Yesterday I visited the Cotswolds for a press preview of The Double Red Duke, housed in a wisteria-covered former coaching inn dating from around the 17th century. The building has been extended by its new owners (Country Creatures, who have two other hotels in the area: The Swan Inn at Ascott-under-Wychwood and the The Chequers, Churchill) to include a light-filled garden room and restaurant. This new addition is in Clanfield, about 25 minutes’ drive from Oxford, at the southern end of the Cotswolds.
It’s a perfect getaway from London: cosy, romantic, beautifully designed, and with a menu overseen by former Hawksmoor group head chef Richard Sandiford — cooking over fire and sharing plates feature heavily. The older part of the building is a maze of snug little sitting rooms where you can hole up when the weather (inevitably, or so it seems right now) turns blustery. Even in May the log fires were welcome (as were the complimentary wellies).
