Occasionally we all need to escape the busy city life and spoil ourselves to bit of R&R in the country side. Fresh air, walks, massages, fireplaces in country pubs and delicious food are all good for the soul, so me and a girlfriend decided to go on a wee road trip out of London and book ourselves a room at the gorgeous
The Olde Bell in Hurley. The Inn is only a 45min drive from the city; located in a wee village along the Thames and is very close to famous English countryside towns Henley on Thames, Maidenhead and Marlow.
The Olde Bell is not a hotel where the rooms dominate, but where the common spaces are the heartbeat of the place. It has a lovely pub area where you can sit down for a casual lunch or enjoy tea and cakes or a glass of wine by the fireplace.
After arriving at the hotel we checked into our room, dived onto the bed and did a big ‘whoooopie we’re here!’ and then headed downstairs to enjoy a delicious parsnip soup with freshly baked breads in the pub.
The Modern Coaching Inns rooms are designed by the celebrated designer Ilse Crawford (portfolio includes Soho House New York, Grand Hotel Stockholm, Cecconis and more). I loved the design and style of the hotel; a perfect mix of old and new. Old beams, wooden floors, wool and fluffy blankets and modern furniture. The bathroom featured an amazing claw foot bath and lots of Aesop goodies!
After our heart-warming lunch we decided to go for a walk in the cold countryside. We had a mix of four seasons during our two and a half hour walk; sunshine, wind and rain! But I loved being in the fresh air, getting some exercise, catching up with my friend and exploring in the woods.
I think autumn is one of my favourite seasons!
See I am no princess! I don’t mind getting a little muddy and luckily I had my trusted
Hunter wellies!
Perfectly timed after we got back from the walk (a little windswept and wet from the rain) our room got magically transformed into a private beauty spa because through the hotel we’d booked for a mobile treatment by
Flutterby. I got a full body massage and my friend a facial. After this we felt super relaxed and could have almost hopped into bed right then and there but we managed to pep ourselves up for dinner in the main restaurant of the hotel. This was my casual outfit of the night…
Jeans by Abercromby & Fitch (
link)
Leopard print shoes by ALDO (
link)
Green off the shoulder top (purchased in small boutique shop in
Barcelona)
Black wool cardigan by Country Road
Double layer navy/beige leopard printed scarf by ZARA (recent purchase)
The
main restaurant serves simple, rustic and great quality food so we decided to order from their three course menu at £29.50 per person. We both had the goats cheese and baked beets as a starter and I had the braised lamb shoulder with pearl barley and red cabbage and Katharina indulged in the sirloin steak with triple cooked chips and bone marrow gravy. It was a lovely evening; enjoying delicious food, a glass of red and wonderful company! But best part had to be…
….DESSERT!! ;) I had the Rhubarb and Apple Crumble and Katharina the Sticky Toffee Pudding ♥
After dinner we retreated to our room for some reading and a great nights sleep! To be continued…. x
What a lovely post! You’ve made me want to stay at his hotel, looks like you & your friend had a great stay.
http://www.cagneyandlace.com
Wow such a lovely post. The pictures are absolutely stunning, looks like you had an amazing time.
E
x
Your pictures are amazing! Looks like you had a really good time as well :)
lovely blog
Heather xo
verrism.blogspot.co.uk
Looks like a lovely time! How fun!
=)
Brooke
Great blog. Would you like to follow each other?
Much Love,
amyklundt.blogspot.com