The Slaughters Country Inn Review - Overnight Stay

After wondering what we would do to celebrate Scott's birthday, a few weeks prior we finally decided to book an overnight stay at The Slaughters Inn. We found the hotel after searching for dog friendly hotels near cotswolds area, as we always take Harvey with us on overnight stays it typically limits the hotels we can visit.

It amazes me how few dog friendly hotels there seems to be, it usually takes us hours of searching to find a nice place to visit. Note to hotels, there's more animal lovers who wish to share their trips with furry companions than you realise! 

On driving up to the hotel, the greenery lining the grounds are idyllic. To get to the car park it's a short drive over a small bridge and across the grounds to the rear of the hotel. The hotel is set in well kept gardens alongside some farmers fields and the building itself was just the perfect countryside retreat we were looking for. 

The front outdoor reception and bar area is quite plainly beautiful, the photo doesn't do it justice. On check in the staff we're so friendly and welcoming, in fact they greeted Harvey before us which we absolutely loved! He of course loved all of the extra attention and fuss, plus the complimentary biscuit being your typical food obsessed labrador. One point that really stood out for us was instead of being given our room key and told where to go, which we expected being usual for most hotels, we were shown in to our room where the friendly staff member stayed to make sure everything was okay before leaving us to unpack. 

We booked the classic double room, which is perfect for our needs but on entering the room, the bed itself was more than 'double.' I'm pretty certain this bed was meant for a quadruple room, not a double. Not that we minded... Cue starfish pose. The furniture was perfectly adequate for an overnight stay with a large wardrobe, desk, tv and even a full size ironing board which came in very handy when Scott realised his shirt had gotten creased in our luggage. 

The bathroom was a good size with lovely decor, but the best thing about it was the heated floor. Yes you read that right, who expects a heated floor in a classic double room?! Happy to say this was a welcome surprise along with the bathroom toiletries and complimentary sparkling water. 

After exploring the area with Harvey (future post coming on that soon), we chose to take a few pictures in the pretty gardens before heading over to enjoy our evening meal at the hotel. We're never keen on leaving Harvey in the room on his own in a new place so we were delighted to learn that he could sit with us while we had our meal. Dogs aren't allowed in the main restaurant for obvious reasons, but the extended bar area was fine for us.

Fireplace in the bar area

We rarely get the opportunity to both have a glass of wine together as one of us is usually designated driver, so we of course opted for the house wines.

We chose to skip starters and go straight for mains, I chose the roast chicken breast with vegetables and sauce while Scott chose the beefburger with sides of fries. Click here for the sample menu. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the mix of vegetables and purees were perfect compliments. For dessert I selected the sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce and vanilla ice cream which was simply amazing. I don't usually go for desserts but decided to this time as a treat while Scott had a latte. I did mean to photograph the dessert but ended up eating half before I realised I hadn't taken a photo... oops. 

All through the time we were dining Harvey attracted a lot of attention from nearby tables and people passing through, which of course he loved. He even made friends with the couple dining opposite us and wandered off to sit with them. 

The next morning Harvey decided he didn't want to get up and enjoyed a lie-in while we got ready for the day. His sleepy cute face is just too adorable.

Afterwards we headed over to the main building for breakfast, as we had Harvey with us again we couldn't go in the restaurant but the staff were more than happy to cater for us sitting in the bar area. Breakfast was simple but pleasant, with tea, coffee and toast. Scott chose a hot breakfast while I went for salmon and scrambled egg. There was a continental breakfast choice available in the main restaurant but we chose not to go with this. 

Not long afterwards we packed up our belongings and checked out ready to explore the area again. 

Our visit to The Slaughters Inn was a perfect retreat from our busy working lifestyle and it was lovely to get away and just explore the countryside with my furry child in tow. To date we haven't come across such friendly and welcoming staff, toward us and our dog. The rooms, grounds and gardens are beautiful and we've already booked another night for my birthday in December so can't wait to return!

Would you visit this hotel? Are there any animal friendly hotels you would recommend?