1 Night, 2 Rounds
Set on the edge of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Cotswolds Hotel & Spa is just 40 minutes from Oxford and an easy run from most of the UK. If you're after a proper countryside golf break without the faff, this one ticks a lot of boxes.
The parkland course rolls over undulating ground with tree-lined fairways and plenty of elevation change. At 6,316 yards it's not all about smashing driver, but don't be fooled, the narrow approaches and angled greens reward the player who plots their way round. Bring your A-game with the mid-irons and you'll enjoy it a lot more.
Off the course, the hotel looks straight out across the fairways and the Oxfordshire countryside, with modern rooms and a relaxed, unfussy feel that works for groups, couples and the odd family golf escape. If you've split a few fairways, or spent the day hunting for a wayward tee shot, the spa and wellness facilities are a handy way to reset before dinner.
It's a great base if you want to play locally too, with additional golf close by in the Oxfordshire area. Include it in your next break in England and you've got a mix of scenic parkland golf and proper downtime in one place.
Who is this for?
Golfers looking for an easy-to-reach UK break with scenic parkland golf, comfortable rooms and a spa on site.
Who is it best for?
Mid to high handicappers who enjoy plotting their way round, groups wanting a relaxed base, and families who'll use the interconnecting rooms or apartments.
* Where applicable, the relevant promotions will be applied during the booking process. T&Cs may apply.
1 Night, 2 Rounds
2 Nights, 3 Rounds
3 Nights, 4 Rounds
The narrow tree-lined fairways weave their way through stunning views of the Cotswold’s, placing an emphasis on accuracy off the tee. The nature of the course is to take the onus off the big booming drive and instead challenge a player’s course management skills. The ‘River Glyme’ meanders close by and is the source of a couple of interesting water features on the front 9 holes. The course is maintained to a very high standard and occupies possibly the highest ground in the Cotswolds, drainage is excellent, which practically guarantees play all year round. We believe the best laid out course in Oxfordshire.
Signature Hole: Par 5, 11th Hole
The 499 yard, par 5, 11th hole is considered by many as the signature hole at Cotswolds Hotel and Spa. The hole offers a swooping, dog leg left shape, which requires an accurate tee shot down the hill to yield the opportunity of hitting the green in two shots for the longer hitter. The hole offers stunning, tree lined scenery and backdrops as you look both down towards the green and back up towards the tee once on the putting surface. The approach to the hole slopes gently from right to left, so an emphasis on club selection is key to put yourself in a good scoring position.
| Par | 72 |
|---|---|
| Opened for play | 1890 |
| White | 6,284 yards | SSS 71 |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | 6,035 yards | SSS 71 |
| Red | 5,409 yards | SSS 71 |
Surrounded by the golf course and the rolling hills of the Cotswolds, the hotel gifts guests uncompromising views of the incredible scenery that wraps around the property. All 114 rooms are modern and bright, with WiFi and a flat-screen TV as standard. Many rooms look out over the course, so if you like a morning coffee with a view, ask for a golf-facing room when you book.
Travelling as a group? The 20 self-catering apartments are a practical option, with a fully equipped kitchen and a lounge area that's ideal for a relaxed night in. Each apartment includes a living area with two double sofa beds, bathroom with separate bath and shower, free high-speed WiFi and a flatscreen LED TV. Do note that the extra sleeping comes via sofa beds, so they suit families and mixed groups who don't mind sharing space.
For families, interconnecting rooms make life easier, and ground-floor rooms with terraces are a nice bonus in decent weather, especially if you want to sit out and watch the late groups coming up the hole. The terrace overlooks the perfectly manicured fairways, allowing you to enjoy the views from the comfort of your own space.
If you're planning a society trip, it's worth flagging your tee time preferences early so you can line up accommodation close to the key hotel facilities. The hotel is well set up for groups, with enough variety in room types and apartment options to keep everyone comfortable, whether you're after a quiet night in or planning to make the most of the bar and restaurant after your round.
The restaurant keeps things straightforward with a good spread of classics and seasonal dishes, with pricing that won't sting after 18 holes. It's open throughout the week to residents and non-residents. Dinner options can vary, so it's worth checking what's on during your dates if you're travelling as a group.
The wellness facilities are on the second floor and are available at an additional charge, subject to availability. If you're planning to use the spa, book ahead so you're not relying on walk-in space after your round. It's a good spot to unwind if you've been out in the wind all day, with a range of treatments on offer in a quiet, well-appointed setting.
How to get to Cotswolds Hotel & Spa
Located within the Cotswolds in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, just 40 minutes from Oxford.
Address: Southcombe, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, OX7 5QH
Mark
✓14 Sep 2026
The accommodation was excellent, large, clean rooms with a lovely bathroom and shower. The bar area was nice. The buffet dinner was average at best.
Lionel
✓14 Sep 2026
This seems to be a purpose built location for golfing trips, with everything catering for a group of golfers. The course is very well maintained and a great golfing challenge. Our trip happened to coincide with the oppressive heat waves and the one major drawback of this site is the lack of air-conditioning in any of the rooms (they do provide a pedestal fan) or any of the golf facilities. The food buffet is a perfect fit for a golf getaway but the selection was very minimal and could have been a lot more varied and appetising.
Ian
✓14 Sep 2026
Overall, the hotel itself was okay and the accommodation was adequate, but the facilities and level of service, particularly around the bar and restaurant, could definitely be improved. On arrival, we were not informed that we needed to book a table for our evening meal, despite the meal being included as part of our stay. We had not been made aware of this requirement beforehand. As we had a late afternoon tee time, by the time we checked in and attempted to make a reservation, we were told that the restaurant was closing shortly. This left us with around 20 minutes to shower, change and get to the restaurant. Unfortunately, the staff were not particularly helpful or accommodating in trying to find a solution, which made the experience feel unnecessarily rushed. We had a similar issue with breakfast. Our tee time the following morning was 7:45am, but breakfast did not start until 7:30am. There was no option to pre-order an earlier breakfast or arrange anything to take away, so we effectively had to miss a breakfast that was included in the price of our stay in order to make our tee time. For a hotel catering for golfing guests, these arrangements really need some thought. Tee times, particularly early starts and later afternoon rounds, are completely normal, so the restaurant and breakfast arrangements should be flexible enough to accommodate them. At the very least, guests should be clearly informed in advance that evening meals need to be booked and an early or takeaway breakfast option should be available. The hotel itself was fine, but the bar and restaurant facilities, communication and customer service let the overall experience down. With some relatively simple improvements, particularly around accommodating golfers and communicating meal arrangements before arrival, the stay could have been considerably better.
John
✓12 Sep 2026
Elegant rooms, a lively bar, and a spot-on location. The evening buffet meal was a tad disappointing; breakfast was excellent.
Harold
✓4 Sep 2026
Everything went perfectly, the staff were excellent, rooms clean and tidy, my room mate didn’t snore so that was a plus. The only thing that we weren’t keen on was the first night’s evening buffet, not very good, otherwise the whole break was good. Course was difficult but in excellent condition.
Mark
✓2 Sep 2026
The room we had was very basic twin beds, small tv, ground floor nothing to look out at. The food was a buffet which was lukewarm warm poor choice. So I won’t be booking this venue again, which was a shame as we had been to this hotel some three years earlier and were very happy with the service and menu .
Peter
✓24 Aug 2026
Disappointed to discover that the evening meal had changed since our last visit 2 years ago to a buffet. "Golf package" guests were in a separate room to the main restaurant which didn't make you feel valued
Carol
✓21 Aug 2026
Hotel room was clean and comfortable. The buffet restaurant is very basic like a works canteen . The tables look tired . Had breakfast in the other restaurant area due to lack of sitting on the buffet side , which was nicer . It’s very good value for money though and staff are very friendly .
Richard
✓11 Aug 2026
The hotel is clean and modern with excellent fully fitted out apartments with balconies and a view. The bar is large and not overly pricey (unlike many) but somewhat let down by hesitant service. Didn't investigate the other hotel facilities.
Michael
✓11 Aug 2026
Reception staff were great but the restaurant ran out of food for dinner and the bar service was very slow as there was a wedding and all the wedding guests were using the same bar as the golfers
Mark
✓14 Sep 2026
A nice lay out that can be testing at times but also suits higher handicap players in that the tee shots are easy. 40 + points is very achievable. The course like nearly all courses was probably not at its best visually due to the long hot summer. Greens were in ok condition in the circumstances visually but ran true. Would love to play again when the grass regrows.
Lionel
✓14 Sep 2026
For a site this large and seemingly purposely built or adapted for golfing excursions, there are very minimal practice facilities. The course itself is very well maintained and a great challenge, the bunkers need work and the greens are very hard to read.
Ian
✓14 Sep 2026
Really enjoyed playing the course. It was very well maintained throughout, with the fairways, greens and surrounding areas all kept in excellent condition. The course itself was challenging without being unfair and offered a good variety of holes that made you think about club selection and where to position your shots. There were enough hazards and tricky areas to punish poor shots, while still giving you opportunities to score if you played well. Overall, a really enjoyable and challenging course in great condition. Despite some of the issues we experienced with the hotel, I would definitely recommend the course itself and would happily play it again.
John
✓12 Sep 2026
My son, with a handicap of 5, loved the course. I had a marvellous time too. I might even go back, which I never do.
Harold
✓4 Sep 2026
The course rating gave us all extra shots but it was fair for those who played well.
Mark
✓2 Sep 2026
The tee boxes were very poor, holes and long grass not of a good standard. The greens were better but the bunkers had not been raked and with footprints in them gave the course a very average ratting
Peter
✓24 Aug 2026
The greens were quite patchy and the tee boxes had no signage to show the layout of the holes. Fully appreciate that in keeping with many courses at present the fairways are burnt out, but this meant that certain holes were pretty much unplayable (eg holes 10 and 11)
Carol
✓21 Aug 2026
With the very dry conditions every golf course is struggling. Had some fun bounces and ball rolling into crazy places. It’s a nice course layout and have played it in greener conditions. The greens and tees are poor in places but it’s a resort course so lots of footfall .
Richard
✓11 Aug 2026
Given the draught conditions at the time, the greens were in pretty good condition and stood out like a green oasis amongst the desert. There were some areas on and around the greens that could do with some minor repair but this did not significantly impact our game. Rough is not ridiculously punishing unlike some courses although given the immense run-on and sloping fairways you really did have to keep a keen eye on your ball.
Michael
✓11 Aug 2026
The course was in average condition due to the lack of rain but greens were ok and speed of play was pretty good just lacked a dedicated clubhouse as mentioned wedding guests meant bar service was extremely slow
Check-in from 3pm | Check-out from 11am
7:30-10am
Casual
Terrace Restaurant
Yes
Yes
There is 1 bar on site
There is complimentary car parking
July and August are the warmest months in the Cotswolds hottest month with the temperature averaging 16 degrees
A 1 hour lesson with academy coach Tadd Bainton would cost 25 GBP.
