THE LOCATION

You’ll find Bull Burford, a 16^th century, 18 bedroom self-styled Grade II “curious coaching inn”, in a plum position on the high street in Burford, nestling up close with the boutiques, indie shops and cafés that proliferate this elegant Oxfordshire Cotswolds town.

The newly-crowned Muddy Awards Boutique Stay winner for 2024 is owned by PR guru /hotelier /film producer Matthew Freud who actually lives in Burford (he owns the vast Burford Priory behind the hotel – play padel and you’ll actually be on his estate), Bull Burford is a great jumping off point to explore the Cotswolds tourist magnets with Stow-on-the-Wold and Bourton-on-the-Water both within half an hour, but you’re also just 40 minutes from Oxford. More locally, there are beautiful walks along the River Windrush and plenty to keep you in Burford itself for the day.

THE VIBE

Undeniably impressive. After a decade of reviewing boutique stays, I’m as hard to please and cynical as the next hack, but I have to give it to Bull, it’s really an extraordinary offering. Freud’s plan has always been to create an ‘anti-hotel’, a place with no fuss, bustle and stress that does things differently and offers something for the ‘curious’, and he’s totally nailed it.

I absolutely loved the interior design, all neutral and slubby colours, tactile rounded bouclé sofas in the public spaces, stunning one-offs like the marble bar top, and calming, luxuriously-appointed bedrooms without unnecessary tech (late night Netflix watchers – sorry, there’s no TV, but, um, there is a harmonica to play).

Freud has clearly wanted to shake up expectations and prompt conversations – why else would he put his ever-evolving private collection of art in situ?

The likes of Dali, Bacon, Banksy, Warhol Basquiat, Freud and Hirst are casually served up with zero fanfare over fireplaces, through narrow corridors, and in the foyer and it creates a kind of magic.

BEDROOMS

Various shapes and sizes, from premium Bullocks suite with its own separate lounge (from £430) through to the smaller Cosy Rooms at £210, all with limewashed walls in slubby terracotta or deep blues, comforting linens and complimentary pre-mixed negroni on the drinks trolley.

I stayed in The Venetian (£260), a high ceilinged stunner of a room, hung with 15^th century portraits of Roman Emperors and with a separate sitting area and bathroom with rainfall shower.

Lighting in the room (and throughout the hotel in fact) is soft and atmospheric, and generally the vibe is pared back, grown up luxe, reflecting the Bull’s adults-only overnighter policy (though kids can accompany adults for dining). Wifi needs to be requested so if you’re looking to switch off completely here, you really can.

SCOFF & QUAFF

A huge calling card for Bull is its food offering, led by HIRO, the ten-seat omakase restaurant hosted by former Nobu head chef Hiromi Wada. The 10-course prixe fixe menu with matching wines and a £150 price tag (excluding drinks), has had food critics crooning, and no wonder – it’s a real experience, with the Roman and Byzantine mosaic wall-hangings as the backdrop for an intimate experience, with the courses prepared and served touching distance away and guests sitting shoulder to shoulder around the L-shape bar.

I was reviewing solo but ended up chatting all night to the mother and daughter to my right, ex-Londoners who’d moved to Burford during Covid, who were in so often that they were on chatting terms with Hiro. No wonder, because the food is phenomenal. Black cod miso, seared salmon with salmon ikura and yuzu soy, and the wagyu sukyaki were highlights, and service was discreet but knowledgeable. Tasting menus can sometimes feel like a marathon – a bit of an endurance sport by the last few courses – but Hiro delivered perfectly.

There are other restaurant options if you’re not in the mood for Japanese, or perhaps just want to spend less. Try Horn, a relaxed dining room with locally inspired dishes; Wild, an open air restaurant in the Priory Garden where the food is cooked on the Guy Ritchie-designed open grill made famous by his 2019 film The Gentleman; and Graze, an informal street food/cocktail option on the terrace.

DOG FRIENDLY?

Your four legged friends are welcome to stay here in selected ground floor rooms.

ACCESSIBILITY

Just the one bedroom on the ground floor, and wheelchair users will struggle here with the higgedy-piggledy nature of the historic building.

OUT & ABOUT

You can very easily spend a lovely day on the mooch in Burford with its long hilly high street. Interiors boutique At Home with the Rudds, Drang gallery, Hector & Queen for vintage fashion and Lynwood & Co Café are all worth swerving into. The Church of St John the Baptist, founded in 1175, still has bullet holes from the last days of siege in the last days of the Civil War when three leaders from the Levellers movement were captured and executed on Cromwell’s orders. There are plenty of lovely walks that take in villages that are off the tourist map but worth seeing – Swinbrook, Asthall, Minster Lovell, the Barringtons and Taynton. A short drive will take you to the Cotswolds Wildlife Park (excellent if you have kids in tow), Upton Smokery, Burford Garden Company or across to Bampton made famous in Downton Abbey.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: Urbanites front left and centre – I can imagine a steady trail of stressed Londoners coming to uncurl in style. Foodies will be in heaven. And it’s a fabulous option for couples wanting a grown-up luxe experience without the bonkers price tag of other chichi Cotswolds options (yes you Estelle Manor). There’s an inventive events schedule, from ceramics making and foraging to film nights, that adds a seductive experiential element.

Not for: There’s no spa or gym or the country club-ness offered by some hotels, so that might be your deal breaker. Parking is a bit tricky – it’s a question of searching out space in surrounding streets. If you arrive by train at nearby Charlbury station you’ll be collected from the station in – what else? – the Bull Landrover.

The damage: From £210 for a cosy room, and worth every penny.

Bull Burford, 105 High St, Burford, Oxfordshire OX18 4RG, England. Tel: 01993 822220.

Is this the coolest boutique stay in the Cotswolds?

You may also like