Blenheim Palace near Woodstock is the only non-royal, non-episcopal building in England to bear the title Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage masterpiece of English Baroque architecture built as a gift from Queen Anne to the Duke of Marlborough in 1704 and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. The Vanbrugh mansion sits in a landscape park designed by Capability Brown with a vast ornamental lake, formal gardens, and the Churchill Exhibition. Hotels near Blenheim Palace in Woodstock and Oxford offer access to this extraordinary monument to English military victory and aristocratic splendour.
Our Picks — Cotswolds
Barnsley Village
Once the private home of garden designer Rosemary Verey, Barnsley House is a supremely refined 18-room hotel surrounded by one of England's most celebrated gardens. The spa, cinema, and kitchen garden restaurant make it a destination in its own right.
Broadway
One of England's oldest coaching inns, this magnificent 16th-century hostelry in the showpiece village of Broadway has been welcoming guests since 1532 and today combines its extraordinary heritage with a superb spa and AA Rosette restaurant.
Upper Slaughter
A 17th-century Cotswold stone rectory in the impossibly picturesque village of Upper Slaughter, Lords of the Manor offers 26 individually furnished rooms, three acres of gardens, and a restaurant of real quality. Romance and seclusion are guaranteed.
Chipping Campden
An elegant Regency townhouse at the top of Chipping Campden's magnificent High Street, with 29 rooms, a superb spa, and a walled garden restaurant. The town itself — one of the Cotswolds' finest — is on your doorstep.
Lower Slaughter
A beautifully restored 17th-century inn in the chocolate-box village of Lower Slaughter, with 31 rooms of genuine character, a mill stream running past the gardens, and an award-winning farm-to-fork restaurant. Walking distance to both Slaughter villages.
Bibury
Occupying a 17th-century coaching inn in Bibury — a village William Morris called 'the most beautiful in England' — The Swan delivers refined country house comfort beside the River Coln. Its afternoon tea is among the Cotswolds' finest.
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