Cool Place of the Day: The Endsleigh, Devon
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Your support makes all the difference.Just up the road from next weekend’s Port Eliot Festival in Devon (28-31 July), this fairytale hotel is the country cousin of the excellent waterside Tresanton in Cornwall, both of which are owned by the renowned designer and hotelier, Olga Polizzi. Housed in a 19th-century hunting lodge that was the rural retreat of the Duke of Bedford, the grounds were designed 200 years ago by Sir Humphrey Repton, and cover 100 acres of formal gardens, streams, woodlands, follies and grottos.
Despite having restored the house from a virtual ruin, Olga Polizzi has done very little to change its structure and the hotel has the feel of a country residence of your richest and most stylish aunt, with a decor that looks more evolved than designed. The 18 rooms and suites are artfully and individually decorated, with a stylish mix of old and new pieces, wooden floors, painted wallpapers (across which fly exotic birds), original roll-top baths and book-lined shelves. Touches of modern luxury include walk-in showers and big comfortable beds – and, in the family suites, separate sitting rooms and tongue-and-groove cabins with built-in bunk beds for little ones, plus their own TV in the wall.
Some of the rooms are dog-friendly and have particularly beautiful views over the gardens and grounds – you will want to get out and explore the numerous footpaths that meander through the grounds from the hotel. You can of course sit comfortably on the vine-covered terrace and do not very much at all, but for the more energetic there are lots of activities on offer nearby – falconry, shooting, fishing and horseriding. Above all, the hotel is a lovely place to return to after a hard's day's yomping through the woods, with a cosy lounge and a restaurant that serves very good, well-priced and unpretentious food – just what you need after a day in the great outdoors.
Cool Places is a website from the creators of Rough Guides and Cool Camping, suggesting the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop in Britain (coolplaces.co.uk).
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