Ah, the Cotswolds. A postcard-perfect tangle of undulating greens, honey-colored cottages and mansions, and villages that look straight out of a fantasy. It was the last stop on our three-week England trip, and we decided to make the most of it by staying in Bourton-on-the-Water, one of the prettiest hamlets in the region. Our home for two nights was the equally gorgeous Broadlands Hotel, GL54 2DN, United Kingdom, and it has to be one of the best staying experiences of our lives. Tucked on a quiet street in the heart of the village, this B&B hotel, as we’d like to call it, was the cherry-on-top of our Cotswolds experience. Did we mention that it’s adults-only? Yes!

Everything about Broadlands Hotel was romantic, warm and welcoming, and charming to the T, including the location. Bourton-on-the-Water is famously called the “Venice of the Cotswolds,” with the River Windrush meandering right through the center. The village green backs right down to the water, complete with weeping willow trees. The rest of the village is centered around the river and could get quite busy during the day. Since it’s just a two-hour drive from London, many tourists make day trips here.

Broadlands Hotel was cleverly located off the main street. Even then, the quiet surroundings was just a two-minute walk to the main street of the village. It was perfect; we simply had to hop, skip, and jump to get to all the fun, and when we wanted to retire, the hotel and its serene surroundings were just what we were looking for.

Broadlands Hotel is nestled in a 300-year-old Cotswold stone house and comprised a main house and a coach house annex across from the parking lot. Decked out in traditionally cozy country-hotel decor, the place felt welcoming right from the moment we entered. On the right lay the main reception area, which led to the conservatory/restaurant through the bar, with the staff kitchen tucked out of sight.

If you’ve ever traveled to England, or plan to travel here soon, know this: parking is a nightmare everywhere. So, it was very important for us that we find accommodation with parking, as we had our own car. To our delight, Broadlands had its very own parking lot, not even street parking, which we’d not seen anywhere throughout our trip. What’s more, they charged a modest fee of GBP 5 for parking per day, which is fantastic considering the parking charges throughout the country. So, we were pleasantly car-free once we’d parked here, with the hosts even giving up their own parking space one evening during a particularly busy time.

This has to be our favorite bit about staying at Broadlands Hotel, with the breakfast coming a close second. Our hosts were the lovely couple Charlotte and Ross, who are the best examples of “how to run a B&B.” Formerly lawyers in Bristol years ago, they moved to the Cotswolds, which is where Charlotte, or Carly, is from. She welcomed us and checked us in, explaining everything about our room, noting down our breakfast timing preferences, and answering all our questions patiently. She talks nineteen-to-a-dozen, so if you also love talking like us, you and Charlotte are going to get along like a house on fire!

What we loved about our hosts was how they went out of the way to address issues. When we were unable to make the deposit payment due to some technical issue, Carly assured us through multiple emails that our reservation was intact and that we could figure out the payment when we arrived. Not just that, but she asked us to not worry about settling it until check-out. Now that’s what we call thoughtful service!

Ross was equally helpful, especially when we couldn’t get our key to the house’s main door to work at 9:30 pm when we returned from the village. He not only apologized for the inconvenience but also sorted out our problem quickly. It felt like being in a home away from home.

Since the B&B hotel sits in a converted Cotswold mansion, no two rooms are the same. They’re not only of different shapes, but they’re all decked out in their individual styles as well. Besides individuality, the rooms and suites in the older part of the building, where we stayed, had touches like low ceilings and doorways or sloping floors and ceilings.

Choose between digs in the main house and the coach house, which include standard rooms and larger suites for larger groups or those who want more space. While all the main house rooms are on the first floor, except the standard double room, all except the junior suites and the mini suite in the coach house are on the ground floor.

Our King Room on the first floor, Room no. 2, in the main building had a sloping ceiling, incidentally. We’d booked the room specifically, because it was supposed to be larger than the standard room, and we were delighted to find that it was indeed very spacious. A cloud-like bed, a carpeted floor, and a stunning navy accent wall greeted us as we entered, with a lovely window right opposite the bed. A seating nook graced the space, along with a table laden with coffee, tea, milk, sugar, a kettle, a lovely vintage cup and saucer set, and even cookies and protein bars! What we loved was that the bathroom was completely updated, with a shower over the bathtub and complimentary bath products.

Other thoughtful touches in the room, besides the flatscreen TV, were the free Wi-Fi, hairdryer, water bottle, and even a table fan.

Check out their official page for more details.

We’ve tried to save best for the last, and that would be the hearty breakfast spreads. Carly and Ross run breakfast service with aplomb, with Ross cooking breakfast and Carly managing orders, bringing you freshly brewed French coffee, and plying you with more food than ever. They have two options for breakfast, continental and a-la carte. Since ours was included in our room price, she asked us to choose whatever we liked. Think freshly baked croissants right from the oven, seasonal fruit, cereal, made-to-order eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, sausages (with a vegan option), white/seeded bread, Cotswold butter, orange and strawberry jams, and fresh milk to go with your coffee.

Breakfast was served in the sun-kissed conservatory, where every table had neatly arranged essentials – salt and pepper, white and brown sugar, tomato ketchup, and a lovely little flower in a glass. Served between 8 and 9:30 am, breakfasts turned out to be the highlight of our stay here, especially since they’d be peppered with conversations with Carly about our mutual love for croissants.

“Carly was unmistakably joyous about feeding people, so much so that she even asked me whether we wanted croissants for takeaway the day we were leaving!”

WOW Travel

It’s clear why we loved staying at Broadlands Hotel in Bourton-on-the-Water. While most of the stays in Cotswolds are much like this, Carly and Ross’ hospitality won us over, and the delectable breakfast was the proverbial icing on the cake. If you’re headed to the Cotswolds, Broadlands is where you should be staying, where you’ll be taken care of in the best way possible as you explore this gorgeous countryside.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Check-in is between 3 and 6 pm and checkout is at 11 am. If check-in is outside the said hours, then you need to call ahead and speak to them.

Yes, the hosts live in a private cottage right next to the reception in the main building.

Q: How many parking spaces does Broadlands Hotel have?
A: The hotel has a spacious car park with space for at least eight cars when parked properly. There’s one parking space allotted to every room.