Near Cheltenham, Cowley Manor

My wife organised a surprise 70th birthday lunch for me at Cowley Manor. She chose it on the basis of its beautiful setting and expecting service to match its 5* status. Our guests travelled from all over the UK though they stayed overnight at the nearby Green Dragon rather than pay the very expensive rates of this so called 5* hotel. The service was quite appalling. We were left without attention for long periods so much so one of our guests had to go to the hotel reception to try to find a waiter although the adjacent main restaurant was almost empty. Orders were wrong and the final straw was two bowls of vegetables arriving after everybody had finished their main course. The whole affair left my wife, who had worked so hard to organise this special occasion, feeling distressed and embarrassed. Even the food itself did nothing to mitigate the disgusting service, and the tired and scruffy furnishings ony added to the disappointment. A written complaint to the management has so far elicited no response

Cowley Manor is an exceptional hotel by anyone's standards.There are very few rooms in the hotel so it doesnt feel like you're being over run by people.The rooms are large (our bathroom was about 25 foot by 20 foot) and really well decorated / laid out - with all the facilities you'd expect in a 5 star hotel.The grounds of the hotel are beautiful - you can go for a nice long walk and not even leave the hotel grounds.The staff are exceptional - Very friendly, very courteous and very knowledgable - they gave us great advice about what wines to drink without the advice being 'snooty'.The actual building is gorgegous - you can really imagine it when it was an independant house.The new building is less exciting / nice but its not too bad.There is a spa area which looked pretty - although we didnt use it - the spa didnt look as good as another hotel we've been to, Carey's Manor in the New Forest, but it looked pretty good - lovely swimming pool.We went for a very long walk around the surrounding countryside and the helpful receptionists even gave us a map to use with a suggested route (although we got lost and ended up walking about 12 miles)The food was great tooI can't really fault the place - its pricey, very pricey, but you definitely get what you pay for So, if you're looking for a special treat (we went on our wedding anniversary) its just a wonderful place to go and unwind in the beautiful British countryside.