Coworth Park review: relaxing, tranquil and dreamlike
Doing as little as possible is the order of the day at this swanky country house in Ascot

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Around 45 minutes by car from London (or 20 minutes if you’re planning on landing at the hotel’s helipad), Coworth Park sits in 240 exquisite acres of rolling fields and wildflower meadows against a backdrop of stunning trees and pockets of woodland – towering firs and dense thickets of striking silver birch abutt the swanky country house.
It’s the only hotel in the UK that can lay claim to its own polo field – both William and Harry have played here and the bond with all things equine is evident both in the grounds, with horses and ponies dotting the landscape, and inside the hotel itself, gracing the walls and popping up on the cocktail menu.
Part of the Dorchester Collection, the hotel is also home to the Michelin-starred Restaurant Coworth Park, deftly headed up by ex-Ritz alum Adam Smith. If staying in the hotel is not on the cards, a visit for a dinner of this calibre is well worth the trip.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Why come here?
The Mansion House, built in 1776, has 30 generously sized rooms all with beautiful views of the woods to the rear or out across the meadow and tree-lined path that leads to the polo fields from the front.
Horses are very much part of the make-up of the building, with art, design and nomenclature all referencing them frequently. Whilst grandiose, the hotel is modern and comfortable; muted shades of wheat, caramel, sage and pistachio form the colour palette, elevated with hints of gold. These natural, subtle colours create a smooth transition from the interior to the grounds outside.
The rooms are light and airy, and while they follow the rest of the hotel in design, they all have different styling; ours had a marble-walled bathroom equipped with a deep, copper roll-topped bath – impossible to resist. A recent upgrade saw televisions installed with whizzy new tech which means you can connect any device to them and stream the latest Netflix series directly from your phone.
The stables and cottages house a further 40 rooms and the Grade II-listed Dower House is a private, bookable three-bedroom cottage.
Getting around couldn’t be easier – if you don’t fancy a short stroll, the hotel team are on-hand with golf buggies to drive you around the grounds (even if you just fancy a tour).
Eating and drinking
Breakfast is as special as an evening meal here; the service is impeccable and everything is served to the table – not a buffet bar in sight. Much love and thought has gone into the offerings – unmissable are the scrambled eggs, swathed in a swirl of smoked salmon and topped with a generous mound of caviar.
A short stroll/buggy ride from the main house is The Barn; there’s indoor and outdoor seating and a vast open kitchen serving up brasserie-style dishes with a few whistles and bells – for example, a cheeseburger topped with sticky short rib or halibut with shellfish cassoulet.
The jewel in the crown is the Michelin-starred Restaurant Coworth Park. Under the watchful eye of Adam Smith, it’s a slick, well coordinated operation: the restaurant team floats around the dining room, topping up wine glasses and laying down delicious treats. Both the food and the room are un-stuffy; they walk that fine line of “just fussy enough” to feel really special.
The cooking is refined and striking – the caviar tart with crab, yuzu and cultured cream has been on the menu in various iterations since Smith arrived, he tells us, and it is a sight to behold, resplendent with shiny black jewels and topped with a whisper of gold leaf. Turbot, one of the finest fish in the sea, comes with stuffed mussels, salted grapes and a vin-jaune sauce poured table-side. Highland wagyu, Japanese beef reared in Scotland, is rich and luxurious, topped with discs of truffle. Mashed ratte potatoes on the side (which must be 80% butter) are topped with a nest of shredded, meaty short rib from the same breed. The signature chocolate dessert made with their own couverture, blended for them by Valrhona, is truly unmissable (four courses, £98).
For those looking for something a little less serious, there’s afternoon tea to be had in The Drawing Room. The spa has its own Spatisserie serving lighter bites. Cocktails from the bar are a classy, clever affair; a Marmalade Mare, for example, is a smart twist on a Sidecar.
What to do
The stunning crescent spa sits under a living roof of herbs and grasses with treatments designed by some of the top global spas. It looks out onto the fabulous wildflower meadow which was cut back on our wintry visit – the flowers do make an appearance, though, dried and pressed into the restaurant menu.
Given its equine heritage, horse-riding round the wonderful grounds is a must but for those happier on terra-firma, there are miles of walks around; across the road are huge woods just begging to get lost in.
Coworth Park exists out of time; it’s relaxing and tranquil – a little dreamlike. Doing as little as possible here is the order of the day – it’s comfy, squishy and soft and the staff are informal enough to make it feel like a very swish home-from-home.
Coworth Park, Blacknest Road, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7SE. Rooms from £575 a night, breakfast not included; dorchestercollection.com
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
'Accepting defeat is Rishi Sunak's only hope of victory'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week Staff Published
-
Royal family website attacked by Russian hackers
Speed Read Pro-Kremlin group claim responsibility just two weeks after King Charles condemns invasion of Ukraine
By The Week Staff Published
-
Larry the cat: how chief mouser 'won the nation's hearts'
Why Everyone's Talking About Downing Street says resident pet is 'healthy' despite reports of contingency plans for his death
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Boys from the Blackstuff review
The Week Recommends A 'powerful' adaptation of Alan Bleasdale's 'masterpiece'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Seaham Hall review: serenity on the coast in County Durham
The Week Recommends Former haunt of Lord Byron is pure poetry when it comes to spa options in the north-east
By Jamie Timson, The Week UK Published
-
MG4 EV XPower review: what the car critics say
Feature The XPower just 'isn't as much fun' as a regular MG4
By The Week Staff Published
-
Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance review
The Week Recommends Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition features lives affected by the Atlantic slave trade
By The Week Staff Published
-
Private Lives review: a 'witty' revival of Noël Coward's classic comedy
The Week Recommends Patricia Hodge and Nigel Havers play the warring exes in this 'delicious retro treat'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Wilderness review: a soapy drama set in the American southwest
The Week Recommends Amazon series starring Jenna Coleman and Oliver Jackson-Cohen is 'full of twists'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Volkswagen ID.5 review: what the car critics say
Feature The ID.4's 'sportier, more stylish twin' – but 'don't believe the hype'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Jamaica Inn review: a small patch of Caribbean heaven
The Week Recommends Guests will feel like one of the family at this boutique beach resort in Ocho Rios
By Natasha Langan Published