Shropshire Star

Hotel near Market Drayton hailed one of UK's best

With its stunning gardens and countryside setting, this hotel has been identified as one of the best in this year's Good Hotel Guide.

Published
All smiles – John and Sue Cushing from Goldstone Hotel near Market Drayton

The guide has identified 10 "new discoveries" within its 455 entries, including Goldstone Hall, near Market Drayton.

Branded as "informal and characterful" the manor home was also identified in the list of top 10 hotel gardens in Great Britain.

Proprietors John and Sue Cushing said they were delighted to have had such praise heaped on the hall.

Mr Cushing said: "There is a massive team involved in achieving this extraordinary attention to detail and it is wonderful when it is recognised on a national stage.

"The development of the kitchen garden has been challenging and rewarding as we have worked out the produce that really brings extra flavour and interest to our guest's plates.

"This is due to the efforts of head gardener Nick Huxley who can coax the more unusual vegetables and fruit into full production."

The hotel is also praised for its inviting lounges, leather chairs, tables and bedrooms.

One inspector said: "We could have slept for days in the super comfy beds. Breakfast is delicious – home-baked bread, perfectly poached eggs, even excellent home-made veggie sausages with tasty Staffordshire oatcakes."

The guide said: "Informal and characterful, this family-run Georgian manor house stands in large grounds in Shropshire countryside. Bedrooms are individually decorated and supplied with home-made cookies; an inviting log fire burns in the lounge in cold weather.

"Come hungry: the huge kitchen garden supplies the modern dinners and delicious breakfasts."

The guide was founded nearly 40 years ago to shine a spotlight on the best hotels in Great Britain and Ireland where guests are assured of a genuine welcome.

The couple will receive awards on behalf of the Goldstone team at a ceremony in London at Olympia on Tuesday.

The history of Goldstone Hall starts from the middle ages. A family with the name De Goldestan appear to have been on the site before 1180 and the Goldstones of Goldstone owned estates here until the 18th century when Edward Pegg built a house on or alongside the site of the Goldstone family's Elizabethan manor house. This is the present Goldstone Hall.

Helen and Charles Ward bought the house in 1978 as a private home. In 1983, two years after Charles' death, Goldstone Hall Hotel began.

Today it is run by Helen's son John and wife Sue.

For further information about the hotel contact Mr Cushing on 01630 661202, email john@goldstonehall.com or visit www.goldstonehall.com

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