Oxfordshire, England
Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons
A Belmond Hotel
What it is
Arguably the most food-obsessed hideaway in the English countryside (arrive hungry).
What it isn't
Blasé and business-y. If you don’t j’adore Toile de Jouy, this isn’t your hotel.
What we think
Nabbing two coveted Michelin stars is nearly impossible, but nabbing them for 33 years running? Actually impossible. Unless you’re chef Raymond Blanc, Officer of the British Empire. The man who founded Le Manoir has handily impressed Michelin’s undercover judges—and thousands of gastronomic globetrotters—since 1984. The food is expectedly perfect: Your seven-course dinner may include Norfolk quail with courgette flower, or beef tartare with oyster leaves and horseradish. But the estate itself is gorgeous enough to want to eat up with a silver spoon, with two acres of organic vegetable gardens, a Japanese teahouse, and a water garden built by monks in the 16th century. Ask to stay in the Emily room, which sits in the 15th-century wing of the home and overlooks a leafy courtyard.
You're here because
You know the old maxim about British food being inedible is about as tired as a royal corgi after the hunt. Plus, you’re dying to join their Raymond Blanc Gardening School in the glasshouse.
The Moment
You don your whites and try your hand in the kitchen with the hotel’s Chef for a Day program. What’s more rousing than learning to plate a la the Michelin-starred pros?
Restaurants & Bars
Hotel Restaurant - A Michelin star culinary experience that will stay with you forever
The hotel’s wine cellar is home to around 1,000 different wines from around the world.
Location
Just a 45-minute train ride from London Marylebone, the estate is a 17-mile drive from Blenheim Palace, with its gardens designed by Capability Brown, and 13 miles from the circa 1602 Bodleian Library.