STAYCATION - Lewtrenchard Manor

S TAY C AT I O N

Lewtrenchard Manor

Lewdown Nr Okehampton Devon

01566 783222 www.ewtrenchard.co.uk

MAGAZINE

The Oak Room

The Bar

S TAY C AT I O N Lewdown Nr Okehampton Devon

Lewtrenchard Manor 01566 783222 lewtrenchard.co.uk

An idillic setting, with beautiful grounds and outstanding backdrop in a hidden valley Our first morning at Lewtrenchard Manor was a lovely awakening, strolling up Madam's walk, an avenue of beech trees that leads off the side of the Manor and along the valley. The shades and volume of green hitting the eyes in May was deeply relaxing and mesmerizing, together with the sweet, clear chatter of birdsong.

What strikes you when you drive down to Lewtrenchard Manor is that you're in deep Devon countryside,

Beautiful wistaria strewn courtyard

endless fields, hedgerows, woods, rivers. The experience goes to reinforce the fact that Devon's a rural county, and if you love countryside, I honestly cannot think of anywhere lovelier to visit.

Arriving at a hotel, you're left in no doubt that you've arrived at a beautiful place, the manor itself is elegant, the front facade faces directly over the grounds and valley with no annoying traffic, buildings or anything to mar your experience.

The team at Lewtrenchard greeted us warmly and helped us settle in quickly, so we could get down to the serious business of enjoying the Manor. The room we'd been allocated was excellent, spacious, super clean with all facilities you could think of. Of particular importance of course was the bed.

Getting a good night's sleep is important when you're away from home, and the bed here was superb.

In terms of cleanliness, they have probably the most efficient room service I've ever experienced, by the time we'd come back from breakfast, the room had been tidied from top to bottom - amazing!

Sauntering around the Manor was a pleasurable experience, the interior is both interesting and grand, many of the rooms are panelled, with sumptuous moulded plasterwork ceilings. Outside, the gardens have both formal elements, but also informal sections that form a visual bridge to the rural landscape.

As mentioned earlier, the backdrop is lovely and sense of peace at the Manor is totally uninterrupted.

Whilst visiting, you can enjoy visiting Lydford Gorge, there are endless walks and Tavistock's a delightful 10 mile drive southwards through beautiful countryside.

A Lagonda, what else? - a thoroughly English car getting an airing at the Manor

A glimpse from the garden

The Library

The beautiful gallery

The owners, Sue and James with Son Duncan

Of course, when holidaying, you can experience great facilities, but sometimes have to put up with stuffy, unhelpful staff. Gladly, the staff at Lewtrenchard Manor were all genuinely friendly and helpful without being intrusive or overbearing.

Lewtrenchard Manor is run by the

that Lewtrenchard Manor lived up to expectation, with courses being of a very high standard. Firstly, breakfast was great, freshly squeezed orange juice (it does amaze me how many hotels serve up awful concentrate stuff), and the full English breakfast again being excellent.

understand what I'm saying. I always consider that the more you tinker with food, the easier it is to get it wrong, happily, all the courses served up were excellent. Pre starters, we were served with Mushroom VeloutĂŠ which was a lovely start to the meal - just brilliant. Of particular note was the

The 'house' dog, Spencer - his father was born at Blenheim Palace!

Pond and holy well - the gardens are really charming

The contented smile says it all, Alfie's a happy guest

owners, this clearly showing through in their commitment to looking after guests. Better still, it's dog friendly, so if you hate leaving your nearest and dearest behind, you'll be relived that you can bring your dog along with you too!

Whilst at Lewtrenchard Manor, we sampled both the bar and dining room menu. Opting for their venison burger was a good choice, as it proved delicious and satisfying.

Turbot with textures of Cauliflower main, as was the Assiette of Devon Beef, truly excellent.

In terms of dining, I'm happy to say

The dining room menu takes you into the realm of 'fine dining', if you look at the pictures below you'll

To conclude, our stay at Lewtrenchard Manor was thoroughly enjoyable and in fact, we can't recommend it highly enough. See our Reader Offer (right).

Editor

Madam's Walk running directly off the side of the Manor, a beautiful avenue of beeches strewn with bluebells, having views out across the valley.

Alfie's enjoying the wildlife.

Reader Offer Dinner, Bed and Breakfast for ÂŁ225 per night (based on double occupancy and inclusive of the room, dinner, full English breakfast and VAT. Subject to availability, excludes certain dates. Offer ends on 30th Nov 2015).

To access this offer you need to quote magazine

Top - Assiette of Devon Beef Below - Vanilla and Rhubarb Pannacotta

Tastings of Duck

Top - Turbot with textures of Cauliflower Below - Bitter chocolate with Raspberries