This hotel is the UK’s first luxury all-inclusive — is it any good?

In the 1990s Manchester United won every football trophy going, Pot Noodle was the UK’s favourite food, only five-year-old girls thought Kylie Minogue was cool, and you wouldn’t wish an all-inclusive holiday on your worst enemy.

Times change. These days luxury all-inclusives are more popular than ever, with demand up 125 per cent since 2019, according to Expedia.

While top resorts worldwide have embraced the all-in concept, one destination has remained a notable exception: the UK. Although we have some great mid-market options, our luxury hoteliers have resisted this style of holiday, until now.

All-inclusive rates start from £920 per room (yes, that includes champagne)

Foxhill Manor in the upmarket village of Broadway, Worcestershire, quietly introduced the “Full Fox” last year, becoming the first luxury hotel with all-inclusive rates. From £920 per room (yes, that includes drinks) it’s certainly not cheap, but that doesn’t preclude it from also representing good value, given a night at many similar Cotswolds country house hotels costs north of £600, room-only, and Foxhill’s B&B rate starts at £595. So I set out to discover if the extra outlay is worth it.

Foxhill passes the poshness test with flying colours. It’s a honey-stoned grade II listed Arts and Crafts manor house ensconced in 500 acres of the Farncombe Estate. Interiors eschew flashiness in favour of quiet quality. Its eight bedrooms are minimalist masterpieces, ranging from enormous to ginormous. Ours has side-by-side bath tubs positioned by the window for maximum bucolic impact.

Its diminutive size also helps Foxhill achieve the holy grail of hospitality, a seductive home-from-home informality. There’s no reception or formal check-in and no need for the dreaded plastic wristbands typical of all-ins. There are no staff uniforms either. Instead our casually dressed “host” Matt ushers us into the drawing room, where the stylish furniture comes in the colours of the cognac and cream liqueurs on the elegant sideboard. Completing the cosy vibe, there is a huge stone fireplace with glowing logs and mullion windows filled with beguiling views across the Vale of Evesham to the Malvern Hills.

• 25 of the best hotels in the Cotswolds for 2025

Matt has such a contagious jovial manner and easy confidence that we soon feel relaxed. He bounds over to the bottles and asks what we’d like. Apart from a generous array of spirits, there are soft drinks and champagne (Delamotte Brut). I’d be derelict in my duty to decline a glass of bubbly. Likewise, I diligently sample the chocolate cupcakes (delicious) and scones (feather-light). We pass on lunch but Matt emphasises we can change our minds whenever we like and help ourselves to drinks any time. We watch another couple do just that. Chilly after a walk with their dog, they nod a friendly hello, then pour themselves gin and tonics.

Some of Foxhill’s generously-sized bathrooms have standalone bath tubs

The ambience is house-party conviviality so we get chatting. The couple stay two or three times a year and are very happy with the conversion to all-inclusive. That reminds us, we’re here for food and drink, not idle conversation, so we head off to the pantry. It’s piled high with all sorts of snacks that would make Henry Dimbleby break down and cry: liquorice allsorts, jelly beans, lemon bonbons and every flavour of crisps and nuts. You’d have to eat Mr Creosote’s body weight in Mr Filbert’s Crunchy Corn nibbles to get a return on that room rate, though, so I decide to save myself for dinner.

Dining is a flexible affair — you can eat in the garden or even in a bay window

Dining is where Foxhill scores mega bonus points. With a maximum of 16 guests you really can eat and drink any time, any place, anywhere you like around the property. The drawing room or garden often win out over the pretty restaurant, as does the bay window on the landing (surprisingly intimate and with excellent views). You can also eat anything you like. Fillet steak? It’s yours. Not even a hankering for foie gras followed by lobster thermidor will faze the chef.

• 13 of the best all-inclusive resorts in the world

The reason Foxhill’s menu has a flexibility to rival the online yoga sensation Adriene is because the manor shares the glorious estate with its award-winning sister properties, Dormy House and the Fish, which have seven restaurants between them. That’s a lot of larders for Foxhill’s team to raid to meet awkward guests’ demands. The managing director, Tom Aspey, explains, “Foxhill should feel like home. You eat when and what you want. We accept there will be win and lose days if someone visits the bar repeatedly, but most people stay two nights, settle in and take their time.”

Lobster thermidor is on the menu at Foxhill

Callum, the laid-back general manager, leads us to the kitchen to meet the chef James Sleep to discuss our perfect dinner. When anything is possible my mind tends to go blank, even if I haven’t visited the bar repeatedly, so fortunately there’s a chalkboard with suggested dishes to customise and seasonal ingredients for inspiration. Many people disregard both and opt for classics such as beef wellington, spotted dick and rum baba.

I see Wiltshire truffle on the fresh-in list, which I ask to be served as a starter with some pasta and lots of parmesan. I’m intrigued by the chalkboard recommendation of cod kiev, so that’s my main course sorted. My husband chooses hand-dived scallops followed by wild sea bass with crab tortellini and we ask for lots of greens. Next stop the wine cellar, where we select an organic Rhône white from Domaine des Hauts Chassis, which would probably sell for about £75 in a restaurant.

• Read our full guide to the Cotswolds

Guests can use the nearby Dormy House spa

All that food-planning means we do finally succumb to those pantry nibbles. We could use the complimentary ebikes to work up an appetite. Instead we get a lift to the Dormy House spa (usually £110 for a non-resident day pass) and have a swim, sauna and snow shower. Matt encourages us to have a cocktail before dinner, of course. In the restaurant we spot a couple tucking into burgers and beer. Admittedly they are Jenga-stacked with fillings, but such modestly priced choices reminds me of the F Scott Fitzgerald quote that the very rich are different. We continue to get our money’s worth, squeezing in a wickedly sticky toffee pudding and nightcaps.

Broadway was a firm favourite of Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain

ALAMY

Breakfast is another no-judgement spread of generosity. We take our time, working through fruits, pastries, granola, yoghurt, green juices and avocado, and smoked salmon and eggs on sourdough. Newlyweds celebrating their nuptials sip champagne. Everyone else sticks to coffee. As fellow guests tell us repeatedly, knowing the cost upfront and being free to order what they like makes the experience feel more indulgent while, they argue, no more expensive. They are also enthusiastic about Broadway. Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain were fans of the town, which now sports a high street of independent shops, as well as having classic Cotswolds country walks and interesting places such as the National Trust’s Snowshill Manor on the doorstep. Going all-inclusive is a bold move by Foxhill Manor but one that may well outfox the competition.
Susan d’Arcy was a guest of Foxhill Manor, which has all-inclusive doubles from £920, including breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, unlimited drinks and wine with meals, spa access, use of ebikes and chauffeur service to Broadway (foxhillmanor.com)

Would you book an all-inclusive in the UK? Share your thoughts in the comments