The Tawny Hotel
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About
Relax... in nature. Located in the heart of rural Staffordshire, escape to the The Tawny and let the surrounding landscape envelop you.
Explore... woodland, stroll through lakeside gardens, find peace in secluded dells and delight in enchanting follies. 70 acres of exploration await you.
Discover... new experiences. Bathe outside under starlit skies, enjoy the perfect picnic, share a relaxed meal with incomparable views and unwind in the comfort of your unique room.
We are so excited to welcome you to this incredible deconstructed hotel in the heart of the English countryside.
We've taken all the best bits from a traditional hotel experience; a fabulous restaurant and dining options, room service, amazing guest facilities, heated outdoor pool....and combined them with your own private space, a country escape to call your own for the duration of your stay.
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The fixtures and fittings are of the highest stand, the beds are extremely comfortable, with a chose of pillows. We went for feather filled.
There is a selection of teas and coffee machine, fridge with selection of complimentary drinks and carton of fresh milk.
The chalet was a good 10 minutes walk from the main building, but an electric shuttle was only minutes away if you didn’t fancy the walk.
When at the main building the restaurant, which is beautifully furnished, overlooks the lakes and gardens
The food was a set menu, but catered for all dietary requirements. Compliments to the chef as everything was delicious.
There was even a cork yoga mat for me to do my stretching on in the morning
The ‘hotel’ layout is unconventional, as it’s spread across the vast grounds which are filled with follies and monuments to nothing as much as they reflect local heritage and history. From the tube tunnel look-out to the camera obscura and ancient temple ping pong, you could explore for hours and still not feel like you’d found everything.
The outdoor pool, set into the hillside, faux Roman-Greco style, is excellently appointed with changing facilities, loos, towels and even a hot line to the bar at the nearby Plumicorn restaurant. Cocktails are on the pricey side but the hedonistic experience is priceless!
So let’s talk about the Plumicorn. At the centre of the madness of the surrounding 5 star Shepherds huts, stilted rooms and treehouses, is the exceptional restaurant. A brownish/copper behemoth in prime juxta position to the soft rolling surroundings and is beautifully finished inside. With swathes of greenery and modern luxury fixtures and fittings it’s glass facade provides every guest with a panoramic view of the gardens rolling away below.
The staff were exceptional. Perfectly attentive without asking, friendly and welcoming yet somehow anonymously… another dichotomy.
The food (a beef brisket and mushroom starter, followed by duck breast with pommes Anna and a cheeseboard with its own duality, ooh and a pea mouse with white chocolate andcwasabi that shouldn’t work… but really really does! was quite simply, perfect. I was taken aback by the sheer quality and effort that must’ve gone into it.
Breakfast was very good. Varied with cold buffet and hot dishes to order. Again beautifully presented and never wanting in terms of variety or service.
Accommodation varies across the grounds. We stayed in the Pheasants roost - a perfectly positioned pair of shepherds huts, appointed to a 5 star standard inside with roll top bath and secluded stainless hot tub on your private deck. Everything you could need is there, regardless of the weather. And a short walk from the Plumicorn. I’d highly recommend any property in that area.
So… a glowing review? Well, simply put, yes. I can’t fault this stay. Eclectic yet familiar, 5star comfort yet woodland surroundings. A weekend will set you back a not insignificant purse of silver coins but let’s face it, what else have you been accidentally saving for over lockdown?!
So wake your tiger and get yourself down this hidden rabbit hole and ‘Eat Me’, ‘Drink Me’ before anyone else finds out ;)
Highly recommended
Ian
Having done almost 20 years in the hospitality industry, the staff it has to be said are hands down the best in customer service I have come across in the UK. Everyone was friendly and so very helpful nothing seems like too much trouble. The small things, like I overheard a little bending of the rules on a drink after 5 at the pool (just the one round) but the couple it was delivered for were so pleased by it, and it wasn’t the end of the world doing it but other places would have said no it's 5:15 no drinks after 5 pm.
Pre Arrival was great too, checked in beforehand online. Had an email to check what pillows and drinks we preferred in the minibar, and did we need anything else. I ordered a cake (at a charge which is expected) which was waiting for us on arrival in the room.
The boat house was stunning inside and out with a view of the lake. The indoor bath with the salt crystals and the outdoor heated shower and spa bath made us feel like we were somewhere in Thailand, not the Staffordshire countryside.
Breakfast was provided in the Plum court at the top of the grounds and using the little buggy collection to get there and everywhere else we needed to (another great touch if a little bumpy) was simple. Although, I may have scaled down our baggage if I had realised the car stayed in the car park at the top the whole time, but again this is a great idea as it means no noisy cars driving up and down to the rooms.
The heated outdoor pool area was great and have fabulous views of the gardens below.
Had planned to go off-site and explore but were so taken with the place, we simply chilled out.
have to say it again, the biggest surprise was the staff who really did make it feel like nothing was too much trouble (even if we had trouble getting our border collies out of the buggy to come home as he wanted to keep them)
All in all a GREAT find and we would love to return.
My only issue was some of the staffing, when you pay over £400 for a night you would like the staffing to reflect this. During breakfast there was a wedding party above in the plumicorn and they was outrageously noisey- screaming , shouting and wailing. My partner asked if the waiter could kindly ask them to quieten down, as it wasn’t enjoyable trying to relax having breakfast having to shout to each other, and having to shout to waitresses to order. The waiter just laughed and walked off when we explained our concerns which was very rude. We complained at reception and asked for a refund which we was given for breakfast.
It was clear that the staff are still getting their bearings, but it just felt we had to push for things to get sorted which was a shame. However the staff in the buggy’s that transported us to the boathouse were lovely and very chatty.
Overall we enjoyed the stay, but wouldn’t return until the building work had been done, and if there was more courteous staff.
The gardens in which the Tawny is sympathetically nestled are a delight in themselves; one could easily spend the entirety of one's stay meandering through the grounds, stumbling upon charming follies, lakes, bridges and grottoes at every turn.
The rooms are subtly but assuredly luxurious; well-furnished with stunning contemporary artwork adding a final, striking flourish. And with both indoor and outdoor showers and baths on offer, you've no excuse to leave without having reached new heights of cleanliness.
The hotel restaurant meets the same lofty standard, serving delicious and modern food alongside a dazzling vista across the gardens.
The Tawny blends the best of its rustic setting with the polished trappings of an elite establishment. For a getaway in the UK, there's simply nothing better.
We stayed in a lookout room for one night which was spacious, comfortable and a great location in the estate to access the restaurant, bar, pool etc. The grounds were beautiful to walk round and very well kept. The only thing to note about the room was that the floor was very squeaky and was bubbly in places, presumably from water after guests have used the bath and hot tub but shouldn’t be like this after only being open a year.
The check in experience was slow. Overall it took 30 minutes from arriving at reception to arriving at the room - this was because we had to wait 20 minutes for a buggy to take us to our lodge. The buggies are very useful but to only have 2 running when there were 6 couples checking in made it very slow.
Bikes are offered as a service to explore the grounds. They are offered on a first come first served basis and you book them out for one of 2 4 hour slots per day. At no point pre arrival was this mentioned to us and when we checked in they had already been booked for the two days we were there which was very disappointing.
Food options were limited (it was either pizza or very expensive a la carte menu) but it suited us and what we had was all very tasty. And service in the lounge was very slow at dinner.
The breakfast offering is a small continental offering and a handful of hot breakfast options. Not a huge menu but enough and all very tasty!
None of this is enough to put us off coming again but for £500 a night I’d expect things to be a bit sharper in places.
Embracing the nature/outdoors style we used the heated outdoor pool, private spa bath and private outdoor showers despite the December weather. In combination these made an immersive multi sensory experience which did not suffer at all from the temperatures, even with a frost.
We splashed out on one of the more premium rooms, which was quite possibly the best room I have ever stayed in! Having said this, while wandering about the vast grounds, we agreed that it would not have detracted from the stay at all if we were staying in one of the other options.
We had room service on the first night because the room was so nice we didn’t really want to leave. This consisted of two very good pizzas which we shared and a third apple and cinnamon ‘sweet pizza’ which despite sounding weird I can wholeheartedly recommend!
Breakfast was superb, including Staffordshire oatcakes, which have a special place in my heart and I loved to see on the menu. I kind of hate to admit it, but the pancakes were somehow even better. Portions were quite generous so I would recommend going lightly on the continental breakfast before the cooked to order food arrives if you want to get maximum enjoyment from it.
Dinner on our second night was in the Plumicorn restaurant. Everything we ordered we would be happy to eat again. The fallen apple desert was almost too pretty to eat.
When all was done it wasn’t the cheapest break, but at no point did we feel like we were being taken advantage of, like is so often the case at luxury hotels. Food and drinks felt reasonably priced and the complimentary mini bar was sufficiently well stocked that you needn’t even buy any drinks if you are not a particularly heavy drinker like us.
I was conveniently reminded that we are not actually engaged while I was caught asking too many questions about options as a wedding venue…I think it would make a fantastic venue.
Can’t wait to come back!
One we got the drinks they were unable to make the cocktail we asked for which we couldn’t understand why but ok we were thirsty so we didn’t complain.
Once we were taken to our table I ordered a bottle of rose bubbles and a jug of water to the table to go with our meal. The waiters gave us plenty of time to look at the menu and then we ordered. And quite quickly the freshly baked bread was at our table and the starters followed 10 minutes later and I couldn’t mark anything down on the food. It took about 20-30 mins for our mains to come but I wasn’t really fussed as we were having a good time. In this time we still hadn’t received our bubbles or water.. we had asked twice in this time to check on our order. The servers were really friendly and apologetic, but by this time 45 minutes for 1 bottle of wine and a jug of water was getting beyond a joke. In this time we also ordered 2 pints as we thought we might get these quicker but no.
Finally the rose bubbles arrived and the 2 pints (no water).
Our mains that arrived beef fillet, lamb and 2 sides- outstanding!! We didn’t want to share because it was that good.
We couldn’t decide at the time if we wanted dessert so we took a break and talked about the night. And came to it that for the things that went wrong we didn’t want to pay for anything else.
We would of had at least 2 bottles and a few more rounds of drinks and desserts but didn’t want to be Waiting for them a ridiculous time again.
There were plenty of staff on that night with not that many tables.
It also came to my attention that people that were staying at the venue were payed a lot more attention and were served a lot quicker.
In all we were very disappointed… what was meant to be a special date night made us feel irrelevant.. such a shame as the place is beautiful.. what the kitchen did was fantastic however the front of house really let it down and because of this we are hesitant to come back or suggest you to any of our food loving friends and family.
The staff were incredibly polite and helpful. In particular Mark, Simon and Abbie. Thank you.
The location without question is just beautiful, and there has obviously been a lot of thought and care put into the entire development and a conscious effort made to be Green.
The overall stay was very enjoyable, which we were very happy about as this was a joint birthday, and anniversary treat. It was also our baby daughters first time in a hotel/retreat.
There were however, a few downsides.
We were a little disappointed that we were right in front of cabins that were still under construction. Construction work began at 8am and although not too noisy we were not notified of this at any time despite booking well in advance.
Unfortunately, the only view we had while in the hot tub was of builders working in front of us. We used the hot tub at 9:30am (approx).
I understand how important it is to generate income during these difficult times, but I don’t think it wise to charge almost £500 a night for a cabin while construction work is going on right in front you.
After discussing the situation with Abbie on reception, she was very keen to help and kindly offered a small form of compensation which wasn’t expected (as times are difficult at the moment for all), but was really appreciated.
The menu for room service is very limited, but also very tasty. Great pizzas and the room service very prompt.
The heated outdoor pool is a great touch and our baby daughter thoroughly enjoyed it.
For an establishment that has only been running for 12 months/ish it’s hard to fault and teething problems are a natural part growing. However, a little heads up for the customers would be very welcome and at least they can then make an informed choice about where and when to stay.
We look forward to returning in the very near future.
"Great for couples - anyone with young children need to be mindful of the ponds next to the paths"Read full review
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