Last weekend, in between finishing at Prama, the charity I have worked at for the past two years, and starting my new job for a luxury hotel chain, I took a weekend break away to The Cotswolds, to reset and explore. I have been to the area before, but I purposefully opted to stay in places I hadn’t been to before, so it would be a proper adventure.
We arrived in Chipping Campden at around 8pm on the Friday night, and I was instantly in love with the little village, which is so picturesque, even in the dark. We had a dinner reservation at 8.30pm, so there was just enough time to check out the room and drop off our things before going down and enjoying some delicious home cooked food.
The Noel Arms Hotel has one awards for their curries, and I can see why. It was so tasty, really flavourful, and it was just the right amount so that I felt full but not uncomfortably so. Tom had the burger, which looked lovely too. The restaurant was spacious, and the lighting atmospheric, it was a really nice meal.
Breakfast the next morning was also good. We both had the full English, which was just the right amount, and filled us up for the rest of the day whilst we explored the village. Chipping Campden is a beautiful place to stay, or to simply stop in and look around. We found a gorgeous little courtyard cafe, just off the main road through the village, and we enjoyed a drink in the sunshine before heading off on our next adventure.
We travelled the half an hour journey to Stratford Upon Avon, where we went to the Butterfly Farm, which was fantastic, and a lovely activity, but it was so hot inside that I felt like I was actually melting (maybe avoid wearing makeup whilst you are in there), and I was a little relieved when we finished and entered the gift shop, buying some soft drinks to have in the shade to cool down. As well as the butterflies, which were flying all around and even landing on us occasionally (they were very attracted to my camera), there were a collection of other creatures including spiders, bugs and tropical fish. The leaf cutter ants were particularly interesting to watch, they were so precise!
We headed over to the next hotel, the De Vere Cotswolds Water Park, where we checked in and relaxed in the room for half an hour before it was time for our pre-booked swimming slot in the spa. The room was lovely, with a balcony which looked out to the water. I could have happily stayed there several nights, and will definitely be back when possible. 
The spa is also brilliant, and I loved that the timed slots meant we only shared the pool area with around five other people, and towards the end it was only us and another couple. I hadn’t been in a swimming pool since February last year, before the pandemic, so it felt amazing to be able to relax and enjoy being in the water and feeling weightless.
Chilled out from the pool and sauna, we went back to the room and enjoyed not having anywhere to be for a couple of hours before our dinner reservation, which was in the main restaurant. We shared a couple of the small plates as a starter, the red pepper hummus with feta was really nice, and not something I would usually go for, but I loved it, especially with the pitta bread, and the nachos from our other dish.
For mains, I must admit, we weren’t as impressed. I had another curry, which was a mistake after such a nice dish the night before. This one was very heavy on the tomatoes and didn’t have anywhere near as much flavour. Tom’s pizza was also not up to scratch, so we were a little disappointed, but it didn’t ruin our evening, and the waitress we had, Francy, was so bubbly and attentive.
The next morning we had breakfast early (not our choice as such, as we hadn’t realised you should book a slot in advance, and the only ones left were either 7am or 11am), but it was nice to get up and going before being able to go back to the room and chill out again before needing to check out.
We decided to go to the nearby water park hire centre, which was literally a five minute walk from the main hotel, and we hired a double kayak, which was such a fun experience, and not something I had done before. I did attempt to steer a bit, but overall I was able to just lay back and enjoy the slow ride around the lake.
Before leaving to go back to Bournemouth, we had some lunch and fresh smoothies overlooking the lake, and then stopped off at Bourton-on-the-Water, which was another quaint little village, with plenty of beautiful houses to take photos of, and little shops to wander around.
We broke the journey back up once more with a stop by a canal, watching the sunset. It was such a beautiful break away, and I would definitely recommend a visit, if it isn’t somewhere you have been before. It only took around 2 hours to get back home from Bourton on the Water, and 2.5 hours to get to Chipping Campden on the first night, so it isn’t too far at all to travel from Bournemouth, for a weekend, although if we were to go again, I think I would like to stay one extra night, to fit in a little more exploring.
Both hotels were welcoming, with lots to do on their doorsteps. De Vere had lots more on site, including the spa, restaurants and bars, but I also loved how cosy and historic the Noel Arms was, so I would recommend both, if you are looking for a base to stay at whilst visiting the area.
