Muddy Stilettos

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-lowdown">THE LOWDOWN</h2>



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<a href="https://www.hotelduvin.com/?utm_source=thissaway&amp;utm_campaign=muddystilettos" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hotel du Vin Exeter</a> sits on the edge of the most exciting part of the city, just a stone&#8217;s throw from the historic Cathedral, boutiques and bars. In its own walled grounds, this handsome red brick building has been a hotel as long as I can remember but way back in the mists of time (okay, until 1992) it was hospital and before that a Victorian Eye Infirmary. Funnily enough, my sister-in-law remembers having her tonsils taken out here as child but fortunately now the only thing medicinal on the menu is the lovely long wine list.



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After a couple of previous hotel incarnations it became a Hotel du Vin in 2016, with a full bedroom refurbishment completed in Spring 2021, so it&#8217;s bang up-to-date with mod cons.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">THE VIBE</h2>



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I&#8217;ve been to <a href="https://www.hotelduvin.com/?utm_source=thissaway&amp;utm_campaign=muddystilettos" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hotel du Vin Exeter</a> many times and it always feels remarkably serene and tranquil, quite a contrast to the city traffic you&#8217;ve just left behind. 



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It&#8217;s also trés elegant, thanks to the sparkling terrazzo floor in the lobby, the modern art, and the glass walkway which divides the Bar and Bistro: it&#8217;s all super-stylish, modern and airy. 



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When you wander through to <a href="https://www.hotelduvin.com/?utm_source=thissaway&amp;utm_campaign=muddystilettos" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bistro du Vin</a> for the first time it&#8217;s a surprise to see the big green patch of garden, a hidden oasis in the city, with a patio where you can sit and have lunch or a cocktail in the sunshine. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">SCOFF &amp; QUAFF</h2>



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We&#8217;re here on a Dinner B&amp;B package, including a three-course meal in <a href="https://www.hotelduvin.com/locations/exeter/bistro/?utm_source=thissaway&amp;utm_campaign=muddystilettos">Bistro du Vin</a>, which is open to guests and non-residents alike for everything from breakfast through to dinner, as well as Afternoon Tea and Sunday Lunch. 



The menu is French cuisine, with lots of choice – nibbles and entrées, meaty grillades, mains of duck, fish, mussels, a couple of veggie choices and a l&#8217;escargot starter which I wish I&#8217;d tried but didn&#8217;t clock until too late.



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You dine under a gorgeous Big Top tent-type ceiling, dimly lit with glowing balloon-like lampshades, all reflected at night in a sweep of mirrors and the high glass windows.



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Our waiter was a star, knew the menu inside-out. Having ordered French onion soup starter he came to tell me there was a delay as the chef wasn&#8217;t happy with how the cheese was bubbling. First world problems! It came laden with melted nutty cheese, with perfectly tender and sweet onions. Very moreish.



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The main event? For me it was monkfish in a creamy curry broth with mussels, saffron and spinach and a side of French beans for crunch. The fish portion was fresh, plump and flaky and the generous sauce complemented without overwhelming the delicate flavours, which was just as delicious when mopped up with the&nbsp;pain de campagne.



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The OH loved the chunky farmhouse wholesomeness of his ham hock starter, which came with a nicely tart fennel salad for added crunch.



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With plenty on the menu to please the carnivores, the steak really generous (those plates are large), seared just right, and made super-savoury by a creamy sauce-pot of just the right amount of peppercornage.



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For dessert, he conceded defeat while I greedily rum-baba&#8217;d. Not sure about the paper doily but the Chantilly cream hit the sweet spot, and it feels decadent drenching your sponge with the tot of rum.



Afterwards, it&#8217;s a short waddle to the bar where there&#8217;s a good range of cocktails and a huuuuge choice of more than 20 wines by the glass and dozens more by the bottle.



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While the evening fare was rich and celebratory in the quality and vibe &#8211; breakfast was a much more conventional affair, served help-yourself style, including wonderfully warm and fresh French pastries, little pots of granola and yogurt, porridge and topnotch OJ, followed by a waitress-ordered choice of full English and eggs cooked in every which way.



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Who could not feel energised by this avocado beaut? Perfectly poached eggs, with a chunky tomato salsa providing a welcome summery zing in winter. Extra smug-points for the cal count &#8211; it&#8217;s way less than the full English.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">PILLOW TALK</h2>



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My excuse for a fly-by is to check out the shiny-new <a href="https://www.hotelduvin.com/locations/exeter/rooms-suites/suite/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Beekeeper&#8217;s Cottage</a>. This family suite is the latest addition to their range of 60 bedrooms and suites, and is outside in the garden with its own flower beds and little terrace. At check-in, the receptionist tells me the staff always get excited when someone&#8217;s booking into Beekeeper&#8217;s Cottage. Very promising!



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The honey-coloured door has a chunky brass bee knocker which pushes open into a long, high-ceilinged suite, divided into two areas, with a huge super-king bed and TV at one end, and a sumptuous cinnamon-coloured velvet sofa and a second telly at the other. 



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What a buzz! You can feel very spoilt here, like you&#8217;re in your own holiday cottage, only with hotel benefits – namely L&#8217;Occitane smellies, a Nespresso coffee machine, a well-stocked mini bar with fizz and nibbles, towelling robes and cork-soled slippers (eco-friendly for the bees, natch). 



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You also have a direct view of the garden and the heated indoor-outdoor pool, so you can make a beeline for a solo swim in the morning to do a few virtuous, but none too arduous, laps after a big night. Give your aching back a blast in the jets next to a digital screen of flickering flames. It&#8217;s quite petite so I expected it to be rammed but I was the only person in there at 8am on a Saturday morning.



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But back to the cottage. It&#8217;s all bee themed and while I wanted to keep the gorgeous velvet cushions, I didn&#8217;t find time to brush up on my entomology.



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I loved the welcome pack, which had two little pots of Bonne Maman honey and a beeswax lip balm with a note about HDV&#8217;s commitment to going carbon neutral. 



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The bathroom is simple and classy, decorated in shiny white butchers&#8217; tiles with a double walk-in shower and huge fluffy white towels. 



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The long layout makes it ideal if you have kids in tow, as you&#8217;re not on top of each other. If you don&#8217;t &#8211; lucky you. Spread out and make the most of having a choice of sofa-surfing and bed TV.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">THE SPA</h2>



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Hotel du Vin Exeter&#8217;s little <a href="https://www.hotelduvin.com/locations/exeter/spa/?utm_source=thissaway&amp;utm_campaign=muddystilettos">garden-based spa</a> deserves to be better known, with four treatment rooms, including one for side by side couples. Have a dip, then treat yourself to a REN facial or massage. I went for a half-an-hour REN Express Radiance facial (£60) with therapist Eve: a gentle mix of heavenly hot towels and exfoliating slathering of natural rose and citrussy aromas. She has expert fingers and is good at the old brow and eyelash dye too. (You can book in for a treatment only although if you want to use the pool, you need to be on a day spa package or staying.)



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KID-FRIENDLY?</h2>



I&#8217;d say it&#8217;s a place for well-behaved kids. Guests are the sort who expect to hear the gentle hum of intelligent convo and the chink of wine glasses, not the roar of ankle biters. That said, Beekeeper&#8217;s Cottage with its pull-out sofa and privacy is away from the hubbub, and you can order in-room dining from the Bistro du Vin menu, including everything from crowd-pleasing burgers and fish goujons to coq au vin braised in red wine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">DOG-FRIENDLY</h2>



Yep, for a £25 supplement dogs are welcome to share their owner&#8217;s pet-friendly room and your pooch can mooch everywhere with you – just not in the Bistro. If you want to eat with Fido take your food in the Lounge or Library. Beekeeper&#8217;s Cottage is perfect for direct access onto the garden. If he&#8217;s a good doggy, he might even get a sausage for brekkie.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">ACCESSIBILITY</h2>



There are bedrooms on the ground floor, and the Bar, Bistro, REN Spa and Beekeeper&#8217;s Cottage are all on ground level. Plus, there&#8217;s a lift to all floors. For an extra £15 you can park right outside the front door in the small car park. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">OUT &amp; ABOUT</h2>



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The hotel has a generous check-in/check-out time of 3pm and 11am (and they extended it midday to allow for my facial) so you can make the most of your stay. It&#8217;s a five minutes&#8217; walk to <a href="https://www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Exeter Cathedral</a>, shops and bars and while Exeter has a reputation for a bland high street, there&#8217;s no shortage of indie shops off the main drag. Cobbled <a href="https://www.visitexeter.com/inspire-me/blog/read/2017/11/independent-shopping-on-gandy-street-b220" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gandy Street</a> (above), reputedly the inspo for JK Rowling&#8217;s Diagon Alley, is full of indie shops and the only place you can buy <a href="https://therecycledcandlecompany.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recycled candles</a> in the UK. For cool clothes, hit up <a href="https://www.busbyandfox.com/pages/our-stores-exeter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Busby &amp; Fox </a>and <a href="https://lornaruby.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lorna Ruby</a>; for culture there&#8217;s <a href="https://rammuseum.org.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">RAMM Museum</a>, a child-friendly Victorian museum with glass cases full of natural history collections and Curiosity Shop vibes. For quirk, check out Parliament Street, at 25in the narrowest in the UK.



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Prefer the beach? The charming old fishing village of <a href="https://www.visitdevon.co.uk/explore/towns-and-villages/beer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Beer</a> (above) is under 20 miles away, where you can see working boats and buy fresh fish right on the pebble beach. Alternatively, <a href="https://www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk/places/exmouth-p221953" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Exmouth</a> is half the distance with two miles of golden sands and opps for kids&#8217; castle-building. 



If you want to get more for your mini break buck, book a room (and tickets) for The <a href="https://bigweekendfestivals.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Big Weekend Festival</a> on 12-14 May. It&#8217;s a jam-packed three day event of outdoor cinema, DJ sets, live music, jousting, circus, disco and fireworks. <a href="https://www.powderhamfoodfestival.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Powderham Food Festival</a> (7-8 Oct) at the historic Powderham Castle is also a delicious mix of heritage and hunger. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">THE MUDDY VERDICT</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/02/IMG_0213.jpg" alt="Muddy Editor Lisa drinking wine at Hotel Du Vin Exeter" class="wp-image-52725"/><figcaption>A Tokaji for me and rum for the baba.</figcaption></figure>



Fabuleux! It was such a treat, I&#8217;ve just booked <a href="https://www.hotelduvin.com/locations/bristol-avon-gorge/?utm_source=thissaway&amp;utm_campaign=muddystilettos">Bristol Avon Gorge by Hotel du Vin</a> for when I&#8217;m off to see Matthew Bourne&#8217;s Sleeping Beauty at the Bristol Hippodrome in March. 



Good for: Romantic liaisons; lush spa breaks; city excursions with kids can be trying but the cottage gives you a spacious base and options for naps; a one-size-fits-all city and beach break; for lunch al fresco or an afternoon tea; private dining for anniversaries and big birthdays.



Not for: Tight purse-strings &#8211; Beekeeper&#8217;s Cottage is in the treat category price-wise; limited choice for veggies and vegans; simple appetites and garlic haters; melissophobics.



The damage: Rooms start from £139 for a room only in May for a Classic. A night&#8217;s dinner, bed &amp; breakfast stay for two in Beekeeper&#8217;s Cottage, cost £412, including a three course meal. Alternatively, the Glorious Getaway gives you Champagne, dinner B&amp;B from £177. Hotel parking is £15 per night.



<a href="https://www.hotelduvin.com/?utm_source=thissaway&amp;utm_campaign=muddystilettos" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hotel du Vin Exeter</a>, Magdalen St, Exeter EX2 4HY Tel: 01392 790120

Review: Hotel du Vin Exeter, Devon

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