For a whimsical weekend
The Experimental Group – the hospitality brand that started out by excelling at exceptional cocktail-making in London and Paris – have given the former Cowley Manor more than just a fresh lick of paint. They brought in designer friend Dorothée Meilichzon to do up the entirety of the manor house – from the lobby to the lounges and lofts. And those signature smack-dab-pow styles of the brand are everywhere – glossy lava stone in cherry reds, paisley blues and stony browns, stripy tubs to soak in for days, low slinging seventies sofas, swirly-curly chairs and bobble lambs. Inspired by the rumour that Lewis Carroll, a frequent visitor to Cowley Rectory, partly based Alice in Wonderland here, the design riffs on rabbits’ heads, playing cards, chess boards and a discombobulating sense of scale – try standing next to those giant columns in the lobby – along with mushroomy clumps of lights and floor stools. For a romantic weekend, couples should book into the Swan Lake Suite, with its four-poster and a private terrace looking over the lake.
The team have even got Jackson Boxer, the slick city chef behind Brunswick House and Orasay to consult on the menu, and it’s a garden delight. Fresh-cut vegetables with creamy stracciatella, old spot sausage croquettes, caviar with crisps and sour cream (an out-of-this-world combination), flatbreads for lunch and roast chicken for dinner. Yum all around. Katharine Sohn
Price: from about £337 per night