786carolb
Monday 7th April 2025 My husband and I drove to Cirencester. We went into the town and then into Gloucester Street to go to ‘The Corinium Hotel’, where we were booked in for four night’s dinner, bed and breakfast. ||The Hotel was built as an Elizabethan wool merchant’s house in 1595, not long after the nearby Abbey, one the richest Augustinian houses in the country.|It was dissolved on the orders of King Henry VIII. The Tudor oak beams, now exposed in the top floor room are ships timbers from nearby Gloucester docks, salvaged less than twenty years after the English defeated the Spanish Armada.||As an important house close to the centre of this thriving market town, the Hotel was modernised in Georgian times when the street façade was refaced in dressed Cotswold stone and sash windows and shutters were added. Later the Victorians extended the property and walled the gardens.||During the Second World War, wing pilots and aircrew from RAF Kemble were the first guests, billeted here throughout the Battle of Britain.||Since the war, the property was mainly operated as a guest house and subsequently as a hotel, when the garage (formally the Stables) became The Courtyard Bar. The old coach house made way for the current restaurant in 1975.||In 2000, six additional bedrooms were added, two on the ground floor and four on the second floor in the old attic area, which exposed more old oak beams.||We arrived at ‘The Corinium Hotel’ around 5.00pm. We were greeted by a very nice lady called Margaret and were given a very warm welcome; we were given the keys to our Room No 11. Our room was situated on the first floor, and the steps to our room were very steep. ||Room No 11, was a medium size room, which overlooked the pub gardens outside. The bedroom was very nice and neat. The room was lovely and warm and very cosy on this warm spring April day. ||The bedroom décor was done out in a light creamy beige walls and white paintwork and beige carpet. We had a large King Size bed with white cotton sheets and duvet and damask pink velvet bed coverlet and a pale green ‘Rabbit’ cushion with matching curtains. It had a feature headboard behind the bed made of damask pink velvet, which was really nice. There was also some nice quirky ‘Rabbit’ artwork on the walls.| |We had a small shower room with a tiled en-suite walk in shower and had lots of lovely hot water, soft fluffy towels and complimentary toiletries. It was completely done out in white with silver ‘Modern’ style bathroom fittings.||My husband and I unpacked and settled in. We rested on the bed for an hour and then we dressed for dinner. My husband looked very smart casual in his navy trousers and pale blue shirt, blue jacket and black shoes. I wore black trousers, with a purple, black and white ‘floral’ top, with a black cardigan and a ‘flower shaped’ lilac necklace and black high heeled court shoes.||My husband and I then went downstairs to ‘The Corinium Hotel Restaurant’. The restaurant was lovely, light and airy and we were seated at a nice table for two. The table had lovely silver cutlery and bright shiny glassware and a lighted candle, which gave a romantic feel to our meal. A lovely waitress called Olivia waited on us all evening. Olivia had a really nice personality and nothing was too much for her and she was very professional in all that she did for us.||Olivia brought us the menus for us to peruse. The menu although small was full of interesting dishes for the diner to indulge in, all of the dishes we found wonderful.||We decided to have starters; My husband had smoked salmon with horseradish and fennel on flatbread, which he said was really nice. I had King prawns with Thai coconut, chilli and lime and roti bead, which was really delicious. The starters were the perfect size to get the palate started.||My husband for his main course had the Chefs pie of the day which was beef and mushroom, served with thick cut chips, garden peas and a jug of gravy, which my husband said was very nice and very filling. I had the crispy duck leg served with oriental greens, pecan nuts, watermelon, ginger, hoi sin and sesame sauce, which was delicious. The duck just melted in the mouth. We washed all this lovely food down with a pint of ‘Mosque’ bitter for Mark and a pint of ‘Stowfords’ cider for me.||We both had desserts; my husband for his dessert had the coffee crème brulee with Amoretti biscuits which he said, was lovely and light and the perfect finish to his meal. I had two scoops of coffee ice cream. served with a warm sugar waffle, It was delicious, nice and light and the perfect finish to my meal. ||After dinner we both went into the lounge bar where I had a ‘Lemoncello’ and ice and my husband had a single ‘Jura’ single malt whisky, which completed this perfect meal. We sat in two comfortable leather chairs by the fire enjoying our after dinner drinks.||Afterwards, we strolled back to our room, where I read my book ‘Strange Highways’ by Dean Koontz for an hour then we snuggled up in our bed like a pair of sleepy kittens and went fast asleep; we both had a good night’s sleep as the bed was so comfortable. ||Tuesday 8th April 2025 – Mark and I awoke to a lovely bright, and warm sunny spring day. I showered and washed my hair and then had a nice coffee in bed. My husband and I then dressed and went downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast. My husband had a bowl of fresh fruit and the full English breakfast and a pot of tea. I had yoghurt with mixed nuts followed by eggs Benedict and a pot of decaffeinated coffee, which set us up for the day. ||This standard of food and service was consistent throughout our stay. The staff even allowed friends to join us for a meal in the restaurant.||We cannot thank everyone enough for their care and kindness to us..
