Calcot Collection's new property to receive new look, name and focus

06 November 2015 by Janet Harmer

Cotswolds88, the 16-bedroom hotel in Painswick, Gloucestershire, acquired by the Calcot Collection in April, is to be relaunched as a restaurant-with-rooms in spring 2016.

Newly appointed general manager Luke Millikin, formerly deputy general manager at St Mellion International Resort in Cornwall, will be joined by Michael Bedford as head chef. Bedford spent his earlier career in London at La Tante Claire, the Oak Room at the Meridien hotel and City Rhodes, and in Oxfordshire at Le Petit Blanc and Belmond Le Manoir aux Quart'Saisons. He moved to Gloucestershire in 2003 to open the Trouble House pub, which achieved a Michelin star four years later. More recently he has run the Butcher's Arms in Oakridge Lynch.

The Painswick will, according to executive chairman of the Calcot Collection Richard Ball, offer simple and affordable food and accommodation, backed up by highly skilled and expertly grounded hospitality.

"Something of a realignment is happening in the country hotel arena," he explained. "After years of pushing the boundaries of luxury to extremes, a return to the essence of its core offering is underway. Consumer preferences have shifted too - not just on the back of recent challenging economic times but also due to a desire to pare back on excess and make more of simplicity.

"A very appealing middle ground between luxury at full-tilt and posh pubs on the rise has opened up. The Painswick will root itself there and lead the way in answering the current call for a fresh approach."

The Painswick will feature a 34-seat restaurant; a free flowing bar, lounge and private dining/meeting room on the first floor; and two beauty treatment rooms (featuring the Elemis range), with nine bedrooms in the main house and seven in the adjoining garden wing.

Menus in the restaurant, which will have a window looking into the kitchen and a cafe-deli display of meats, cheeses and breads, will be unstructured. Bedford's Franco-British approach will feature throughout the day in breakfast, mid-morning snacks, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. The food will be "punchy, high-quality and accurately-judged".

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