Last week we were invited to stay at the Kings Head Hotel in Cirencester in the Cotswolds and so we decided to go along just Adam and I as a bit of an early birthday treat for him as he turns 31 on Wednesday. I've wanted to visit the Cotswolds ever since I saw our in-laws go there a little while back. I am a complete country/village girl at heart and I love nothing more than the quaint and quiet village life.
When we looked at pictures of The Kings Head Hotel online I thought straight away that the hotel seemed really different - the decor looked like it was a mix of old with new, something that appealed to me right away and the rooms all seemed unique and interesting. We were so excited for our stay.
The Kings Head Hotel is located in the town of Cirencester and the street that it's on is really quite quaint, what's more is there is a stunning Gothic Abbey just across the road, it's such a lovely setting and a great location too for those that want to be in the center of town for the shops. Of course, the beautiful Cotswold countryside is only a short driving distance too.
As soon as we set foot inside the Kings Head hotel, we could tell that the hotel was going to be great - the reception areas were cosy, smart, well looked after and the staff on the reception welcomed us with a big smile. There isn't car parking available at the hotel, so we were given some advice on where to park our car. We parked it just down the road, just a few minutes walk away in the town center car park. The car park is free of charge after 3pm, but it's best to get a ticket there and then to cover you for the morning so that you don't have to rush up and out of bed to grab a ticket for your car in the morning.
Whilst being shown to our room we were told that we had been upgraded to one of the hotels 'Indulgent' rooms and when we walked in we could completely understand why it would have been called that. The room was huge and so spacious and then there was the wonderful mix of old and new decor which made the room feel so grand. Plus the fact that there was also an amazing large copper bathtub in our the actual room too. The bed was huge and very comfortable to sleep in that night. The bathroom was modern and spotless and we could see a bit of the beautiful Abbey from the window. The room felt so relaxing and luxurious. When it came to leaving the next day, it was very difficult to say goodbye to the room.
For dinner that evening we ate at the hotel and if I'm honest I had gone with the expectation that there might be one or two (if we were lucky) vegetarian options on the menu as I've found this to be typical of some other hotels that we've stayed at. However, this expectation couldn't have been more wrong at the Kings Head because excitingly they had a dedicated vegetarian menu alongside their regular menu. (They also have a vegan menu too). There's honestly nothing better than eating somewhere that caters well to all diets and that gives people with all different diets choice, so Adam and I were over the moon to have so much to choose from.
The staff in the restaurant were all incredibly friendly. They helped Adam choose a lovely wine and me to choose a delicious strawberry mocktail as I wasn't feeling very well so didn't fancy anything alcoholic.
To start, Adam picked the Honey Truffle Goats Curd and said it was amazing and I went for the soup of the day which was roasted tomato soup and I honestly think it's the best soup I've ever tried.
And then for our main dish, I went for the tomato and red pepper risotto which was again, pretty much the best risotto I've ever had full fo so many flavours and Adam went for the Fried Herb Gnocchi which he couldn't stop praising. Basically, we haven't stopped talking about how much we enjoyed the food since our stay and we now HAVE to return to try the other dishes on the menu.
I was completely full so couldn't manage dessert sadly, but Adam went for the Blackcurrant souffle with ice cream and was very impressed! The chefs are clearly very good at what they do, not only does the food taste amazing but the presentation is incredible too.
After a relaxing sleep we headed down to breakfast the next morning and I snapped a couple of photos on the way to show some of the cosy seating areas at the hotel like the above and the below.
At breakfast you are able to help yourself to cereal, croissants, fruit, juice and more and then you can also order a hot breakfast to your table from the menu. Adam decided to order the Full English just without the meat and kindly they also cooked him up a vegetarian sausage without him even having to ask and I ordered the mushroom, tomato and aubergine on sourdough toast. The staff brought tea and coffee to the table.
After breakfast and before checking-out the Guest Relations Manager asked if we would like a bit of a tour of the hotel and we excitedly jumped at the chance to see more of the beautiful building. We were shown so many rooms and what struck me over and over is just how big the hotel is. It's got such a cosy, relaxed and friendly vibe to it so I had never imagined it be such a big hotel, but I think that that is down to how lovely and attentive the staff are as well as how lovely the actual building is. It's such a great mix of beautiful bricks that give it a historic-feel alongside modern touches. The room above is used for private events and dining.
And there's even a spa at the hotel! You do need to book in advance if you want to use the spa area as it can only accommodate a few people at one time, but I think if we do visit again we'd definitely book into it as it looked very relaxing!
Something that completely took me by surprise was this huge space that people can get married in. My husband and I both walked in and said 'Wow!'. How lovely is this?
To sum up our stay at The Kings Head Hotel I would give it a 10/10. It was everything that we wish for in a hotel. The staff, the food, the room and the hotel itself all exceeded our expectations and we hope to be able to return sometime in the future.
After we checked out of the hotel Adam and I took a bit of a driving tour around the Cotswolds (following this route) to see some of the beautiful little villages and we both left feeling like we absolutely have to move there!
Have you visited the Cotswolds before? Where's your favorite place?
Thank you for reading. Alex xo
**We were kindly invited to stay at The Kings Head Hotel and our accommodation and dinner were provided to us free of charge in exchange for our honest review.