Hillside House
Sleeps 10-14
Painswick, Gloucestershire
Hot tub, gardens and grounds
Walk the gardens, glass in hand, before dinner. Enjoy the Englishness – the manicured lawn, the verdant borders and the plash of the pond. On the terrace, a bottle and glasses sit invitingly on the wrought-iron table.
Explore further and you’ll find a wooden chalet. Inside, the hot tub bubbles year round. Pile in, pop a cork and prepare to laugh loud and long with friends or family. Abandon your troubles all ye who enter here.
For drinking and dining al fresco, you can slide open the doors to the sun room and let in the view across the Cotswolds hills and vales to Painswick and the spire of St Mary’s Church.
Living spaces
This is no ordinary home. Life at Hillside House, with its soaring views over the valley across to picture-perfect Painswick, elevates the spirit.
As the heavy front door clunks behind you, you’re in a large hallway. Beyond this, living is open plan and openly luxurious. After a day exploring the Cotswolds, light the logs and enjoy a team collapse on the squishy corner sofa in the lounge. Sky Movies and Sauvignon await.
For fresh air and an unfettered sense of freedom, there’s a door to the garden from the lounge. But you might prefer the viewing room option. Spanning the width of the house, the room comes with acres of seating and an open invitation to laugh and chat all night along.
Slide open the glass doors and let the calm and the charisma of the Cotswolds in. You’ll clink glasses on a terrace with a seat in the gods, high above the valley, with a view right across the open spaces to Painswick, the town that time forgot.
Cooking and dining
Master chef? We have everything you need, maestro. The multiple-oven Aga is just waiting to pipe out heat and produce lamb shanks or turkey pie. For your inner Heston, there’s also an induction hob, wok spot, two oven/grills and a microwave.
Not enough? Hillside House comes with separate larder kitchen, with dishwasher and large fridge/freezer. Choose a wine from the rack and leave an honesty tip.
With dining for 12, getting together has never been so easy or so enjoyable. Muck in around the Aga, pile into the dining room and let the wine flow as freely as the conversation.
Prefer putting your feet up to rustling up a roast? Pass the Sauvignon Blanc and let our chef take over. One-off occasion or fully catered holiday, we’ll do you proud and vanish as quickly as the washing-up.
Bedrooms
Hillside House is slumber central, with four big bedrooms on which luxury has been unhesitatingly lavished. Sheets are soft and mattresses for sinking into. Sleep deeply with clean air in your lungs and the hoot of an owl in your ears.
First up to the first floor baggsies the big bedroom. Complete with super kingsize double bed, dressing table and wall-mounted TV, the master bedroom is a masterstroke. The accompanying bathroom offers a modern, freestanding ‘organic’ bath for long soaks.
Bedroom two comes with double bed, day bed and family bathroom. Take the individual stairs to bedroom three, another double with spare bed and en-suite, and bedroom four, with kingsize double and en-suite shower room.
What people say
Wildlife, nightlife, highlife
Phones off, please, and get mobile instead. See the view from Painswick Beacon, eat delicious Thai in the March Hare and drink real ale in the ancient Falcon. Potter the book shops, antique shops and coffee shops. Try Cheltenham for nightlife and Burford for wildlife. Live the highlife in the beautiful Cotswolds.
