Fawsley Hall Hotel

Fawsley Hall Hotel is lovely. We stayed in Room 4 for our first wedding anniversary and we had a fabulous time.
This hotel is one of the ‘Handpicked Hotels’ collection of hotels. We’ve stayed in Rhinefield House Hotel in the New Forest, so I get email deals from them with special offers. We hadn’t made any plans for our anniversary and an email popped up in my inbox offering a discount and a breakfast and dinner deal, so I booked. We got a double deluxe room, breakfast, and a 3-​course meal included.
I received a phone call a few days before our arrival to confirm the details and I was asked if we were celebrating a special occasion, which we were, so the lady on the phone put this on the computer, which was nice.
When we arrived to check in (15:00) we were very warmly welcomed and congratulated on our anniversary, which was a nice touch. Our luggage was taken to our room (up a couple of stairs) and we were shown to a very pretty room, with a nice view of the lake (and sheep). We had an über big bed, a writing desk, some armchairs, a huge TV, a bath, shower, beautiful citrus scented toiletries, tea/​coffee/​hot chocolate making facilities, minibar with free water and milk, and nice fluffy towels.
After checking in we checked out the hotel bar, looking for a pot of tea. We decided in the end to get some virgin cocktails, because they looked to tasty. The hotel let you charge things to the room, so the process was super easy. The bar was well stocked with family games, so we had a few rounds of a memory game, along with our free glasses of ‘welcome sparkling wine’.
I noticed in the room guide that they have a cinema on site, which was a really exciting thought, so we moved our dinner reservation forward a couple of hours (which was really easy and the staff were really accommodating) so that we could make the 21:30 showing of The Woman in Black. The cinema was lovely; 28 seats (proper cinema seats) and we were allowed to take a drink in from the bar. We were the only people in the cinema, which was nice. A member of staff showed us how to use the volume controls and left us to it.
Our food was great — we had a 3 course meal deal with our room, so we had to pick from a set menu (there was the option when I booked to upgrade to a la carte, but I quite having to choose from a set menu sometimes). We had pickled mackerel and chicken liver parfait with brioche toast for starters and for mains we had roasted belly pork (¹⁰⁄₁₀) and corn fed chicken with garlic mash (⁰⁷⁄₁₀). For dessert we had lemon posset and toffee panna cotta. Our desserts were kindly rushed through so that we could go to the cinema on time, which was really nice.
When we went back to our room we found that we had been left a fruit bowl, a wonderful handwritten card, and a box of beautiful truffles as a gift for our anniversary, which was really appreciated. It’s these touches that made our stay really special.
Our room had both a bath and a waterfall shower, which was great. I could have showered for hours. The only problem being that the shower was really small (in a corner), but it didn’t stop me enjoying it.
One of the things that we loved about our room was that it was really quite. We heard no noise from anywhere else in the hotel. There wasn’t even the usual humming/​clicking/​banging noises that you get in hotel rooms; it was silent.
We had a continental breakfast included in our deal, so we got some lovely things delivered to our room — a full english breakfast, fresh coffee, orange juice, and croissants. Everything was perfect.
There are also full spa facilities, which we didn’t use. They also offer a ‘yoga bag’ and ‘gym bag’ for working out in your room — these services are complementary.
The surrounding are beautiful — there are lakes, sheep, wildflowers, and trees. The house is surrounded by 2,000 acres of land.
Top bits:
The staff — so, so friendly and welcoming.
The tea/​coffee/​hot chocolate/​biscuit selection in the room.
Breakfast.
Sherbert lemons in reception.
Nice chocolates.
Really comfy beds.
Games in the bar.
FREE CINEMA.
USB phone charger socket.
Bluetooth music facility.
The food.
Free WIFI.
Not so great bits:
Paying £3 to get room service.
Paying 100% service charge on soft drinks with our dinner.
Bathroom was a bit odd — the toilet was hard to flush, the shower tiny, and the door hit the toilet every time you let it go.
(All of these things are not terrible — just little things and did not make our stay any less enjoyable).

Very plush, well thought-​out with delicious breakfast and beautiful room. Wanted to visit the spa but didn’t have time, but very much a 5* experience.
(Thankfully, I wasn’t paying though…)

Very nice old country estate. Just right for a romantic weekend

A lovely, slightly hidden country side hotel close to Northampton. Bedrooms are nice and spacious and there are a host of facilities available to guests.
The hotel has two restaurants: The more elegant Equilibrium and the less formal Bess’s Brasserie. We dined at Equilibrium, and the food and service was excellent. The food was modern European with many unusual but nice touches to the meal. A perfect place for a nice getway or romantic weekend break.
Only downside to the hotel is that some of the staff seem slightly aloof rather than attentive at times.