Here’s a hotel to relish. Soul-warmingly comfortable and just a gentle 25-minute stroll through gorgeous parkland to Chatsworth , the Devonshires’ impossibly grand palace, The Cavendish at Baslow is a treat. Its recent revamp - courtesy of Nicola Harding, in cahoots with Laura Burlington, daughter-in-law of the current duke and Chatsworth’s new chatelaine - is pretty, witty and absolutely on point: delicate wallpapers above the dado rails; green baize doors leading into oh-so-alluring suites with their old fashioned bedside telephones, proper desks, inviting armchairs, canopied four-poster beds, muted paintwork and elegant restraint.
Restraint that does not, thankfully, extend to the luxurious bed linen, the deep, deep bathtub or the booths in the club-like lounge. There’s everywhere, all plucked from the Devonshires’ own collection: from a larky Jeremy Deller emblazoned with the words ‘You treat this place like a Hotel’ via a ravishing Elizabeth Frink , to, in one bedroom, a Nancy Mitford painting of her childhood house and, in another, a portrait of Debo Devonshire’s terrier, Snuff. Just to hammer home the Chatsworth connection, the bar has a wealth of old Devonshire family photos and the ladies’ loo a black and white portrait of Kathleen ‘Kick’ Kennedy, sister to President JF Kennedy and wartime wife of the Marquess of Hartington, heir apparent to the 10th Duke of Devonshire.
The Devonshires bought The Cavendish in 1970, and hotel guests are offered ‘bespoke’ tours of Chatsworth, and the chance to enjoy some much desired fly . There are, of course, nits to pick: no turndown, unfriendly lighting for those who like to read in bed, occasionally sluggish service. But the food is terrific and largely local: Ladybower trout, Chatsworth estate lamb and a strawberry soufflé from heaven were winners on the Gallery Restaurant’s menu, while The Garden Room is just dandy for a lighter lunch.
All around, too, are the glories of the Peak District, and the welcome is, as ever in the north, warm and winning. The Cavendish inhabits a quarrystone building that’s been a hotel/coaching inn for centuries, and giving the traveller a good time is clearly in its bones..
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