The William Cecil hotel

Set within the historic Burghley estate, this charming hotel is the perfect place for weary travellers in need of a recharge, says Alexandra Henton

The William Cecil hotel

• Perfect pit stop
• Dog friendly
• Burghley Horse Trials
• Burghley’s Capability Brown landscape is wonderful.

It had been a frenetic month: those end-of-season high days and beaters’ days spent battling bone-chilling conditions interspersed with torrential rain – all while semi-dried-out January wrapped its guilt-inducing tendrils around our usually jolly sporting souls. This called for a cheeky Sunday- night evasion. As we pulled into The William Cecil (windscreen wipers at max speed) on a bleak evening it became clear that there was only one thing to do: relinquish all responsibility to the hotel’s diligent team who will ensure that a decent feed, watering and top-notch bedroom restore spirits for the morrow. And we weren’t the only ones plumping for this path; it was surprisingly busy for the off-season.

Burghley House connection

The William Cecil makes much of its historic connections, abutting the Burghley estate in Stamford, and named for the most powerful courtier of the Elizabethan age and Elizabeth I’s trusted adviser, who grew up in nearby Bourne. Each of the 27 named bedrooms has a connection to Burghley House. There is ‘Goody Rudkin’ after the 17th-century housekeeper and ‘The Guineas’ for the 2nd Marquess of Exeter’s penchant for racing (he won the race in 1832 with his horse Galata). We were ushered through the hotel, with its original flooring and corridors, to The Verrio Suite, replete with its own sitting area, vast bedroom, private garden and two bathrooms – one with a double shower. They are the sort of bathrooms that banish all thoughts of the dreich and the dour, and call for languid wallowing. When one is used to a house riddled with draughts, the room proved a perfectly toasty delight, in spite of its size.

Once rested we made for the hotel lounge: with a welcome fire, low lighting, eclectic furnishing and William Morris-style wallpaper above the painted panelling, it served its purpose well for a pre-dinner sharpener and lazy menu contemplation. Milly’s Bistro sits within The William Cecil so we repaired to a quiet table for two in front of an open fire and ate simple, seasonal dishes that suited our mood: crab and cod, pig cheeks and rib-eye. The cheese was spot on, including as it did Baron Bigod, Westcombe cheddar and The Duke: a Super Gold winner at the World Cheese Awards, and rightly so. It’s not often that the coffee deserves a mention but the Stamford Coffee Company was stand-out superb. It was feeling refreshed that we breakfasted on sausages and more of that good coffee before taking our leave to return to the daily hubbub, a welcome dollop more relaxed than when we had arrived.

Nestled at the top of Stamford’s honey-hued high street, The William Cecil offers an excellent location from which to explore the town, and is an ideal berth for when the horse trials happen in September. There are rooms for private dinners or meetings and a larger event space, often full, when wedding season kicks off. The hotel is happy to welcome dogs and the gardens back straight on to the estate for dog-walking ease. Sister pub The Bull & Swan is a short hop along the street, and for those travelling north or south on the A1 it makes an ideal stopping-off point. This comfortable country hotel sits well in its surroundings.