Bicester sits at the cusp of the shift from Thames Valley stone to Cotswold stone. The Country Club uses the latter and sits in the surroundings of its 18 hole golf course near the village of Chesterton a mile or so outside the town itself.

The Clubhouse exterior is clumsily managed, the entrance secreted away in a neatly planted courtyard entry to which is through a gateway framed by two double-storey blank Cotswold stone walls. Reception within the Courtyard leads to the entrance lobby, which has a large reception desk facing the turnstile to the Health Club. Central between them is the lounge seating which doubles as a meeting zone, a busy space criss-crossed by golfers and guests, workout fiends and beauty seekers.

Interior layout has evolved with the bar, for example, being a conversion of the original changing room for golfers. So it is not a logical layout but this quirkiness, the incoherence of the levels, twists to the access routes, lends it a slight air of mystery and entices the guest in to explore.

Internally the new areas open up onto a courtyard that promises al fresco drinking and dining on summer days, letting daylight flood into the internal spaces. Only in the bistro however can the space be opened out to the exterior, although demolition is about to start on part of the Spa to allow a health food cafe to be constructed with an outdoor deck and hot tub discreetly screened from view of the rest of the hotel. The pool is also flooded with daylight whilst the bedrooms look inward to the courtyard with lower floor rooms having small external areas.

Main furniture supplier: RHA Furniture

Share|