Hotel Indigo, Stratford Upon Avon
HOTEL INDIGO: STRATFORD UPON AVON
17&18/01/20
*AD:Press Trip - this was a press visit and I was given a complimentary 2-night stay with dinner in return for an honest review*
Why you should visit:
For the central Stratford Upon Avon location
Stay in spacious and comfortable rooms
Enjoy a delicious and unique dinner
Relax in the cosy hotel pub
DESTINATION:
Stratford Upon Avon is somewhere I’ve visited a few times and it is a picturesque market town that has an endearing charm to it through the historical buildings, quaint streets and lovely independent shops. With its links with theatre, there are plenty of restaurants and bars to visit, although as we experienced during our stay, it’s best to book on a weekend for dinner as it gets busy! I did a round-up of Shakespeare’s England on my last visit here, and you can read more about the area here.
Hotel Indigo, which is quite a new hotel to Stratford Upon Avon and opened its doors in April 2019, is situated right in the centre of town on a quiet road. It was a perfect based for exploring for the two days during our visit.
DECOR:
The hotel was formerly The Falcon Hotel and received a multi-million-pound restoration project before opening as Hotel Indigo Stratford Upon Avon. Housed in a decorative black and white half-timbered building, it has a contemporary decor inside, which varies in style throughout the reception, bar and restaurant and bedrooms. Arriving into the reception area, you are greeted with shabby chic floral furnishings and wallpaper, which are mixed with a more period style of dark velvet and vintage chandeliers. The restaurant and bar are situated off the long reception in the 16th Century area of the hotel and have more of a rustic vintage feel, with exposed brick, reclaimed parquet floors, wooden Ercol dining chairs, velvet sofas and cushions and taxidermy on the walls.
The bedrooms are painted in warm yet dark colours, with a rustic industrial feel mixing checked fabrics with brass lighting and velvet furnishings and I’m told are inspired by the history and locality of the town. Our bedroom was very spacious and had a large bed with a seating area in the window and a modern bathroom with a mixture of metro and patterned Moroccan style tiles. It was very clean and had a relaxing cosy feel to it.
DINING:
We dined in the restaurant ‘The Woodsman’ on one night during our stay, which sits within the hotel and is run by Executive chef Mike Robinson. The restaurant has a ‘field to fork’ approach with a focus on both British produce and game and wild food. With meats such as partridge, deer and hare on the menu, I have to say, the restaurant probably isn’t to everyone’s tastes (and is also on the more expensive side with starters around £10/£11 and mains ranging from £18-£28), but it also included fish, steak and some vegetarian dishes if you didn’t fancy trying something a bit more adventurous.
I love a restaurant with an open kitchen and The Woodsman has exactly that, so you can see the chefs preparing food as you eat. Another nice touch was the arrival of a drinks trolley as you were seated incase you fancied a pre-dinner tipple, such as a gin & tonic or Barrel Aged Negroni.
To start, we ordered the Salt baked Swede and Ragstone Swede Salad with a Blackberry Vinaigrette and Candied Walnuts and the Pressed Terrine of local Game birds and Root Vegetables with Yorkshire Rhubarb and Granola. The swede was really flavoursome and the earthy flavour worked well with the salty cheese and fruity blackberry and the whole dish had a really fresh feel. The terrine was a generous portion and the sharp rhubarb complimented the game, with the nutty granola giving a really interesting crunch to the dish. For main, my Mum chose the fish of the day, which was Monkfish served with Blood Orange Grenobloise, Brown Shrimp and Cauliflower. It was a light and delicious dish, although it was surprising that the cauliflower was served raw. The Hereford Sirloin that I ordered was definitely the star of the show, as it was perfectly cooked and full of flavour, and the Braised Short Rib in the Roasted Onion was melt in the mouth good! We also tried a portion of the restaurant’s popular Dirty Mash, which was a rich and luxurious mashed potato with oxtail, lardons, crispy onions and truffle and almost like a cottage pie.
Whilst we were pretty full after two courses, I couldn’t resist pudding when I saw Peanut and Banana Soufflé on the menu. My Mum opted for a traditional chocolate fondant, which came with pistachio sorbet and raspberry jelly and it was deliciously gooey and worked well with the smooth and nutty sorbet. The soufflé was wonderful and one of my favourite recent puddings - it was perfectly fluffy and light and the rich caramel sauce, crunchy peanuts and creamy vanilla ice cream were the ideal sweet companions. I can actually taste it again just writing this!
During our stay, we were booked in for breakfast on both mornings and the breakfast room was definitely a decadent spot to start the day. You could help yourself to continental items, such as fruit, pastries, yogurt and breads and there was a menu to order a main breakfast dish. We both opted for heritage tomatoes and avocado on sourdough toast with a poached egg one morning and then a cooked breakfast the next day. Having stayed in a few Indigo Hotels, the breakfast wasn’t quite as varied as I’ve experienced in other branches and it was also quite rushed, with the hot breakfast arriving very quickly after we’d ordered it whilst we were still tucking into our fruit and yogurt. It definitely felt like it could have been more leisurely.
DEBRIEF:
If you’re looking for a central and modern hotel in Stratford Upon Avon then this is a great choice. It has a relaxed atmosphere with spacious and comfortable rooms and there is a unique upmarket restaurant and a cosy hotel bar with a proper pub feel for you to wind down and relax in after a day pottering about the independent shops of the town.
DETAILS:
Hotel Indigo Stratford Upon Avon, 4 Chapel Street, Stratford Upon Avon, CV37 6HA
