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Hyll is one of those Cotswolds hotels that quietly and confidently gets everything right. Everything about it has a lovely warm glow, the staff included, but there have been some changes since we were last here.
We’ve stayed at Hyll before, and this time we went back with one thing on our minds. There’s a new chef in the kitchen. We’d heard good things and wanted to taste the changes for ourselves.
A new man in the kitchen
His name is David Kelman and, on paper alone, he is a serious appointment. He joined from Estelle Manor in Oxfordshire, and his CV takes in Bodysgallen Hall (we love Bodysgallen), Lower Slaughter Manor, Wyck Hill House and three AA Rosettes for the Beaufort Dining Room at Ellenborough Park. Add a Great British Menu appearance representing Wales and dinners cooked for the late Queen, and that is a heavyweight record to bring to a manor house near Chipping Campden. We were delighted to spend a few minutes with him during our stay, and there was none of the swagger you sometimes get from chefs with that kind of history behind them. He talked instead about the produce around him, and about wanting a plate to taste of where it came from rather than of technique. You could tell he is enjoying being given the freedom to do that properly.
Cwtches and red kites
But first, the bit we always want to mention before we get anywhere near the food. Hyll still has that effect on you the moment you arrive, somewhere between a proper old house and somewhere you are actually allowed to relax. The cwtches, those cosy little nooks tucked around the main house, are still our favourite thing about the place. We are Welsh, we can’t help ourselves. Curl up with a newspaper by the fire and nobody minds if you doze off in the armchair. We have stayed in winter, when the fires were lit and blankets were left out for anyone caught by the evening chill. This time we went at the end of a hot August, when none of that was needed, but the building still felt every bit as inviting.
The view at the back of the property gets us every time. Rolling Cotswold countryside for what feels like a hundred miles, and on a clear evening the Cotswold stone glows in the golden hour as the sun drops. It sounds like the sort of line a brochure would use, until you are actually sitting there watching it happen. Jennifer spent a good ten minutes counting red kites circling above the trees on the hill below. She got to fourteen and there were still more appearing, and they were still wheeling about when we headed in for dinner.
Right, dinner
Bread first, always a good sign of a kitchen’s confidence, and Hyll’s sourdough did not disappoint. The two butters that came with it arrived properly chilled rather than at room temperature. A small thing, and probably deliberate, but we would have liked them a touch softer for spreading. The tableware deserves a mention too. It is rustic, earthy and just right for Hyll, and the Charingworth cutlery is a nice nod to the house’s previous incarnation.
Starters were where Kelman’s approach first showed itself. My Cornish crab was about as fresh as crab gets outside Cornwall itself, with just kohlrabi and lemon oil doing the talking. Jennifer went for the twice-baked cheese and pickle soufflé in a Burford cheese custard, which she described somewhere between a happy sigh and a warning that she would not finish her main course. She finished her main course.
Mains were the real test, and this is where it got interesting. I had the aged heritage sirloin, which was good and properly cooked, but I am still not convinced the tomato fondue and the herb hollandaise were meant to be at the same party. Jennifer’s Somerset pork chop, on the other hand, walked away with the night. Sage stuffing, a salt pig charcuterie sauce and an apple purée made with Hawkstone cider. Pork seems to be having a moment everywhere, and two years ago I would never have ordered it. If every kitchen did it like this, we would understand exactly why. We skipped sides entirely. The portions did not need the help.
For dessert Jennifer went for the Cotswold cheeseboard, all local names we mostly had to ask about, while I could not resist the Basque cheesecake once I saw cherry and almond on the menu. Cherry is a weakness of mine. I asked, slightly cheekily, for some double cream on the side, and the kitchen sent it over without so much as a raised eyebrow. It turned a very good dessert into a perfect one.
Room eight
The room was another reason it was hard to leave. We were in number eight, right at the top of the main house, with a beamed ceiling, sumptuous furnishings, a lovely bathroom and a bed comfortable enough to make the alarm clock feel personally offensive. There’s a Naturalmat mattress, Verden toiletries, a Dyson hairdryer, a kettle as well as a Grind coffee machine, and a well-stocked minibar that refreshingly isn’t priced to punish you for using it. Look out of the windows at night and the sky is full of stars. This is dark skies country.
Breakfast the next morning was as easy-going as dinner had been serious. I went for the full English, properly done, while Jennifer was happy with yoghurt, sourdough and Hyll’s own honey (they keep hives on site). We took a last coffee out on the terrace before we left, and it is properly hard to say goodbye to that view, never mind the hotel.
The people who make it
The staff make as much difference here as anything on the plate. Alex on reception has been at Hyll since the day it opened. She remembered us from our last visit, and her hair is as brilliant as ever. Chloe and Miller looked after us at dinner without ever making it feel like a performance, the hardest trick in hospitality to pull off.
Watch this space
There is also work going on behind the main house that is worth keeping an eye on. Hyll is building a new events barn, the Bower, and from the model sitting in reception it looks less like a marquee and more like carved Bath stone, properly built to last. There’s already a wedding booked in for May and, with grounds and a backdrop like this, we wouldn’t be surprised if the diary fills up very quickly once word gets round.
Our verdict
The Cotswolds is not short of hotels chasing the same crowd for the same weekend, so Hyll has always had to work that bit harder to make its mark. On this visit, with a chef who clearly knows what he wants to achieve and a kitchen more than capable of pulling it off, Hyll felt like a place moving forward with real intent. Add a wedding and events venue to the mix and it could change the kind of guests walking through the door. We’d love to return, but we suspect Hyll is fast becoming one of those hotels you have to think about booking well ahead.
Travel Life Tips!
Take your streaming passwords. The TVs let you log in to your own accounts, so you can pick up where you left off.
Hyll is perfectly placed for the Cotswolds’ usual suspects. Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold and Bourton-on-the-Water are all within easy reach, and in every direction you’ll find some of the most beautiful countryside in England.
Get out on the terrace before sunset. That golden hour light on the Cotswold stone is worth timing your evening around.
Hyll
Campden Road
Charingworth GL55 6NS
01386 593555
welcome@hyllhotel.com
You can also check availability at Hyll on Booking.com. Exploring the Cotswolds while you’re there? Find tours and days out with GetYourGuide.
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Planning more time in the Cotswolds?
Read about our first stay at Hyll.
Hyll Country: Welcome To The Cotswolds
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