by Some things never change. In 2002 Peter and Jessica Frankopan created Cowley Manor as one of the first hip country house hotels, hot on the heels of Babington House. There were rows of designer wellies at the front door (now the norm; therefore trendy), papier mâché animal heads mounted on the wall, a funky bar, a giant pool table in a leather-padded room and a modern spa, C-side. , with two pools. Contemporary grace and stone majesty, seamlessly blended.
The trouble with hip hotels is that they rarely cover. Cowley Manor had great cachet, but I never felt particularly famous, with its reception rooms all lined up and a lobby that felt empty. As the years went on, it became very much like any other country house hotel, full of perfectly normal staff and guests, many of them local.
The wide terrace and the grounds outside it was, and still is, the best feature: they are quite beautiful, graced by an upper and lower lake and an Italian cascade. The small parish church of St. Mary stands near the manor; there is a village pub and a Sunday cricket team and Cheltenham Regency is nearby; all basically English.
Fast forward to 2022, when the Frankopans, who still have hotels in London, Brighton, Amsterdam and Paris, sold Cowley Manor to the French-owned Experimental Group. Three childhood friends, Olivier Bon, Pierre-Charles Cros and Romée de Goriainoff – later joined by a fourth, Xavier Padovani – began their career in hospitality with mastery. After clocking the growing cocktail culture in New York and elsewhere, they shook up Paris with the Experimental Cocktail Club on a small side street in Les Halles. Now they have cocktail bars, wine bars, restaurants and hotels in all sorts of places (London, Menorca and Biarritz to name but three).
They are fun, young and undoubtedly good at cocktails. “We thought we were pretty good at them before the hotel was sold,” says Cowley Manor general manager Stuart Hodges, who, like most of the staff, was retained by the new owners. “We used to buy the best quality lemon juice to make them – but now we buy the best quality lemons.”
The cocktail menu is short but zingy: try a Horlicks Milk Punch (named for the family that once owned Cowley) or an Old Cuban, or stick with non-alcoholic Doctor’s Orders or a Sea Maid.
The drinks, then, are good; the restaurant, more later; Very good. But as for the hotel: the £3 million new-look Cowley Manor is Experimental, sure, but an experiment that doesn’t really work in my opinion.
Dorothée Meilichzon is the highly acclaimed designer. It took on an Alice in Wonderland theme – Lewis Carroll is said to have been inspired by the landscape of Cowley Manor – with a checkerboard motif running through it, muted colours, contemporary (and to me, oddly enough) specially designed sofas set in place of stiff, gridded compact, boxy shapes, odd height combinations and what feels like an obsession with polished lava stone. This last element, smooth, impure and cold, is used everywhere, including basins and bath surrounds, in different colours. You have to love shiny things if you stay here. The sultry bar (with DJs at weekends) is set in midnight blue lava stone – you could be in Manhattan.
My bedroom, with a beautiful terrace overlooking the lake, felt cluttered, with a large, oversized wardrobe, a four-poster high bed and two tiny rattan chairs flanking a white table too small to use. The bedside lights were shaped so that the glaring bulb was exposed. There was nowhere to plug things into. In front of the bed was a television set under a mirror that was too tall to look into and there was nothing to see but the wall. Very hip. Very Alice in Wonderland. Very point. The shower in the back of the bathroom was so dark, I had to use my phone’s torch.
As I did to read the menu in the dining room, although I prefer it there; It positively glows with a warm-toned color. The walls were painstakingly limewashed to reveal beautiful carved wood panels. The eclectic furnishings work much better here and consultant chef Jackson Boxer’s (Brunswick House, Orange) seasonal menu is fresh, uncomplicated, locally sourced and delicious. I had a great swim and a really relaxing facial in the spa. It’s not all bad.
This is a Marmite hotel: you might love it, and it might attract the customers it’s designed for. I’m skeptical though.
Fundamentals
Doubles at Cowley Manor (01242 870900; cowleymanorexperimental.com) from £250, including breakfast.
