Review: Cowley Manor Experimental hotel, Cotswolds

This is our review of the Cowley Manor Experimental hotel in the Cotswolds.

Our plan for half term had been to go to Dubai to catch some sun but life got in the way and we had to postpone the trip until the end of the year. Our focus shifted closer to home for a brief two-night stay somewhere in the countryside, not too far from London.

We decided to try Cowley Manor Experimental, situated in the beautiful landscape of the Cotswolds.

You can book and redeem this hotel via World of Hyatt (it is part of Mr & Mrs Smith) but – as is often the case with Smith – we got a better deal elsewhere. In this case we booked via Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, enticed by a £75 cashback offer on one of our credit cards and the $100 F&B credit.

We paid cash for our stay and the hotel didn’t know I would be reviewing it. The hotel website is here.

What is Cowley Manor Experimental?

You may well be aware of this hotel in its previous guise as just ‘Cowley Manor’.

Experimental is a French hospitality group which bought Cowley Manor in 2022. It also owns Henrietta Experimental in Covent Garden in addition to three cocktail bars in central London. Cowley Manor represents their first expansion outside the UK capital.

(There were a disproportionately high number of French guests in the hotel, and I suspect fans of the Experimental group make a special effort to visit when in the UK. The hotel website is available in French as well as English.)

The history of the manor house site goes back to 1695 but the buildings as they are today are only 100 years old. It was the first private house in England to use concrete (not sure if this is a good thing!) and once had a major spa complex with Greek, Turkish and Roman steam rooms.

Lewis Carroll, who visited Cowley regularly, allegedly wrote Alice in Wonderland in the village, drawing his inspiration from the grounds of Cowley Manor.

After the purchase Experimental added a small extension – just visible on the left in the top photo above – and redecorated with designer Dorothee Meilichzon, who had already worked on Henrietta Experimental.

The interior has references to Alice in Wonderland everywhere with rabbit head door knockers, mushroom table lamps and checked or card game patterns. The result is an interesting mix with many retro elements. I am not sure if it entirely worked for me but it is certainly an original interior for an English country hotel.

Reception

We came by car from Bath, although it would be an easy drive direct from London. The hotel is tricky to find – Cowley itself is a VERY tiny village off the main roads and we missed the hotel first time round as the entrance is not clearly marked.

(I should mention that you don’t necessarily need a car if you are only here for a short break. The hotel is a 15-minute taxi ride from Cheltenham railway station.)

You enter the hotel into a large entrance hall with a small reception to one side. The staff were very friendly and efficient and we were shown to our rooms in no time.

You can see from the decoration below that this definitely isn’t your usual country house look:

Drawing Room

The hotel has a number of large public rooms on the ground floor. From reception you walk directly into a large drawing room. At night the fire was lit and the room was quite dark and atmospheric, although this was less useful if you wanted to read.

One night we ate in here from the bar menu and, as you will see later, the food is nothing but outstanding. I’ll make the point early – whatever you think of the decoration, you won’t dislike the food. Literally everything down to the morning croissants was fantastic.

Games Room

This was probably the most popular room with us. Scattered around are a pool table, chess and backgammon boards. The dart board provided most of our entertainment although they need to buy a chalk board for scoring!

As our stay was during half term this room attracted all the families. Whilst there is a lot for children to do at Cowley Manor, there is no dedicated kids club to take your children off your hands.

On the ground floor are two rooms for private events. This is the Garden Room which was more casually furnished:

In contrast the other slightly smaller meeting room felt a bit more formal:

Experimental Cocktail Club

The ‘Experimental Cocktail Club’ brand may be familiar to London-based readers, and the group installed an outpost here.

The bar has a retro feel with blue lacquer tables and low sofas and armchairs. At night the fireplace was lit and with the wood paneling the room was warm and inviting.

Our Treehouse rooms

The hotel is small with only 36 rooms and was nearly fully booked when we decided to come. Only two Treehouse rooms were still available so that’s where we ended up.

The Treehouse rooms are in the former stables opposite the main house. Each room has three floors. For a relatively modest hotel room it probably has more stairs than most houses.

The ground floor is furnished as the sitting room complete with desk and a sofa. The low ceiling and stairs don’t allow for much light, and in general the lighting provided is very European (ie sparse).

The sofa is a sofa bed and was not very comfortable to sit on with a very low backrest. The desk was large which was convenient.

Here is a picture of the desk tucked under the stairs. It also housed the coffee machine, mini bar, a retro telephone and a radio, with a rattan chair. Two macarons and a small bottle of wine were waiting here as a welcome gift.

On the first floor was the bathroom. It had double sinks and a very large bathtub. The toilet and shower were separate. The bathroom worked really well with enough surfaces to place our toiletries.

Bedroom and bathroom are separated by a fairly steep flight of stairs. This could potentially be tricky to navigate in the depth of night or for younger children.

We had two Treehouse rooms and although they mirrored each other the colour schemes were different.

The second bathroom, pictured below, was in a maple color. Most guests won’t see the alternatives but I preferred the maple scheme.

The toiletries came from Swedish natural skincare brand L:A Bruket.

Go up the final flight of stairs and you are in the bedroom.

There was carpet here which made it feel very snug. Our wardrobe was up here too, but we left our luggage on the ground floor during our two night stay.

The Cowley Manor Suite

I was curious to see how other rooms in the hotel looked, and was able to take a look at the top suite.

Style-wise it was very similar to our Treehouse rooms but obviously much larger. It felt more luxurious due to the rugs on the wooden floor and the canopy.

A large wardrobe flanked the other side with the coffee machine in the middle shelf:

The XL bathroom was very spacious with a free standing bathtub in the centre. The neutral colour scheme appealed to me more than the one in our room.

Throw in the fact that this suite is in the main house and not the stable block (it’s only a 30 second walk but not well lit and not under cover) and has a lot more light and no internal stairs and its clearly a superior option.

That said …. you’re unlikely to spend a lot of time in your room here (even if the weather is bad you would probably hang out in the public areas) and you can put the saving towards some more of the excellent food.

Dining Room

The dining room is magnificent, I have to say, with its original wood paneling and marble fireplace. I was not so keen on the furniture with relatively small tables and low backrests. Service was excellent throughout.

Breakfast

Breakfast is a continental buffet with additional dishes a la carte. We loved the croissants and pain au chocolat. They must be home made, crispy and flaky, and were the best I have ever eaten in a hotel. Literally mouthwatering!

and

You can also order an a la carte option, of which the pancakes proved the most popular with both adults and children.

Dinner

As I mentioned above, we ate from the bar menu in the Drawing Room on our first evening and tried the main restaurant on the second night. We didn’t have a booking which turned out not to be wise (I suspect a lot of non-residents eat here) but after a short waiting time in the reception room with drinks we were shown to a table.

The chef is British but the food is described as a nod to French cuisine, as you would expect from a French-owned property. The menu is therefore not your usual fare, but in a very good way.

To begin with we shared Smoked Honey & Potato Brioche, Ampersand Butter (£6). Yes, even the bread is served with a twist here.

Raw Wild Sea Bass, Redcurrants & Smoked Cream:

Fallow Venison, Smoked Beetroot & Blackberry:

We didn’t have desserts but the Warm Madeleines, Quince & Chantilly would have been my choice.

Spa, gym and pool

The spa is another highlight of Cowley Manor and, I think, a key reason why many guests come.

When you first drive into the hotel you can only see the roof of this concrete building as it is sunk into the ground, presumably to keep the planners happy.

A surprisingly large heated outdoor pool reveals itself once you walk down a windy path or take the stairs:

The indoor pool is equally large with sun loungers on one side. This is a photo shot through the glass:

The spa has an attractive shop, primarily for sportswear. There are also a few tables where you can order drinks.

Spa treatments are available, with an interesting option to book an apprentice therapist for a substantial discount. I thought this was a good idea, letting guests get a deal whilst new staff get hands-on training, although we had no time to use it.

The gym is well equipped, with a view to the outdoor pool. I used it twice. There are also daily 45 minutes classes hotel guests can participate in for a £10 fee.

The grounds

One of the highlights of Cowley Manor is the surrounding landscaped park. It isn’t a huge estate, but it was marvellous to walk the grounds complete with a lake, waterfalls and exotic trees. I chatted to the gardeners who were, justifiably, very proud of the place.

Here is one of the many nods to Alice in Wonderland (I didn’t actually check if there was a den behind this door!)

Adjacent to the hotel is the village church which is still active. Intriguingly you need to walk through the hotel grounds to get to it. This does give Cowley Manor a unique advantage as a wedding venue, with very few hotels literally having a church next door.

Conclusion

We booked Cowley Manor Experimental at very short notice, deliberately taking a punt on somewhere new to us and deliberately not spending hours researching it online.

What we found was a quirky and surprisingly small (in room count, not scale) hotel. I was very impressed by the creativity of the food and the high standard of the restaurant. We also enjoyed the spa and gym. You won’t get bored here for a few days, not to mention all the activities at your doorstep in the Cotswolds.

The setting within its well-maintained, but modestly sized, park and the village – which is literally adjacent – is beautiful. It was perfect for a short country break for us city dwellers.

Whilst I wasn’t totally won over by the contemporary interior design I am sure we will come here again. Next time will be in summer though, and we’ll book well in advance to avoid the three storey Treehouse rooms!

Booking

It is worth noting that Cowley Manor is well priced compared to similar hotels which are a little nearer London. Rooms start as low as £270 per night midweek in winter.

Amex Platinum cardholders can book via Fine Hotels & Resorts (2-night minimum, it seems) and get a $100 food and drink credit, free breakfast and a guaranteed 4pm check-out included. The cheapest cash rate is likely to be on the hotel website, but World of Hyatt members may want to book via hyatt.com to earn points and get status benefits. It would also tick off the Mr & Mrs Smith box for Hyatt’s ‘Brand Explorer’ promotion.

The Cowley Manor Experimental website is here if you want to learn more or book.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

---

Hotel offers update – April 2025:

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Want to buy hotel points?

• Hilton Honors is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points by 29th May 2025. The annual purchase limit is also increased to 240,000 points pre-bonus. Click here to buy.