A Stay At Marco Pierre White's Rudloe Arms Hotel in Corsham
Published On Thursday 9 Jan 2025 by Sticky Beak
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The Man Bird loves a bargain (don’t we all?), and usually sniffs them out on Groupon. On the hunt for a night away before his day job’s Christmas lunch, he set off like a truffle pig [on the web] and came up trumps in a matter of minutes. However, he’s a fickle soul and dumped Groupon like a bad kipper when he spotted a fab deal on Booking.com; we were definitely saying booking.yeah when it came up with D,B&B at Marco Pierre White’s gaff for £115! Like lightning, that ‘book’ button got hit, let me tell you!
We just assumed that we’d be staying in the Dower House, but we found out (quite by accident, when we got home) that we’d been upgraded to a room in [the main building] Rudloe itself – how blooming lucky was that?!
Stepping inside, you get a sense of ease washing over you as the ‘stealth wealth’ envelops you into its caress; no doubt helped along by the darkened levels of light that old buildings naturally have. A lovely young lady stepped from a room where she’d been conversing with another guest, and swiftly got us sorted out with our room key, as well as giving us directions to our room and the dining area.
The main hallway, stairs and landing are absolutely chocka with monochrome prints of MPW himself in his ‘Bad Boy of the ‘90s’ phase. He courted fame and controversy before then, but this is what I personally consider to be ‘peak Marco’ (and the era that the posters on my wall were from!). Having walked up the sweeping staircase, we took a moment to admire the Mouseman/Robert Thompson furniture displayed there.
In complete contrast to the beauty of the wooden furniture, when we walked into our bedroom, we were confronted by bright Andy Warhol prints of [chairman] Mao Tse-Tung/Zedong! Now, I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder – and I do appreciate Warhol – but these were not my cup of [Chinese] tea at all!!
Thankfully, there were plenty more Mouseman items to soothe my soul: the bed, wardrobe, blanket chest, candlestick and lamps all enthralled me, and the warmth of the Oak cast a calming tone through the space.
Now, you all know that I’m a complete bath hippo – I love to wallow in a deep tub, so I was beside myself with joy at the discovery of the [seemingly bottomless] freestanding clawfoot bath. His Nibs, on the other hand, was a bit perplexed at the lack of shower and even more so when there was no shower attachment in sight…didn’t stop him from joining me for a relaxing soak after dinner though! As a bonus, I might just have brought him over to the dark side after this experience – thanks, Marco.
Read about our dinner at The Rudloe Arms Hotel
The following morning, we returned to the Garden Room for Breakfast and, although the server was a different person, he was no less wonderful. After ascertaining we were comfortably seated, he got us sorted with Tea and Coffee, returning shortly after with a basket of cloth-covered Toast. Butter and Marmalade were already set on the table in pots, so all we needed to do before tucking in was to decide on our hot breakfast items. I chose Crushed Avocado on Toasted Sourdough with Poached Hen’s Egg, and His Nibs had a Buttered, Soudough Crumpet topped with Poached Hen’s Eggs.
Those of you who have had Clarence Court Eggs will know how tremendous they are, both in terms of taste and colour of their jammy yolks. Their creamy richness had us utterly mesmerised; there is no better way to start your day than with these morsels…unless you add in Avocado and Sourdough! Marco is known for his no-nonsense approach to all aspects of life; he doesn’t tolerate fools or smart-arses, and more so when they are in his own home; printed at the bottom of the breakfast menu is a [polite] warning: “If you feel it necessary to order a second breakfast, please understand there will be a supplement charge of £99 per breakfast”. Bloody love it!! I bet there have been some fools and/or smartarses that have tried…just to see what happens. Don’t poke the bear, folks; you will get bitten….and then you’ll whine and whinge like babies.
Both times that we ate in the Garden Room, we couldn’t fault the service or food, so Hot Wings very happily given. We would certainly return to Rudloe.
Another word of warning: there is a strict no taking your own food OR drink policy at Rudloe. It’s clearly stated in the T&Cs that there is a £40 charge if you are found to have done so. So if you do fancy yourself as a rule-breaker (but aren’t a particularly thorough one), don’t argue when you get slapped with a charge; alright? Tidy.
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