Hambleton Hall

Our Inspector's view

Tim and Stefa Hart bought Hambleton Hall in 1979 and created a country-house hotel of distinction but the story of this unique venue goes back much further. Back in the 1880s, fox hunting was an aspirational pursuit, and one wealthy Victorian brewer built Hambleton as his hunting season holiday home. A water feature, otherwise known as Rutland Water reservoir (now a nature reserve) arrived on the hall's doorstep in 1970 to enhance the splendour of the setting. It is a handsome place that delivers grandeur on a human scale and was always meant for entertainment and pleasurable pursuits, a laudable aim which continues today with elegant bedrooms, chic public rooms and a fabulous restaurant to complete the sybaritic picture. Chandeliers, oil paintings and linen-swathed tables provide reassuring formality, and the service throughout is charming, professional and engaging. The food is refined, creative and firmly rooted in sound culinary thinking. The hotel has its own bakery, so the bread is a cut above, and everything from the canapés to the petits fours is beautifully made and delivered via tasting and à la carte menus. The chefs grow as much of their own produce as possible on site in the one-acre kitchen garden bordered on the south side by a two-metre high wall where the peaches, figs and apples thrive. Poached king prawns, ponzu, avocado and seaweed is one way to start a meal here, or perhaps the slow-cooked octopus, chorizo, lemon and ginger sauce and squid ink pasta catches the eye. It might be followed by roast quail, mushroom risotto, salsify and Sauternes or poached fillet of turbot, clams, cucumber and oyster leaf sauce. Finish with a classic prune and Armagnac soufflé and walnut ice cream or black fig tart Tatin and fig leaf ice cream.

Awards, accolades and Welcome Schemes

4 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence

AA Notable Wine List