Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons added ‘Belmond’ to its name when the luxury hotel group bought it a few years back. Belmond has now been purchased by LVMH, but I’m told Belmond will remain in its title.  For me, however, it will always be “Le Manoir”.  I first stayed in Le Manoir in 2001, when I was doing a residential cookery course, and I was blown away by its quality, its beauty and its attention to detail.  In my mind, Le Manoir was the ‘Gold Standard’ of hotel excellence.  In the interim I’ve stayed at many more luxury hotels, but I hope to persuade you here that after nearly 18 years, Le Manoir is still parfait!

We arrived too early (11.15 am) for check-in, so we were invited to wait in the lounge with some coffee, water and biscuits, while our room was prepared. There we began to sink into the luxurious comfort of Le Manoir, on sumptuous sofas near a working fireplace, with collectable art on the walls, rich carpet underfoot and a scattering of framed photos of chef patron Raymond Blanc with his team and some famous guests, including HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.  At about 12:30 were were shown to our Garden Junior Suite, named Crystal. All of the rooms have names which hint at their individual styling: Crystal has a contemporary decor in a neutral palette, with lots of vintage mirrors both on the walls and on the wardrobe doors.  The hotel’s website says the room is 36 square metres, but it seemed larger; it’s certainly a very comfortable, bright and luxurious space.

Everything was spotless and smelled lovely (helped by a nice ‘Branche d’Olive’ diffuser) and a CD of well-known classical pieces, playing softly, made everything seem very elegant.

The bathroom was fully lined with brown marble and more vintage mirrors. It featured a long bath, twin vanities, toilet, bidet, and a terrific 2m x 1m shower cubicle with a well-pressured rain shower which I found easy to get the right temperature. Branche d’Olive toiletries were in generous 250ml containers and left my skin feeling silky smooth.

It sounds weird, but I thought this was the best shower ever!   The bathroom also exemplified Le Manoir’s fine attention to detail, with digital scales, a plethora of thick towels, bathrobes and an overnight amenity kit, the contents of which were well in excess of what I normally find in a hotel.

Glazed doors opened onto a private terrace with table and chairs, which in turn lead to an open courtyard type space, dominated by a lovely big tree in which crows were busy building nests.  BTW we weren’t disturbed by the sound of crows at all, but we were told that on Sundays a local falconer comes to Le Manoir with his hawks to deter pesky pest birds from the estate.

Le Manoir’s grounds are almost a good enough reason to visit the hotel on their own, and even in winter they provided a great venue for a gentle walk.  There’s more space than ever before given over to growing organic vegetables and herbs, there are greenhouses where flavour-dense micro-herbs are grown, but there are interesting sculptures dotted around too, ornamental ponds and a delightful Japanese garden, complete with a tea house.

It’s all very lovely and peaceful, reminding city folk of the beauty and the bounty of nature, and providing the 2 Michelin-starred kitchen with fresh organic produce.

Each morning breakfast is served in the main dining room’s conservatory, where they lay out a very refined, high quality cold buffet to complement the hot dishes on the a la carte.  A delicious bircher muesli was laden with seeds and dried fruits, but I also added some fresh fruits which had all been cut into a 0.5cm dice.  From the hot menu there were plenty of creations in addition to the “full English”; kippers, omelettes, and my usual go-to, eggs Benedict.  With freshly squeezed juices and excellent coffee on hand, breakfast at Le Manoir is very much a ‘fine dining’ affair.

On the second morning I was tempted to try ‘Boudin noir et Pommes’ and I was glad I did. The lightest, softest of black puddings was rich and hearty, but excellently offset by apple puree, baked apple segments and, rather decadently, chunks of pressed apple soaked in calvados.  It was a great gallic dish 10/10

Going back to the bedroom, I must mention the decanter of complimentary Madeira wine and the bottled still and sparkling waters replenished during cleaning and evening turn-down. There was a pretty plate of fresh fruits brought daily, and a small bowl of the most divine sugar-coated almonds.  The only things missing were tea and coffee making equipment and a min-bar. But during check-in we were told to phone in the mornings and hot drinks of our choice would be brought (within 5 minutes and at no charge), and of course the hotel bar will bring any drinks you fancy to the room too.  And although Le Manoir doesn’t have a spa, they do offer a range of massages and therapies to be performed in your room.  Sadly I ran out of time to sample one.

Overall I wanted for nothing during my stay at Le Manoir. Everything is provided to create a perfect escape in the Oxfordshire countryside (including umbrellas and wellingtons if nature requires them). All rooms, largely designed by Raymond Blanc himself and fitted out with treasures he picks up on his travels, are beautiful, luxurious and sumptuously comfortable.  All of the staff appear to be at the peak of their game professionally, but they display a warmth and friendliness rarely seen in the UK these days.

Yes Le Manoir is expensive (our room was £830/night B&B), but it oozes quality and you can see where you’re money’s being spent. Perfection doesn’t come cheap.  This is an amazing hotel, run by great people, so if you can afford it I commend you to go there! 10/10