Following nearly a full year during which time it has been closed for major refurbishment and redevelopment, Gidleigh Park, the acclaimed country house hotel located within Dartmoor National Park, reopened in early December 2006 to great acclaim. It seems that this very special hideaway, where guests come to get away from it all and to experience Michael Caines cuisine of the highest order, just gets better and better.

A new wing has been added that lends symmetry to the building and increases the number of luxury bedrooms. The dining room has been extended and the kitchen expanded and improved. A new wine cellar has been created within the main building that incorporates a special wine room for guests to visit.

Gidleigh Park is one of the most highly rated small luxury country house hotels in the world. One of only a select handful of British Relais & Châteaux hotels and a designated Relais Gourmande, Gidleigh Park has received countless accolades and awards over the years.

New beginnings
Gidleigh Park was purchased in February 2005 by Andrew and Christina Brownsword as a fitting partner to the Bath Priory and Sydney House. The refurbishment and redevelopment of Gidleigh Park has been very much a hands-on affair for the Brownswords, who have personally overseen every minute stage of the works.

Though the hotel has been thoroughly modernized in every way, the décor is understated, British elegance. In keeping with the period of the building, there are architectural and design influences from the Arts and Crafts Movement. The 25 bedrooms are decorated personally and individually with original pieces of artwork, as well as with antique furniture, artefacts and collectors' pieces. Devon craftsmen have been specially commissioned to produce individual pieces of furniture as well as special Gidleigh Park ceramic ware and porcelain. Wallpapers, fabrics and materials are very traditional, very British in the best sense.

The finest cuisine and wines
Gidleigh has long held a reputation for serving the finest cuisine alongside an exceptional list of wines. With Michael Caines at the helm since 1994, this is most definitely set to continue. An important part of the building works has involved doubling the size of the Gidleigh kitchens, as well as increasing the capacity of the dining room to be able to accommodate guests and diners. A stunning, glass-fronted 'wine wall' is the new central feature of the dining room, and this leads to the stone cellars below that now house one of the most exceptional wine collections in the country.

After more than a decade in the kitchens of Gidleigh, Michael and his team are looking forward to taking the acclaimed cuisine to an even higher level.

Says Michael, "Dining here is a very special part of the Gidleigh experience and we aim to make it even better than ever."

Gidleigh Park and ABode
Gidleigh Park is undoubtedly a considerable notch above most hotel and restaurant experiences in Britain and indeed the world. As part of the Bath Priory group of small luxury hotels, it offers something wholly individual and unique.

And yet, at the same time, Gidleigh Park is inextricably linked with everything that Andrew and Christina are doing in ABode properties throughout the country. "All our thoughts and beliefs on design, comfort and hotel management come from our experiences in hospitality at this very highest level," explains Andrew. "For example, Michael Caines' style of cuisine, developed, honed and perfected by Michael and his protégés in the kitchens of Gidleigh Park, is clearly evident in Michael Caines Restaurants in every ABode."

Only the very best...
Sometimes, though, there are those occasions when only the very best will do, when you want or need to be utterly cosseted; wish to relax in quiet, understated elegance and absolute luxury; enjoy the solitude of this majestic outpost in order to re-charge and think about the important things in life; and when you want to experience cuisine at its very highest and purest expression along with a very special bottle of wine, carefully selected from the stone-walled wine cellar.

At such times, perhaps at landmark moments in one's life, a visit to Gidleigh Park is an experience not to be missed.