It’s a tale of our times. A dearly beloved grand dame, now into her seventies, realises she’s beginning to lose out to more youthful, trendier rivals. Talk of a nip and tuck horrified her legions of devoted fans but, with her eye on more awards in 2007, she decided to take a deep breath and go for the full-on, which one’s Trinny? makeover. No, we’re not talking about Judi Dench. It’s more shocking than that, it’s Gidleigh Park. This most fabulous timewarp of English country-house traditions has been plasma TV’d and tuned for the 21st century.

Gidleigh was one of those stately old homes where wellington boots were lined up in the stone porch to encourage long walks in Dartmoor’s woolliest thickets and fields, where the only thing that masked the creaking floorboards was the ticking of the grandfather clocks and every other guest looked like Bill Deedes - and the rest looked like his parents. Built in the 1920s in the Tudor style, everything about the place was delightfully eccentric (even on the hottest summer day, there was always a log fire burning) and utterly charming (rooms were adorned with unpretentious bunches of flowers from its vast Hansel and Gretel gardens).

Given the British predilection for quirkiness, it wasn’t difficult to see why Gidleigh had become one of our most popular luxury rural retreats, but the interior design was definitely lapsing into inferior design. The question was would the required revamp display the impressive subtlety of Anne Robinson’s surgeon, enough to attract new guests while placating the old ones; or would it exhibit the wind-tunnel wantonness of the Bride of Wildenstein and have everyone reaching for the smelling salts?

Happily, it’s the former. After almost a year-long renovation, Gidleigh Park looks the same... only better - like it’s just back from its best-ever holiday. The honey-toned wood-panelled reception hall looks fresher because the well-worn carpets have been rolled up to expose the much more attractive, original oak flooring and the quaintly old-fashioned bar looks more inviting because the stiffed-backed cream walls have been repainted the jolly flushed red of someone who’s had one too many.

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A cathedral in the bedroom and cracking food from the Michelin-starred Michael Caines

BACKGROUND

• Northcote Country Manor House Hotel, Burrington, North Devon

• Soar Mill, Salcombe, Devon

• Hotel Endsleigh, Tavistock, Devon

• Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon

• Bovey Castle, Dartmoor, Devon

Related Internet Links

Related Links

• Bovey Castle, Dartmoor, Devon

Thankfully, the twee fabrics in the large and light lounge have been replaced by fuss-free designs in contemporary shades of raspberry reds, kiwi greens and lemon yellows but the furniture is still antique, the paintings are still ancestral, the boots are still at the door and the clocks are still ticking so the overall ambience remains impressively Gosford, it’s just that you no longer worry you should have a Brief Encounter accent when ordering a G and T.

It’s in the 24 bedrooms where the fairy dust has been most liberallly sprinkled, however. In their previous incarnation, it was really only the amazing views on to the North Teign River and rolling Devon countryside that elevated what where pretty chintzy rooms to something special. Now they ooze Joanna Lumley-esque levels of upper-class glamour with muted colour schemes, designer lamps and mirrors and plenty of cathedral candles as well as the requisite white goods and wifi connections.

The new approach is especially true of the bathrooms, which have been have well and truly “Babington-ed”. That is they now follow the trend spearheaded by Babington House, the celebrity hang-out in Somerset, to incorporate baths into the living space. Gidleigh now features vast freestanding baths within nodding distance of huge plump beds, oversized rainforest showers, heated spa loungers, acres of champagne-coloured Italian marble and posh L’Occitane toiletries. The remodelling has also added 10 new rooms, some nattily split level, some spa suites that are nicely decadent, with saunas and hot tubs that should be some compensation for those who don’t appreciate a hike in the great outdoors is a much finer way to relax than a massage and manicure. One nice touch is the introduction of a “pantry” on the first floor that guests can raid for snacks and homemade biscuits.

And it is for the food more than fancy rooms that you should head for Gidleigh. Its two Michelin-starred restaurant offers some of the best dining in the UK. Head chef Michael Caines is not only one of the country’s best culinary brains, he’s one of the most modest too and, unlike the ex-Glasgow Rangers footballer, Caines still cooks and is actually in the kitchen at Gidleigh almost every night.

At £75 for the set four-course menu and £80 for the tasting menu, it’s not cheap but it’s definitely worth the money. My monkfish with saffron cream sauce was delicious, the Devon lamb cooked three ways with fondant potato and tapenade jus was even better and the dishes are so cleverly judged that I could comfortably fit two another courses and two desserts as well as cheese.

There’s always Dartmoor to burn off those excess calories, or you could follow Gidleigh’s example, and find a good cosmetic surgeon.

Bottom line: doubles are from £440 including breakfast and dinner.

Best thing: enchanting location.

Worst thing: being locked into the dinner, B&B rate. The food is excellent but I’d only want to eat a fancy meal one night of a two-night break.

Access all areas: one room has wheelchair access.

Need to know: Gidleigh Park (01647 432367), Chagford, Devon TQ13 8HH.

Food: 9 out of 10, marked down because the decor in the dining rooms is a little too clubby.

Service: 8 out of 10.

Room: 9 out of 10.

Value: 8 out of 10.

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