patrickm123
Google
We loved every minute of our three night stay here, from arrival to departure - so much so that, when Robbie (Robesh) the Manager asked me on departure whether there was anything they could improve, I remembered a useful but non-essential light in our room that hadn’t worked. Normally, I’d have been agitating about this before I’d even opened my suitcase. Here it just didn’t seem to matter much.||The rooms are quite simple but attractively stylish with a wonderful feeling of calm and serenity. Beds and pillows all very comfortable. The bathrooms are quite small but perfectly fine and a wide window/doorway with wafting net curtains opened right onto the garden. There’s really no need of AC or even fans here. The wifi was pretty good given the remote location. The common parts are full of beautiful furniture and interesting works of art.||Lunch and breakfast were served at small low tables dotted around the fabulous gardens, some intimate and shady, some more open with spectacular views. Dinner was served at two communal tables inside, with an option to dine separately if one wished, but we were more than happy to dine with other congenial guests (people who make it to places like this tend to be like-minded!) and with the exceptionally genial and interesting UK owner, Francis, who was there for a 6 week stay.||All the food was very good, though lunches had the edge on dinners. They made a very good effort to accommodate my gluten-free diet, though I did envy the delicious-looking homemade (but gluten filled) toast at breakfast. The hotel had plenty of beer available (not allowed for me!) but only one bottle of wine which we quickly bagged. It’s very hard for them to get hold of apparently and they were relaxed at the idea of guests bringing their own, which next time we will probably do.||The staff were very much multi-taskers – waiters, bedmakers, trekking guides and were always obliging and responsive - indeed often anticipated our needs in advance. They are all from the humble local village but have been better trained than the staff in many a 5 star hotel. Robbie is also a very remarkable Manager – efficient, thoughtful, full of information and insights. They are incredibly lucky to have him.||We did a short evening walk around the Estate farm, another full morning one to a hilltop viewpoint and a further less special one through a forest area. It would be good if they could work out a few more, as I could happily stay here for as long as there were new routes to explore on foot.||It would also be a perfect place to come and work on a writing project or to paint, as some othe guests were doing. ||Places like this are very rare and well worth the effort of going so far off the beaten track.||A return visit beckons!
