The Painswick

What a gem ! Beautiful Cotswolds hotel with extremely friendly staff and a lovely dining room . We had been travelling around the Cotswolds all day and arrived early to have pre dinner drinks . There is a lovely bar and lounge with outside terrace with views of the nearby hills . As it was a little cooler we sat in front of the log fire having cocktails and reading our books . Leah the restaurant manageress invited us to move our booking forward which suited us . We started with chefs snacks cheese croquettes,potatoe with cod mousse and mixed charcuterie .We then had the tasting menu which I would highly recommend. We started with the a chicken terrine with asparagus a substitute for salt baked beets which the chef kindly changed . The chicken was crispy on the outside tender inside with beautiful wild garlic sauce and chicken jus just superb . We followed with cod and Romanesque sauce again delightful . Pork loin and belly pork with crackling carrot jam was the delicious main Followed by refreshing mango sorbet Pudding was a gorgeous chocolate cremo with yoghurt sorbet and sesame crisp Then petite fours and coffee All washed down with a superb Malbec Each dish was delightful leaving a lovely aftertaste truly excellent cooking Leah and her staff were delightful making a very pleasant birthday celebration . Highly recommended

We checked into the painswick for 1 night, and the 2nd night at the sister hotel, the calcot. First impressions were good, and when we were upgraded to a nicer room with fantastic views and a great bathroom we were even more pleased. Service was casual but attentive ( in a good way). The hotel had bags of character and Cotswold charm....beautifully furnished and very atmospheric and cosy. Lovely toiletries as well. Food at dinner was excellent, as was breakfast. Not a great deal to do in this tiny village, but if you want a quiet country night away you could do worse than stay here.

This boutique hotel has an elegant charm, which is precisely why we wanted to treat my mother-in-law to a celebratory 90th birthday Sunday lunch. The food was top notch. We didn’t opt for starters as we had already eyed up the deserts! However, we did enjoy some freshly baked lemon bread with some well salted butter. I had the pork and my husband and his mother, the sirloin beef. They were cooked to perfection with crispy roast potatoes and a medley of chargrilled vegetables and a homemade Yorkshire pudding. All this was brought together with a really good gravy. I would go as far as to say outstanding! The wine we chose with the help of the sommelier was the Nebbiolo, similar to a good pinot. It scored a 4 on my husband’s wine app. Possibly a little over fruity for me but it was very drinkable on its own and went well with our roasts. Moving on to deserts, they offered a spectacular version of bread and butter pudding, which two of us opted for and there was also a very good brownie with vanilla ice cream. We took coffee on the covered terrace, which finished off our experience at The Painswick in style. My only criticism is that no one recognised my mother-in-law’s birthday. She was 90. Admittedly she doesn’t look it but as I had specified this on the booking, I do think an acknowledgment of some sort would have been fitting. Apart from that, I can only praise both the venue and staff.