Four-star Two MICHELIN Keys Southrop, Lechlade, in the Cotswolds well west of Oxford, Oxford
Thyme
A Cotswold village within a village: a manor, a tithe barn, a pub and thirty-one rooms by the River Leach, with lamb from the estate on the menu.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- Two Keys
- Rooms
- 31, including two cottages
- Estate
- About 150 acres by the River Leach
- From the airport
- About 90 minutes from Heathrow
The hotel
A family project in Southrop.
Caryn and Jerry Hibbert bought Southrop Manor and its farm in 2002 as a family home. Caryn, a doctor until then, went on to buy the neighbouring barns, including the Tithe Barn and the Ox Barn, and restored them over several years with help from her father, Michael Bertioli. A cookery school came first. Village houses and cottages followed, and with them the hotel.
It is still run by the family. Their son Charlie, who cooked at Quo Vadis in Soho, runs the kitchen; their daughter Milly is general manager. Bunny Guinness designed the gardens, and the water meadows along the River Leach draw kingfishers and barn owls. Much of the lamb and beef comes from the farm, and the village pub belongs to the estate too.
- The pool A heated pool of spring water, walled in Cotswold stone and open in summer, with botanical cocktails from the Orchid House alongside.
- Meadow Spa Treatments in the Botanical Bothy with the family's own Bertioli products.
- Cookery school Classes of two to six hours in one of the old estate buildings, where Thyme began.
Dining
Farm, pub and bar.
Restaurants and bars as listed by the hotel. Shown for information.
- The Ox Barn Modern British, from the farm and garden Charlie Hibbert
- The Swan at Southrop Village pub Lunch Thursday to Sunday, dinner Wednesday to Saturday
- The Baa Cocktails, coffee and cake The hotel bar
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival Check-in from 4 pm, check-out by 11 am.
- Children Guests aged twelve and over in the main hotel, in their own room. Younger children stay in Old Walls, the self-catering family cottage.
- Dogs Welcome in the Cottage Suites and Old Walls, for a charge per night.
- Where it is Southrop is in Gloucestershire, about thirty minutes from Cirencester and a long way west of Oxford itself.
Getting there
Flying to Oxford.
Heathrow is about ninety minutes away by car, and Bristol about the same. Private jets can land at London Oxford Airport at Kidlington, about fifty minutes away by our estimate, which clears international flights on arrival. Trains from Swindon, forty minutes by car, reach London Paddington in about an hour.
- Paris 55 min
- Edinburgh 1 h 00
- Geneva 1 h 25
- Nice 1 h 50
- New York 7 h 30 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How many MICHELIN Keys does Thyme have?
- Two. The MICHELIN Guide lists Thyme at Southrop with two Keys.
- Can we bring children to Thyme?
- Children twelve and over can stay in the main hotel in a room of their own. Families with younger children stay in Old Walls, a self-catering cottage on the estate.
- How far is Thyme from Oxford?
- Southrop lies in the Cotswolds near Lechlade, a good drive west of Oxford. London Oxford Airport at Kidlington is about fifty minutes away by car, by our estimate.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Oxford?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Oxford, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Oxford
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Old Parsonage Hotel A seventeenth-century house of 35 rooms where Oscar Wilde signed the guest book, and the first hotel in the city to win a Key.
- The Feathers Hotel at Woodstock Twenty-three rooms in a building from the 1600s on Market Street, once a sanatorium.
- Artist Residence Oxfordshire A sixteenth-century farmhouse that became a village pub, now fifteen rooms mixing antiques with contemporary art.
Staying at Thyme?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Oxford, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.