The Hotel: A Grade II listed 18th century mansion in 300 hectares of Yorkshire estate, ten miles southeast of Leeds. Claims to be Yorkshire’s only five-star deluxe hotel.
The Check-In: No doorman around but check in was swift and effortless. Lifts nearby made the journey to our second floor room easy. The welcome note and plate of chocolates in the room were sadly not destined for us and all attempts to get reception to pick up the phone were fruitless and a walk back down to reception explained why: a group of eight golfers checking in and taking up the attention of the two staff.
The Room: Traditional style and in need of some updating. Pine-looking furniture, patterned wallpaper, old-fashioned, big-back TV, floral curtains and so on. On the plus side was a spacious room, clothes press, laptop-size safe, minibar, golf putting game, plentiful storage, tea and coffee-making facilities, and both wired and wifi internet (free throughout).
The Facilities: Diversions include the beautiful manicured gardens, an ESPA spa, the 18-hole Calverly course and nine-hole Hall course, Nike Academy golf teaching facility staffed by PGA pros, a 16-bay driving range and pro shop. Eating is either in the moody black and red Calverley Grill formal restaurant with fantastically knowledgeable sommelier and a classic a la carte menu of oysters, rib-eye steak et al, all using local suppliers. Otherwise it’s the Claret Jug’s more informal setting inside the golf club by the 18th fairway with outside terrace and a good selection of local cask ales. The Drawing Room is perfect for traditional afternoon tea on fine bone china and a great selection of whisky (some 304 bottles in the accompanying Whisky Room) plus a champagne bar with over 50 varieties.
The Business: A dedicated conference suite with seven meeting rooms. Capacities range from ten boardroom style in the Perkins Suite to 350 theatre style in the Oulton Suite, which has its own separate entrance. Two of the rooms, Repton (taking 60 theatre style) and Rothwell (50 theatre style) both open on to part of the formal gardens at the back of the hotel. All offer state of the art AV equipment.
The Verdict: One of De Vere Deluxe’s better country house hotels in terms of its overall condition, facilities, grounds and service levels, despite experiencing a few service hiccups, such as a room service order of pasta without mushrooms that still came with them after a second try, and a sullen waiter indifferent to our request for afternoon tea in the garden, which I presumed was about the additional burden he had of a wedding to attend to.
The Details: Rothwell Lane, Oulton, Leeds, LS26 8HN. No published tariffs. Early January 2010 rates begin at £119 on a B&B basis in a standard double sole occupancy, and deluxe at £164 on the same basis. Tel: 0113 282 1000, www.deverehotels.com Gillian Upton
