There are days in all of our lives when we must admit that we are behaving like big girls' blouses. Today is my day. I am standing in the grand grounds of the Leicestershire country house hotel Stapleford Park and I am making a noise that only dogs can hear. I am also shaking a little and a rush of colour is burning my cheeks.

My excuse? There is a European eagle owl, capable of killing a small deer, flying at me.

You may think that reasonable grounds for emitting high-pitched noises. If it were any other European eagle owl, it would be. But this is Bernard, a curiosity of nature, a local celebrity; a bird of prey afraid of his own shadow.

The most 10-year-old Bernard ever manages is to lock eyes on a pheasant, make a cocky approach and then beat a hasty retreat. His claws, purpose-built to squeeze the brains of large mammals until the bodies beneath them collapse, remain unused. Instead he is hand-fed slices of chicken.

Stapleford Park, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire

Home to a bird of prey that won't hunt and possibly a ghost, Stapleford Park is more than just a posh country hotel

BACKGROUND

• Hambleton Hall, Rutland

• Manners Arms, Knipton, Leicestershire

• Three Swans, Market Harborough, Leicestershire

• The Falcon Hotel, Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire

• Beech House, Clipsham, Rutland

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• More hotels in Northamptonshire, Leicestershire & Rutland

Bernard, who will casually perch on the arms of hotel guests while he is fed, is just one of the unexpected intrigues at Stapleford Park. While the 14th century manor house and sprawling sporting grounds speak of money and exclusivity, the atmosphere is far from uptight and the 500 acre estate full of characters.

There’s the resident falconer, Peter Sibson, who entertains with tales of Bernard’s birth, his agoraphobic barn owl and the time he clambered onto a roof to rescue one of his feathered charges only to find himself shimmying past the window of a very surprised, very naked woman.

Then there’s the housekeeper who has been at the history-soaked manor since it was first turned into a hotel 21 years ago, and the delightful host who has more than a decade of service under her belt. If you press the latter hard enough and promise you will still sleep that night, she’ll regale you with ghost stories.

Even the waiters at the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, The Grinling Gibbons, offer bursts of humour as they wheel over the impressively-stocked cheese trolley or deliver another comforting Sunday lunch.

The staff’s warmth is backed up by impressive, unobtrusive service, and refreshingly individual rooms. Each of the 55 four-star rooms, suites and cottages have been decorated by designers from different well-known labels, thus the Mulberry room is all checks, tweeds, leather and Flying Ducks, while the Crabtree & Evelyn effort features tapestry cushions, period vases and florals galore.

The rooms are of generous proportions and boast comfortable beds, large baths, CD players, WiFi, black-out curtains, and, dangerously, complimentary sloe gin.

But there is little excuse to stay in your room with such lush grounds calling. As well as falconry, Stapleford Park offers clay pigeon shooting, archery, off-road driving, fishing, tennis and giant chess. Then there is the golf course, gym, indoor swimming pool (complete with steam room, sauna and Jacuzzi), and a spa housed in what was once the manor’s stables.

The more sedate guest will have just as much fun indoors. The interior is magnificent, with hand-embroidered silk wallpaper here, tapestry there and hunting trophies mounted most everywhere else. The hosts will deliver tea or drinks to the myriad drawing rooms, while the chefs serve up top-notch traditional English food with a modern twist in the Grinling Gibbons, the brasserie and the multitude of private dining rooms.

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