Overnight stay and dinner at The Frogmill, Cheltenham

If you read our most recent blog about our visit to the Sibling Gin Distillery, you’ll know that we were in Cheltenham mid-October. (If you haven’t why not click here to read it now?)

Being the responsible people that we are, we decided to book a hotel local to the distillery so we could both enjoy the gin experience and not have to worry about travelling too far.

The Frogmill Hotel ticked the box as the perfect location. Just a short taxi ride away, the hotel offered a convenient location within the beautiful Cotswolds countryside. The hotel has a range of rooms and given that we were staying for just one night and planned to be slightly intoxicated for the duration of the stay, we opted for their ‘Cosy’ room. As you may expect from the name, this room is the smallest room that is offered, but does come with a Nespresso coffee machine, which means coffee in bed in the morning, perfect!

We were in room number 10 and as you can see, the room has a double bed and offers no frills, but still feels welcoming and homely. The bed was extremely comfortable and had great pillows. There is nothing worse that staying in a hotel that has cheap pillows and you wake up with neck ache!

The en suite was also a really good size and we had a large double shower.

When staying at The Frogmill, you have the option of dining in the bar,  outside on the terrace or the restaurant. Given that we stayed at the hotel mid October, we didn't think dining outside on the terrace would be the best idea, so we headed down to the restaurant. Although, if we were to come back in summer, I could imagine the terrace would be fantastic. I could see myself sitting out there on a warm summers evening, G&T in hand, watching the world go by.

The restaurant is described as having 'characterful decor, timber-clad walls and eclectic artwork' which is really the only way you can describe it. The 'interesting' mix of artwork certainly is a conversation starter that's for sure.

Starters

Isle of Wight Tomato Bruschetta with basil, vegan feta and lemon oil

This was a huge starter but absolutely delicious. The feta was the only ‘downfall’ on this. Otherwise, a great start to the meal

Pan-roasted Atlantic Scallops with a pea velouté, pancetta crisp and green herb oil

 The scallops were cooked beautifully but I wish there had just been one more!

Mains

We both opted for the House Smoked Whisky Glazed Thick Cut Pork Belly Ribs. 

And what a good choice it was to order one of these each. I think if we hadn't the other would have had some serious food envy. The pork was so soft it just fell off the bone and you could have happily eaten it without any teeth! That's how soft and juicy it was. The portion size was massive, but my hubby managed to put away the lot. 

For sides, ordered triple cooked chips, lobster bisque macaroni cheese and maple and beer glazed heritage carrots. This was more than enough for two people. All three were exceptional I would happily order any of them again.

Dessert

Salted Caramel Fondant with Rich Chocolate Cremeux, nut crumb and milk ice cream.

 We decided to share a dessert after our mammoth main course. It was very tasty, but I wouldn't say it was salted caramel. You very occasional got the taste of caramel, but not enough to warrant calling it a salted caramel fondant...more like a chocolate fondant with caramel. 

Breakfast

Fruit & Nut

Banana and walnut toast, blueberry compote, coconut yogurt and toasted pumpkin seeds

I ummed and ahhed for a while over breakfast as there were a few things that caught my eye on the menu, but settled on the Fruit & Nut purely based on the banana and walnut toast. I love a good banana bread and this lived up to my expectations. The bread was fresh and warm and the coconut yogurt added a creaminess to the dish. It was so heart warming and filling.

The Full English

Leek & pork sausage, smoked streaky bacon, baked beans, field mushrooms, 2 eggs (any style), hash brown.

If you read our blogs on a regular basis, you'll know that we always judge a breakfast based on its sausage. We like that The Frogmill offered a Leek and Pork sausage rather than a pale sausage to the menu, something a little different but simple. I can report it was a very meaty and tasty sausage. The full breakfast overall was very nice, my only comment was that I though they could have made a little more effort with the beans. I always really like it when a restaurant does their own take on beans. Again, a small and simple change, but it can make a big difference to your dish.  

Continental – buffet table with baked pastries, cereals, granola, yogurt, juices, filter coffee, tea toasts & jams.

There was also a wise range on offer with the continental breakfast. Although we had a coffee machine in our room, it only had UHT milk (yuck!) so I was pleased to see a strong filter coffee with 'real' milk on offer at breakfast. 

To conclude, our stay at The Frogmill was very pleasant. The location was perfect for us and the large, free car park made the stay easy. 

The only downside for me, was how noisy the room was. Although the room was comfortable enough, we were above the restaurant and given that we had had a rather heavy afternoon of gin drinking, we did head up to our room before the restaurant had closed around midnight and it was rather loud. The walls are also exceptionally thin, so you can hear people having a conversation in the corridor even if they are not speaking particularly loud.

The hotel also has a space for weddings, so I can imagine this room is perfect for wedding guests, when the whole venue is booked for a private event and there is no one in the restaurant (the wedding venue was on the other side of the hotel to our room). 

The food in the restaurant was very good, and if I was in the area again and needed a place to eat, I would defiantly go back to The Frogmill. I would be interested to try their more expensive rooms, to see if my sleep quality was any better.

(All pictures taken & owned by SistersDineOut unless otherwise stated)