The Cotswolds is a wealth magnet that exerts its pull on various moneyed tribes.
This south-central (avoid any thoughts of LA) rural pocket of England plays host to ruddy-cheeked farming scions, twinset and pearl transatlantic holidaymakers and, in recent years, swarms of 20-something PR professionals (and trust fund types) cosplaying country life within the creche-like confines of Soho Farmhouse.
Bull at Burford, a hotel built within the bones of a stunning 16th-century coaching inn, attracts a far more discerning crowd. While an arguable hospitality jewel in the Cotswolds’ rather opulent crown, the honey-coloured edifice on the Oxfordshire village of Burford’s High Street is a considered, escapist proposition. And one with a unique calling card — its labyrinthine corridors, guest accommodation and communal areas are decorated with a particularly fine private art collection.
Stepping into the cooler confines of the hotel’s reception amid a UK heatwave, one thing hits home, even before encountering the unimpeachable front-of-house staff. Because there’s an elephant in the room — or, in this case, a towering work by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Hung at the entrance to the cocktail bar is the Brooklyn artist’s Charles The First (1982), invoking a brilliantly disruptive tone in these surrounds.
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Themes of Black genius and martyrdom clashing with the notion of kingly reverence in such a rural, conservative region of the UK? That’s just the start . . .
A historic stay with a modern twist. Credit: The Nightly/The Nightly
Step further inside the bar, walk beyond photojournalist Chris Smith’s 1964 image of Muhammad Ali playfully knocking out The Beatles, and Andy Warhol’s Bald Eagle (1983) plays with notions of American national identity.
Speaking of identity, this building has history. It first opened its doors in the same year as the annulment of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s marriage. Just shy of 490 years later, it was renovated by UK PR mogul Matthew Freud (yes, great-grandson of Sigmund). A self-confessed “insomnia-driven collector”, Freud’s approach to preserving the heritage of this Tudor building while infusing it with an arresting sense of the contemporary is to be applauded.
It’s an approach that extends to ROAM’s airy penthouse accommodation, which exudes quiet luxury and sees a 1968 lithograph by Pop artist Allen Jones hung above the super-king-size bed.
Our room’s commanding view over Burford High Street, its centuries-old exposed wooden beams and very welcome lack of television help to create a sense of sanctuary, while a well-stocked wine fridge, palatial marble-floored bathroom with a free-standing bath, plus fine fittings and indulgent soft furnishings inject a dose of lush.
Old-world charm, seriously plush interiors Credit: The Nightly/The Nightly
What initially jolts the visitor becomes more commonplace — even expected — as further rooms are explored and indulged. Contemporary wooden furniture fills a modest-sized restaurant whose bare stone walls and colossal stone fireplace are original features from the 1500s.
Inside the art-filled Bull at Burford. Credit: The Nightly/The NightlyBasquiat. Credit: The Nightly/The Nightly
Here, a dinner of wild spinach and ricotta ravioli with a 10oz sirloin is taken under the watchful gaze of The American Dream, a vast tapestry from the hand of British artist Grayson Perry, and lit overhead by pendant lights from the London studio of ceramicist Martha Freud (yes, Sigmund’s great-great-granddaughter). Even a mid-meal call of nature reveals the lavatory entrance to be hand-graffitied by illustrator Charlie Mackesy (of The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse fame).
Dining among masterpieces. Credit: The Nightly/The NightlyNot your average country hotel. Credit: The Nightly/The Nightly
Wine options are as eclectic as the works on display (Freud admits, “Some of the art is very expensive, some almost worthless”), from an affordable shiraz (by the glass) to a bottle of 2011 Mouton Rothschild for the price of a serviceable second-hand Range Rover Discovery.
All of which serves merely to scratch the surface of what’s on the menu of this multifaceted hotel. Did we forget to mention the Bacon (Francis), the Matisse? The Banksy . . . the Damien Hirst . . . Ai Weiwei . . . Salvador Dali . . .?
Bull at Burford is a treasure trove of fine art so remarkable, they could charge entry. Which, we suppose, in a roundabout way, they already do.
BULL AT BURFORD105 High Street, Burford, Oxfordshire, England
PRICERooms from approx. $575 a night; dining options range from pizza starting at $26 to an approx. $285 11-course tasting menu
THE INSIDERBull at Burford is on the medieval village’s postcard-perfect main drag, which offers boutique shopping and more pubs than you’d think possible to squeeze into such a small area. Within a 30-minute drive are attractions as diverse as the “dreaming spires” of Oxford and the Neolithic Rollright Stones at nearby Chipping Norton (or Chippy, as the locals refer to it). The popular designer shopping mecca of Bicester Village is a 45-minute drive to the north-east.
