I must confess I am growing rather tired of country house hotels. They all look the same; smell the same; often preach the same; and at times, have a whiff of my grandmother’s overly floral perfume. Though there are some exceptions, and one most recently found at Thyme.
It’s roughly 7.45 p.m. and I am seated for dinner with Caryn Hibbert, Thyme’s founder, and her daughter, Milly, Thyme’s general manager. Reading this, you might think it odd that I do not refer to Thyme as a “hotel,” but there’s a reason for this. “Oh, I don’t like that word; I didn’t want to use it for years. That just didn’t feel like us,” Caryn confesses. In fact, Thyme was never meant to be an inn in the first place. Beyond its life as a family home, it started life out as a cookery school, then, as the years flew by, became one of the OG nature first enterprises in this part of the shires. The rooms, it seems, were just an “extension” of a dream.
The whole “made to feel like a family home” kind of hotel is overdone, especially in editorials like this, but here it is not. Caryn, the driving force of this mini-empire, is quite literally the “lady of the manor” next door; Milly takes care of the day-to-day business of it all; and her brother Charlie oversees all of the restaurant’s seasonal menus in the Ox Barn. Beyond this, the mother-daughter duo also launched the sibling homeware and beauty brand Bertioli in 2019. Talks and workshops centred on all things design, beauty, and food are another family addition.
Two chardonnays and two Chablis’ into dinner, and I was eased into this world of scholastic creativity, and with a dose of refreshingly good humour too. I learned quickly that the Thyme style is personal, and not in a stuffy or strained way at all. They are an energetically creative team from the get-go, and the payoff is a very much to the point British family-driven inn set to the tune of rigour and purpose: one that promotes the power of nature and wellbeing first and foremost.
This sense of personal osmotic familial being permeates throughout the rest of the estate in the form of a medley of barn conversions that ooze small village glamour, minus the pretentiousness. It’s all very quaint and quintessentially Cotswoldian, but unlike its competitors, is a wondrously serene and peaceful place. I feel this most in my room, named English Rose, after Caryn’s deep-rooted love of florals and all things green in general. At 6 a.m. I sit in my little private garden and all I can hear is silence (and a few kestrels) as the spring sun pierced the hanging crimson clouds. The inside is just as poetically serene.
Decked out in subtle pinks and a fluttering of antiques, the roll top bath perched in the shadow of a 400-year-old centrepiece, Cedar of Lebanon spruce, is nature’s call anthropomorphised. Elsewhere, giant windows spy views of the surrounding fields, a chandelier drapes, and a scattering of curated books fill the shelves and nooks. It’s all very lovely indeed.
But perhaps the biggest treat for me was an early walk with Caryn through the orchards and meadows that make up the estate. We talked birds, the state of farming, my food concerns, and aside from the serious chatter, stood in silence to take in the little rich biosphere her own personal vision had created over the years. As she spoke, there was a transformative and passionate nature to her; and one that exceeded niceties. It was to the point, NO BS soliloquies on why this all mattered to her, and it was obvious: a woman and a family set on making a difference here, and beyond their borders to eco projects that really matter. This little peaceful nirvana, full of chirps, otters, owls, and migrating birds, spoke for itself.
There’s a lot of greenwashing about, but this one country family who does it proper, and in their own unique and quiet way too. That, I don’t think, could be ever more delightfully British in mentality if it tried to be.
Top Takeaways
Location: Southrop, Cotswolds, England
Rating: Five-star
The vibe: Eco family country house hotel excellence, minus the pretentious faff.
Food + Drink: Classic farm-to-table British with seasonal menus. If asparagus is on the menu, order it.
Amenities: Bar, restaurant, afternoon tea, gardens, spa
Our Favourite Thing About the Hotel: The eco effort. It is a family that is hellbent on making a significant impact on the environment, and your money supports this.
What’s Nearby? In all honesty, I didn’t look because I did not leave the estate.
Any personal neighbourhood recs? There’s a lovely Norman church on the grounds. Take a peek, and the local pub is well worth it, too.
Rooms: 31
Pricing: From about 600 USD per night, including breakfast.
Closest Airport: London Heathrow
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