Where To Stay In The Cotswolds

A restored estate in Southrop with its own farm, spa, cookery school, and pub. You can spend three days here without leaving the grounds, and most people do.

A farmhouse hotel on the hills above Broadway with a spa that gets consistently strong reviews. The rooms are well done and the whole operation runs smoothly.

All-inclusive and genuinely private, the whole manor is yours. One of the few places in the Cotswolds where you won't share your stay with strangers.

Treehouses, shepherd's huts, and cabin suites spread across the Farncombe Estate. A different kind of Cotswolds stay for those who don't want a traditional hotel.

A Palladian villa in Painswick with valley views and interiors that feel more considered than most country house hotels. Fourteen rooms, which keeps it genuinely quiet.

A 17th-century inn on Stow's market square, renovated without losing its character. Stow is well placed for the central Cotswolds and this is the best option in town.

Six rooms above one of the best restaurants in the Cotswolds. Kingham is a proper village and this is the right way to stay in it.

A 13th-century manor in ten acres of gardens between Broadway and the hills. Formal in the best sense: attentive service, serious cooking, genuine quiet.

Four rooms above the restaurant in Nether Westcote with views across the Evenlode Valley. The valley setting is genuinely impressive. Book a room that faces it.

A Grade II listed manor on the Golden Valley near Minchinhampton. Less well known than most on this list, which is part of its appeal.

Set in Upper Slaughter rather than on a high street, this 17th-century former rectory has held four AA Rosettes for years, not just since a recent refresh. Good base for the short walk down to Lower Slaughter and back for afternoon tea.

Claims to be England's oldest hotel, with records going back to 1220. Malmesbury is on the edge of the Cotswolds but the building alone is worth the detour.

A Regency townhouse on Chipping Campden's high street with a spa in the garden. Chipping Campden is one of the better bases for the northern Cotswolds and this is the right place to stay in it.

Sheep Street rather than the High Street, so a short walk from the main tourist flow rather than in the thick of it. Part of the same small hotel group as several other Cotswold coaching inns, which shows in the house style if you've stayed at one of their others. The restaurant holds an AA Rosette, so it's worth booking dinner even if you're not staying the night.

The PIG formula works well here: kitchen garden produce, relaxed service, and rooms that feel lived-in rather than designed. Popular, so book ahead.

A small boutique inn in Ampney Crucis with six rooms and a kitchen that takes its cooking seriously. Quiet, fairly priced, and easier to get into than the better-known options.

A 14th-century coaching inn on Broadway's high street with a history that includes Charles I. The building is the draw. The rooms have been modernised, but the bones are impressive.

A former 17th-century coaching inn a minute's walk from Arlington Row, with 22 rooms including a handful of cottage suites that come with more space and their own entrance.

A 15th-century coaching inn on Burford's High Street that looks traditional from outside and isn't at all inside. Owned by Matthew Freud, with Banksys and Hirsts on the walls, four very different restaurants, and a hidden poker room behind an old prison door.

A 15th-century inn tucked down Sheep Street, just off the main bustle of Burford's High Street. Seventeen individually decorated rooms, log fires in the lounge, and a walled garden that's easy to miss from the street.

A family-run 17th-century pub with just three rooms, all of them above the bar, so ask if you're a light sleeper. Multiple-time winner of Cotswold Pub of the Year, with a walled garden that's easy to miss from Witney Street.

A 14th-century manor set in 365 acres just outside Castle Combe village, with its own Michelin-starred restaurant, an 18-hole golf course, and a village pub of its own down the lane. This is a stay built around the grounds as much as the rooms.

Twelve rooms above a pub on Castle Combe's market square, a more affordable way to stay in the village than its grander neighbour up the lane.

A 16th-century coaching inn in the quiet hamlet of Ford, a five-minute drive from Castle Combe. Eleven rooms above the pub, dogs welcome throughout, and a genuinely rural setting rather than a village-centre one.

A hotel in the centre of Bourton dating to 1697, with five rooms designed by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. A useful base if you want a proper restaurant on site rather than walking out for dinner.

A family-run hotel one road back from the river in Bourton, with an on-site Italian restaurant and its own car park, useful in a village where parking is often the biggest headache. Dogs are welcome, but only in the ground-floor Coach House rooms.

Nine rooms above a working pub in the middle of Bourton, which means you're a few steps from the river rather than a drive away from it. Overnight guests get into the model village in the grounds before it opens to day visitors, which is worth timing your morning around if you want the place to yourself for ten minutes.

Adults-only, which sets it apart from most of the family-friendly stays clustered around the village. Fourteen rooms, all en-suite, with parking included, which matters more than it sounds in a village where finding a space in summer can eat up half an hour. Breakfast's included too, so factor that against places that charge it separately.

A honey-stone inn in the quiet village of Great Rissington, three miles from Bourton and a genuinely different pace from it. Around a dozen rooms, a proper restaurant, and a setting that suits people who want the Cotswolds without the crowds.

Signage on the building claims this is England's oldest inn, dating to 947AD. Worth knowing that claim is repeated everywhere but hasn't been independently verified, mostly one outlet citing another. What's not in dispute is the building itself: Grade II listed, crooked staircases, low beamed ceilings, 13 rooms mixing original stone walls with modern touches like Nespresso machines. There's no on-site parking, so plan for street parking or the car park near The Bell, a short walk away.

16 individually designed rooms in a refurbished 17th-century coaching inn right on the market square, with king or super king Hypnos beds and rainfall showers or roll-top baths depending on the room. The 'Amazing Great Rooms' have their own freestanding baths and extra space if you want to splash out. Central enough that you won't need to drive anywhere in Stow itself.

A 500-year-old former coaching inn on the market square, with 7 en-suite rooms in the main building and 3 split-level stable rooms around a courtyard. Some rooms are up steep original staircases, so it's not a great fit if stairs are an issue for anyone in your group. Reviews are mixed on room condition and heating in the older rooms, though the character and location get consistent praise. On-site parking is a genuine advantage here over some of Stow's other central hotels.

13 rooms split between the main building and Stuart House, an annex a short walk up the road. Worth booking a room in the main building if walking back and forth isn't appealing, since check-in happens at the Bell regardless of where you're sleeping. Rooms run cosy rather than spacious, with narrow stairs in places, but small touches like complimentary port and biscuits get mentioned often in reviews. Reasonable base if you want to be in walking distance of the square without paying Old Stocks Inn prices.

16th-century inn on the village green, dog-friendly, 19 bedrooms and seven cottages. Tattersalls Brasserie has two AA rosettes. Straightforward, well-located, and does not try to be anything it is not.