Whatley Manor

Whatley Manor is a Grade II listed Cotswold-stone manor house at Easton Grey, outside Malmesbury, reached along a long tree-lined drive and set in 12 acres of gardens laid out as 26 separate rooms, many of them from 1920s plans. The house began as an 18th-century farmhouse, was extended for the Beaufort Hunt in the 1920s, and opened as a hotel in July 2003 after a long restoration. It has 23 bedrooms and suites, Aquarias Spa and a private cinema.

The Dining Room holds one MICHELIN star under executive chef Ricki Weston, and Grey's is the more relaxed second restaurant. Taken exclusively, the house is yours for up to 100 guests, with every bedroom, the public rooms, both restaurants and the gardens: dinner in the wood-panelled Drawing Room, a champagne reception on the fountain terrace, a marquee on one of the lawns. For a smaller party the Garden Room seats 30 beside the terrace, and the Green Room seats 24 around an open kitchen where the chefs cook in front of the table.

Across the stable courtyard, the Stable Suite is self-contained, with a boardroom, three gallery rooms, a 40-seat cinema and an enclosed courtyard for 80. The house sits among fields, two hours from central London, and helicopters can land with notice.