At Home in the Hills: Hyll’s Heartfelt Celebration of the Cotswolds
The Cotswolds have always promised quiet charm, undulating hills, and a sense of timelessness. HYLL, the newest addition to the region’s boutique hotel scene, embodies all of this while layering on a modern sophistication that feels deliberate yet never forced. From the moment you arrive, the hotel exudes warmth, quality, and authenticity, qualities reflected most vividly in its passion for food and commitment to rest.
HYLL
The Food: Local Flavours, Thoughtful Execution
At HYLL, the kitchen philosophy is simple yet profound. Head Chef Mark describes the approach as “confident, flavourful, approachable,” and explains that the hotel serves “elevated comfort food, the kind of dishes that feel indulgent, but grounded. [Our] food reflects what we want HYLL to be. We do this using seasonal produce and creating dishes that feel familiar, but surprising in the details.” The menu evolves with the seasons, ensuring that every visit feels fresh and exciting.
For us. A celebration of all that HYLL stands for. The opening course, Drinkwater's Warm Summer Vegetable Salad, is a celebration of local produce. The chefs didn't have to go far, just 5 minutes down the road, and these local ingredients looked like a picture of delight on the plate. Bright colours, textures and enticing flavours drew in the eye and the palate. Hands just wanting to dig in, like a gardener excited by what produce was hidden amongst. Toasty and sweetened pecans are a match made in heaven and are dotted like jewels throughout. With heirloom tomatoes of all colour varieties: greens, yellows, and reds, sit amongst baby carrots cut just at the stem and squash roasted and sauteed in butter before being drizzled with a local honey, with the Avery mere moments away from the kitchen doors. Raddicho and radish add pepper notes, the blue cheese adds creaminess against the crunch, an addition from the neighbouring town. Thought has gone into every element of this dish. Presentation, texture. Flavour. And a love of local produce.
Amanda Bootes
Chef Mark notes, “It’s important to us that our ingredients tell a story, and that they taste amazing. We have our own bee hives on the hotel grounds for fresh honey, and our vegetables come from Drinkwater’s farm next door.”
Paired with a sharp, bright Albariño from Spain. Its zesty notes complement the sweet crunch of pecans and the earthy richness of the blue cheese, offering a perfect opening to the meal and whetting the appetite for the dishes to come.
For the main course, Briar Hill Farm Lamb is a masterclass in restrained elegance. Thick cuts of lamb, perfectly charred on the outside, rest atop cannellini beans gently cooked with onions and stock in a nod to a cassoulet but elevated in presentation, just teasing us with the flavours of the liquid they were cooked in rather than flooding the plate with them, allowing the lamb to shine. The lamb, the star, lines the centre of the dish, enticing you in to take a piece with every bite, pairing once with the beans, the next with a floret, the final with a dab of sauce before repeating the process. Each one brings carefully considered flavour combinations that allow you to experience the nuance of the meat. The salsa verde adds freshness and zing, and along with the broccoli - colour - pleasing to the eye. Relatively simple food, but executed fantastically, and plates licked clean. Served alongside a warm, berry-and-spice Shiraz from South Africa, which elevates the lamb, carrying the flavours through to dessert without overwhelming them.
Amanda Bootes
Dessert is decadent and inventive. The Dark Chocolate Torte combines miso caramel with peanut brittle, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate mint. The interplay of sweet, savoury, creamy, and crunchy delights the palate, while the rich, thick chocolate mousse atop a buttery crumb base makes every bite feel indulgent. A scattering of caramel shards, toasted nuts, and fresh mint provides both texture and visual drama, ending the meal on an undeniable high.
Wine selection at HYLL mirrors the thoughtfulness of the kitchen. While the ethos centres on local produce, wines are sourced from regions that best complement the food. English wines like Kent’s Gusbourne feature prominently, alongside select bottles from Chile and South Africa. The team hopes that, in time, local vineyards will grow enough to fully meet the restaurant’s needs, a nod to HYLL’s commitment to elevating local ingredients at every turn.
When asked about must-try dishes this season, Chef Mark highlights the Spatchcock Poussin with Dates, Caramelised Lemon, and Truffle-Parmesan Crushed Potatoes, and the Wood-Fired Octopus with Saffron Potatoes, Red Pimento, Tomato, Burnt Lemon, and Garlic Dressing. Both signature examples of the menu’s confident, flavourful approach.
HYLL
The Ethos: Hyper-Local to Carefully Curated
Much of HYLL’s menu is sourced from the immediate area: vegetables from Drinkwater’s farm, fruit from nearby Oxford orchards, and tomatoes from Evesham’s glasshouses. Slightly further afield, artisanal charcuterie from Salt Pig in Kingham and cheeses from Kingstone Dairy ensure that every ingredient is seasonal and high quality. Chef Mark emphasises the importance of locality: “I’ve lived in the Cotswolds for over 20 years. There’s a real connection to nature and we’re lucky to have some incredible producers right on our doorstep, so we always use local suppliers wherever we can.”
HYLL is a celebration of place, seasonality, and thoughtful hospitality. It is a destination where food, design, and ethos intersect seamlessly, offering a retreat that feels at once indulgent, grounded, and completely welcoming. Whether lingering over a meal, sipping a carefully paired wine, or waking to the soft light of a Cotswold morning, the experience is curated with intention, leaving guests with the rare luxury of feeling entirely at home while somewhere extraordinary.
HYLL
The Design: Industrial Charm Meets Cotswolds Character
And it’s not just the care and detail in the food that makes HYLL so charming. The Cotswolds’ quaintness is reflected in the lines of the manor. The winding roads in the bending beams that entwine across the ceilings of the bedrooms; the beautiful brickwork of the town, even more impressive on a grander scale. Sloping hills just waiting to be climbed and explored, mirrored in the high rise of the upper rooms, inviting you in to rest after the former.
Imperfections are in abundance, but adding to the perfection of the place. You can feel the hands that painted, created, crafted in the textured walls, the ornate furniture; the décor. Rooms take on an industrial moodiness. Wood, steel, grey and concrete aplenty. Grand works of luxury adorn surfaces, but carefully considered, each room minimalistic, each product thought about.
The rooms lived in by those designing ensure the utmost comfort is achieved by future guests. A lamp added to accommodate the setting of the sun, a table moved just an inch to the left. Modern amenities add to the thought of care, too. Dimmer lights for ambience, for welcoming, for promoting rest. USB cables by the bed. For although HYLLl encourages you to leave your phone to its own devices, they want their guests to treat their stay as if they're at home. The option there should you want it. Mine. Left on the other side of the room, on the low set table, not created for work. A welcome change from its usual spot, as an additional limb. A weight lifted. A tool tethered. A moment of disconnect. A sleep undisturbed by blue light and notifications. A slumber well deserved. A slow, peaceful awakening without alarms or societal obligation of being e-available 24/7. The orange hue of the sun sneaking its way round the gaps in the curtains, casting shadows that dance in the light, welcoming me to a new day. Whispering the promise of, well, absolutely anything. That's the luxury of HYLL. Anything is possible. Nothing is doable. And they do it so well.