Spring should see the meadows adjacent to the Old Swan and Minster Mill, in Oxfordshire, filled with wildflowers, says the hotel’s owner, Peter de Savary.
‘We’ve sown 60 acres with them,’ says the serial entrepreneur, ‘that should attract millions of butterflies. The watermeadows will be a fabulous place for people to have a picnic lunch.’
The 67-year-old hotelier is talking to me over afternoon tea in the drawing room of the Old Swan and Minster Mill, latest venture of de Savary and his wife, Lana.
The hotel, situated in the attractive village of Minster Lovell in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, was bought by the de Savarys in 2010 and has since been extensively refurbished.
It is one of a long list of hotel ventures that in the past has included Skibo Castle in Scotland and Bovey Castle in Devon, while de Savary’s personal CV includes a wide range of activities.
Dressed in an open-necked white shirt, cotton trousers and two-tone shoes, de Savary is happy to chat at length about his Oxfordshire innovations.
‘Our idea is that the hotel shouldn’t feel like most others,’ he says. ‘Too often hoteliers are only interested in the bottom line. They’ve got debts to pay off and it’s all ultimately about what the bank wants. That’s not the case here.’
As the name implies, The Old Swan and Minster Mill comprises two distinct properties, with the latter – in part encompassing an 18th century mill essentially the ‘new’ wing while the former can trace its origins back to medieval days.
It wouldn’t be unfair to say that it is The Old Swan that is the real gem here. With is thick walls, aged oak beams and corridors that have become slightly warped over the centuries it is a place that is both cosy and characterful.
Winston Churchill visited on several occasions and King Richard III is believed to have stayed here in the 15th century. The downstairs lounge, with its open fire, is particularly delightful when the British weather is up to its old tricks and is a very fine place to relax with a good book or a chat over a glass of something warming.
Both buildings are decorated with items from the de Savary’s own collection and Peter cheerfully reminisces over their provenance and history; pointing out, for example, a painting of a horse that he sold on to a Saudi prince.
‘If you have an emotion about a place, you’ll decorate it as you would your own home, The question then is: “Are there people out there who share your feelings?”
‘Lots of hotels have done business plans on computers, but half of those owners couldn’t even tell you how many trees they had in their garden. They certainly couldn’t tell you what kind of trees they had.’
De Savary doesn’t have that much time for the identikit property side of the hotel business. He and his wife like to think that they’re creating a home from home that, while it might be at times slightly eccentric in décor, will keep guests coming back.
The UK is a relatively rare haunt for de Savary these days – he spends most of his time on the Caribbean island of Grenada. He does, however, keep a car here – an Aston Martin.
‘I like a clutch and gear lever,’ he says, ‘and this particular model is only available as an automatic. I bought it on the condition that if I sent it back they’d put in a manual gearbox for me – which they did.
‘I’ve had the car for five or six years and it’s only done about 15,000 miles. I really like it, though, it’s the sort of car that’s timeless – it’ll never look old-fashioned. I like British things generally and I like British cars – I wouldn’t swap it for a Porsche or a Lamborgini.’
That love of all things British clearly extends to de Savary’s Oxfordshire hotel – and its idyllic setting next to a trout-stocked river and within a short walk of the romantic ruins of a 15th-century manor house of Minster Lovell. Not to mention those wild flowers – which will bring with a splash of colour now all too rare in the British countryside.
http://www.oldswanandminstermill.com/
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