Thoresby Hall

Here's the view from my right hand bedroom window.

Thoresby Hall is a Victorian gothic house, rescued by Warners, who have turned it into one of their adult hotels. It is grade I listed and quite Puginesque. There is a Great Hall, a huge library, a rather beautiful Blue Dining Room, and some gorgeous bedrooms and suites. All the rooms I saw were of a very good standard. The grounds are very large with a lake, fountains and formal knot gardens. Peacocks strut about the place. These peacocks are quite funny, as they huddle at times in the smoking area, which has chairs and tables and those umbrellas with heating elements; the birds look at first glance like a bunch of vultures. Unlike those at Sinah Warren, they have managed to escape the foxes by flying up into trees.

Just outside the main reception area there is a path leading to another building which is part of Thoresby Park, but not the hotel. These house a glass blowing business, a jewellery maker, craft shops and galleries, and a clothes shop and cafe. We found this very handy since we only had one outing away from the hotel. The building surrounds a pretty courtyard with statuary which was seasonally adorned with santa hats.

This was the first time I have stayed in such a large place, and very good it was. Most of the punters are retired folk, with the occasional young couple who may have been under the hopeful delusion that 'adult' hotel meant something rather racy - only to be sadly disappointed on arrival.

Not normally an avid frequenter of stately homes, somehow, staying in one does stimulate a curiosity about the history, and I should certainly like to stay in some more of these places. I quite feel the 'ancienne chatelaine' in me emerging. Dear me. Perhaps old buildings and old people have a certain sympathy.