‘Beautiful’ Northamptonshire retreat is named as best in the region by The Good Hotel Guide

A Northamptonshire countryside hotel has made it into The Good Hotel Guide’s prestigious annual list of 12 Cesar winners for 2023.

The Falcon Hotel, situated in Castle Ashby, has been named best hotel in the region. What started out as a coaching inn built in 1594, has been transformed by owners - the Lord and Lady of Northampton - into a rustic retreat.

“There’s a reason they call Lord Northampton the Mystic Marquess. He and his wife, Tracy, have placed well-being right at the core of their reinvented 16th-century coaching inn on the Castle Ashby estate,” writes a reviewer for The Good Hotel Guide.

The reviewer continues: “Take a yoga class or a gong bath, book a nature trail in the castle grounds and swim in the lake designed by Capability Brown. It’s not posh in the least, with a relaxed air throughout the beautiful interiors, in earthy, mossy tones to reflect the surrounding countryside.”

In response to their countryside hotel winning the coveted title of best in the Midlands, the Lord and Lady of Northampton said: “We are hugely honoured to receive such praise and we are very proud.

“We feel that the effort, hard work and dedication of everyone involved in the Falcon is paying off. We are still striving to deliver the best of comfort, service and food with wellness going through all levels and aspects of the business.”

The Falcon Hotel plays host to a variety of wellbeing activities and classes from deer park walks and guided nature tours to yoga, meditation and open water swimming.

The hotel’s fine dining restaurant, Eyas, is run by head chef Russell Bateman, who was formerly head chef at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, Petrus. Eyas was awarded Dining Venue of the Year in the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2021.

The Good Hotel Guide, established in 1978, claims to be the only UK hotel guide that is truly independent as hotels cannot buy their entry into their print edition and neither editors or inspectors accept free hospitality on their anonymous hotel visits.

The guide features 650 hotels, inns, B&Bs and guesthouses with 414 main entries and 44 new entries.

Find out more by visiting https://www.goodhotelguide.com/.