Review: Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa

Tell us a little about this place: Where is it, and what does it look like? A big-hitting Cotswolds estate that still sweeps you off your feet with its sheer force of character, sense of space, and brilliant food. It launched in 1997, the eve of Cool Britannia, but proved there was still an appetite for old-school glam. The deeply pretty Georgian manor house, all honeyed Bath stone, sits at the end of an avenue of sky-high beech and lime trees, surrounded by exquisite gardens like a Jane Austen film set.

It sounds divine. What else should we know about the place? Eagle-eyed guests will spot the curious Greek elements dotted around—the urns in the bathroom, the Acropolis paintings in the dining room, the Hellenic motif on the plates. The owners also have Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens in their stable, but Lucknam Park is a resolutely English country pad.

Cute. What can we expect from the bedrooms? Wonderfully classic, with canopied four-posters in the largest ones, a hefty whack of chintz and faded florals, pleated silk lampshades, and open fireplaces. Classic and Garden rooms are more subdued, less of a flourish of fabrics, and slightly more contemporary. But there is no pretense to be chasing a modern aesthetic. Bathrooms are marble-clad and traditional. There is also a lovely three-bedroomed cottage for privacy seekers or weekending families.

How about the food and drink? Hywel Jones (who has retained his Michelin star for a 13th year) serves exquisite food in his eponymous restaurant. The space is candle- and chandelier-lit, with serious thick linen tablecloths; the kitchen garden supplies herbs and vegetables, and almost everything served up is as locally sourced as possible—fillets of Wiltshire beef, Wiltshire truffle, Roundway Hill pork, and Brecon lamb. The six-course tasting menus are pretty filling. The Brasserie, by the spa, is more relaxed: drop by for coffee and pastries, wood-fired pizza, and light suppers—Cornish bream or even a rump-steak burger.

Sounds like it's a smash with carnivores. Anything to say about the service? A purposeful drive in recent years to make the place feel less formal has resulted in a cheery bounce in the staff's step, a raising of chatter levels to almost a hum in the evenings, and a relaxed atmosphere where you can wear your robe down to the spa and back again without feeling like a terrible slob.

Well, that's good! What type of person stays here? Fellow guests come to hunker down, to read the papers by a crackling fire, for afternoons swimming in the indoor/outdoor pool as steam rises off it. The noise level here is minimal, couples keeping themselves to themselves, but the dress-code ramps up for early evening glasses of Champagne in the bar.

Perfect. What’s the neighborhood scene like? Lucknam is brilliantly placed for exploring the nearby city of Bath and the Cotswolds. But there’s so much to do within the 500-acre estate too with a spa, a world-class equestrian center, and a heavyweight cooking school.

We'd never have to leave. Anything you’d change? This may be only the third Spa by ESPA in the U.K., after The Corinthia in London and Scotland’s Gleneagles, but somehow it doesn’t resonate with the rest of it. It would be nicer to see more locally relevant products used, treatments with a bit more quirkiness and individuality, and the chance for therapists to really capitalize on their personal skills.

That's fair. So, is it worth it—and why? This is a classic old-school weekend retreat, the sort of place to come for proper peace and quiet, to get away from the noise of people needing to see and be seen. Instead everyone is here for that incredible Michelin-starred dinner, a deep night’s sleep and the chance to sign off from day-to-day stress.