Ston Easton Park - Bath

Our review

YOU CAN ALMOST PICTURE THE CARRIAGES from bygone days bowling along the drive of Ston Easton Park. Set in 36 acres of parkland, this Palladian mansion is one of the most romantic estates in the West Country.

Set on the edge of the Mendip hills 20 minutes from Bath, Ston Easton Park has everything you would expect of a grand 18th century country house. Log fires burn, antiques and oil paintings abound, and views over the rolling private estate are second to none. You might have stepped into the pages of a Jane Austen novel.

Now newly refurbished, Ston Easton lives and breathes old-time elegance. The grandly classic lounge, with its lofty proportions and ornate ceiling, is a stunner. No new-age replicas here – from its oil paintings and huge chandeliers to its wood-panelled library lined with leather-bound volumes, this Grade I listed mansion is the real McCoy.

Silks and taffeta
Bedrooms come with antique furniture, original features and – in many – four poster or coronet beds. All are different in size and feel, and marble bathrooms (many converted from the original wig rooms) gleam in marble and glass. Rustling taffeta drapes, huge silken tassels and soothing colours evoke the richness of Regency England, while drench showers and wi-fi provide all essential 21st century comforts.

Decorated in shades of jade and crimson, our sprawling Master Bedroom boasted a huge Chippendale four-poster draped in silks and crushed velvet. Tall windows framed views of an ancient cedar tree, shimmering river and rolling hills that might have been straight out of a Gainsborough painting. We also loved the secluded 18th century Gardener’s cottage hidden away in the gardens.

Downstairs, you can admire the oil paintings in the flag stoned foyer, have a nightcap beside a blazing fire on cool evenings or leaf through a copy of Country Life in one of the lounges. Check out the billiard room in the cellars, or enjoy lunch or afternoon tea in summer on the outside terrace.

Discover the “below stairs” Georgian kitchen, with its polished copper pots, or stroll past a burbling brook along Ston Easton’s woodland paths and landscaped gardens with Oscar, the friendly house spaniel.

Ston Easton’s pastel-panelled dining room provides a smart setting for head chef Matthew Butcher’s inventive English inspired cooking using produce from the hotel’s own kitchen garden. Prefer something lighter? Staff will kit you out with a picnic hamper and rugs for you to dine in the grounds on sunny days.

Warm and welcoming staff ensure you’ll find the place grand, but never intimidating. And house spaniel Oscar is a tail-wagging charmer who is at the ready for walkies with guests come rain or shine.

© Room for Romance