I and Lieutenant No.1 went to Coworth Park in the summer – I remember because it was raining. It’s out in the countryside just near Esher/Ascot. Plenty of shouting occurred as I couldn’t see the GPS without my glasses but it really is not that difficult to find.
To say the location is beautiful is an understatement, in particular the meadow flowers planted in the adjacent field make for a lovely view, even in the rain. The grounds are expansive, 240 acres of Berkshire countryside, but there are buggies to get you around. Coworth is a refurbished 18th century house and they have made every attempt to retain many of the Georgian features as well as keep it “Green”. World Architecture news had this to say about it
“one of the UK’s most environmentally-friendly hotels through the incorporation of renewable and low energy technologies”.
Access is very good and carpets are set into the floors so no chance of tripping over them – ingenious! There are plenty of accessible toilets and the room we were shown was just about right except you couldn’t really access the wardrobe in a wheelchair and the rails couldn’t be lowered.
There is a Spa which is also accessible but there was no hoist to get you into the pool nevertheless it was very luxurious. However, I’m also not sure how you would get onto a treatment bed or into the massive pedicure/treatment chairs. I’ll have to go back and try – any excuse?!
Lunch at the Barn restaurant was great especially the treacle tart and not overly expensive. If you go, try to get a table on the upper level as that’s where the best views are.
The highlight of the visit was being introduced to the horses at the in-house stables. They do let you ride if you’re disabled but they don’t have any specialised equipment so it really is for competent riders.They also share a polo ground with the Guards Club and games are open to the public, another reason to go back!
In conclusion, as you would expect from The Dorchester Collection, this is a 3 BBS Tick location as it has bags of style and plenty of facilities to accommodate the ‘Less Able’ and I really must go back and check the Spa and Polo Players more thoroughly.
