole par 71 course). So, reader, should you just happen to be a gourmet golfer who really likes being looked after, entry to this particular hotel will be akin to going through the Pearly Gates.
I wouldn't be surprised to find John Campbell's cooking on the other side of them. Despite some inflated claims for itself, which I'll deal with later, The Vineyard's one overriding reason to be visited is this man's presence. He's created one of the very best restaurants in the country and gave me a meal I'll remember until I eat the next one. John Campbell is one of only a few chefs in Europe practicing what you might call New Gastronomy, whose founding father in Catalonia, Ferán Adriá at El Bulli, has the world's most-in-demand restaurant. The six month opening period this year was sold out in two days. England seems to have got the point quicker than any other European country where we already have, as far as I know, three top practitioners - the other two being Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck, Bray and Phil Howard at London's The Square.
It won't fit into any obvious category which is why it deserves one if its own. It's not French, not British, nor as innocently-minded as Aussie fusion food, but you might, superficially, relate it to all three. And it's going to surpass even the Italians for pure, fresh flavours. Sourcing top organic ingredients will be the first step - hardly uncommon - but a New Gastronomist will not only have studied new scientific ways to extract the maximum effect out of each one, he'll go on to combine them in ways you've never seen before. Leave any preconceptions you may have about temperature, texture and taste matches with your overcoat at the front door.
Then try Risotto of Crab with Avocado Ice Cream; Barbary Duck, Vanilla-Lime Mash & Jus; Tarte Fine of Peach, Pepper Ice Cream. Then talk for hours, dissecting how brilliantly the unexpected works, how sour is the new sweet, smooth the new rough etc. Then buy his new book, "Formulas For Flavour", nominated for the Andre Simon Food Writing Award, on the way out. Amen.
Your bedroom will delight you. So will the hotel's service. Just as well, because hotels with named rooms don't have any directions to them and you're forever asking staff the way home. Example of the hotel's service ethic: catching me going in a circle through the corridors, Eduardo Amadi, the head sommelier no less, didn't think himself too famous to offer to show me to my room. Once inside, the bedrooms will turn out to be, like the whole hotel, in the mode of plush Vogue Regency. Spacious, warmly elegant, with plenty of quality kit: Bose Wave Radio/CS (by the bed, already primed with CD of popular classics); 30" Sony Trinitron TV; tomorrow's weather report; welcoming dressing gowns, with hands placed inside each others' pockets; and absolutely the only toiletries basket I've looted in years, from Molton Brown.
Everything I've talked about so far is what the hotel has deservedly won its awards for: food, wine, comfort & service. Unfortunately, not content with that, it also promotes itself as an important Centre of Fine Arts For The Discerning, a fantastic gallery of painting, sculpture and music to get you right off into the clouds. Did you know it never refers to itself as a hotel? Just 'The Vineyard' or 'A Restaurant With Luxury Suites Attached'. It takes its sense of taste very seriously. And, boy, you're never allowed to forget it. Brochures galore inside the hotel - whoops! - pass down a stream of self-congratulatory mission statements ("exquisite", "beautiful", "the best" etc.) from on high, in this case, the owner, "a connoisseur in such matters", Sir Michael C.B.E. He clearly didn't get where he is today by being modest and these soon become counter-productively irksome, although I did enjoy, for its sheer precious pomposity, his description of his business interests - two hotels, a winery, a shop & a golf course - as "Peter Michael: The Collection".
As for taste, the architecture is an unappealing mix of modern housing estate meets chateau (wish it had remained, albeit embellished, as an authentic Victorian Hunting Lodge); the 148 paintings, whilst warm and colourful, are both too numerous and too anodyne (fewer, more dramatically set off might work); the sculptures, particularly those two near the front door, mainly responsible for a pervasive whiff of American kitsch; and I could have lived without the pianist in the dining room. Can human beings ever be dictated to on things arty? But we would all agree the spa facilities are excellent.
The Vineyard's many awards, in only three years, are for spectacularly succeeding in what a hotel is basically asked to do. Above all, eat there. Take a deluxe suite as the best value room - but no stay here is going to be cheap. A two night weekend DBB is almost £800 for a couple. They have many wine-lectures, gala dinners, special events and occasional offers. The website will reveal all. My last word to you is: you're unlikely to regret spending the money and The Vineyard might well become your eternal little treat to yourself.
Review of The Vineyard at Stockcross, by Ramsey Qubein
The Vineyard at Stockcross hotel in Newbury is, conveniently, only an hour between London and Bristol. This beloved boutique hotel is a former hunting lodge, and has many of the characteristics of a bucolic inn, but also boasts the luxuries of some of London's finest deluxe lodgings. Residential appointments fill the lobby, which boasts a grand hearth and plentiful seating. Reception is a breeze, and staff members treat arrivals as if they were old friends.
The Vineyard's Michelin-starred restaurant attracts foodies from around the globe. Celebrated chef John Campbell is a notable author and food scientist who designs his menus with the gastronomic palate in mind. Local produce and herbs form the base of the menu at this boutique hotel, and game shot by the chef himself compose most of the entrees. A 2,000-plus bottle wine cellar complements the fine dining.
The boutique hotel's popular spa boasts exotic treatments like chocolate, truffle or wine massages. For more expansive facilities, the sister property Donnington Hotel and Spa offers shuttle service for guests to enjoy its larger pool, gym and spa.
The 49 guest rooms at this boutique hotel vary in size and feature amenities like flat-screen TVs, phones, alarm clocks, complimentary non-alcoholic minibars, large work desks with high speed Internet, phones with data ports and voice mail, and DVD players. King or twin beds are lined with soft Frette linens, plump duvets, and overstuffed pillows. Marble baths feature long soaking tubs with a trio of bath oils, shower stalls, hairdryers, authentic chrome fixtures, and Molton Brown toiletries. Terry cloth robes, slippers, and full-length mirrors pamper guests.
Room service runs round the clock, and pets are not allowed. This well-loved boutique hotel in the countrysude is the best in Newbury and the envy of many London properties landlocked by the city's bustle.