We were never going to be ‘two weeks in the maldives’ kind of people.

Instead of going away away, we fancied just a couple of nights somewhere fancy and closer to home.

Cue Artist Residence – a small chain of extremely Insta-worthy boutique hotels.

Their Oxfordshire hotel is a modern take on a countryside inn, and it was seriously perfect.

We booked a suite to give us plenty of room for lounging and relaxing, but we were upgraded on arrival to the incredible barn suite.

It took us a couple of hours to stop saying ‘wow, look at this! This is amazing!’. It was SO beautifully decorated with loads of lovely little touches.

The suite had a huge and insanely comfy four poster bed, a roll top bath, log burner and private terrace. Absolutely everything you need to hunker down and escape the world (including an enviable collection of coffee table books – and a coffee machine to go with them!).

There isn’t loads in the immediate area but I liked that. I didn’t feel under pressure to go out and see everything. You can explore the Cotswolds by car but with a room this good, why leave?

At the heart of this hotel is the country pub, serving up British classics and a menu of refined and delicious cocktails.

My only small criticism would be that although tasty the food is a tad overpriced. To be fair I find that is always the case with hotels.

There was one disappointment from our stay – my breakfast pancakes were a bit of a let down. But everything else we had to eat was A+, including delicious mussels and the belly pork of dreams.

The service was fantastic. As well as our upgrade we were greeted with prosecco on arrival and all the staff were chatty, adding to the friendly countryside inn vibe.

Although a stay with Artist Residence isn’t cheap, it also isn’t ridiculous. If you fancy pushing the boat out you can get yourself a bit of luxury for an attainable price (about 200 a night will get you a suite midweek – not bad when you consider a Premier Inn can sometimes set you back over 100!).

It was the perfect place to escape from the world and we will definitely be back.

Where’s the craziest place you’ve ever stayed?

Wedding posts to follow once we have our photos 🙂