I love the Hotel du Vin chain, and have stayed in a lot of them. I even spent the night before my wedding in the one in Winchester. Apart from Brighton, which is best avoided in its totality, they have two things in common: Excellent accommodation, and pretty awful food.

We booked through Secret Escapes, and were able to get a single night on a Friday at pretty short notice. But the bonus was, once we booked, we were offered a cheap upgrade direct from the hotel. So for one night, we got a Junior Suite, with parking and breakfast, for about £185. And the room was amazing, at least twice the size of the one we originally booked, and the best part, it had the HdV signature roll top bath and rainfall shower, which made each of us (in different ways) very happy. Although, you haven’t lived until you have had used the rainfall shower on the mezzanine of the Signature Suite at the HdV in Bristol…

I am always struck by how bad amateur pictures of hotel rooms are, but honestly, it was fantastic, especially for the money. My only niggle was that there are no plugs by the bed, so those of us who like to have our phone charging overnight by our heads were very disappointed. And maybe one firmer pillow would be good as well… Small things.

There is not a lot of natural light in the room, but at that price, what do you expect?!

The bar is great. Feels very cozy, even though it is spacious. There is a good Happy Hour deal of £8 for a glass of Champagne, although you get charged £1 service even if you order at the bar. And I think they are missing a trick not offering that deal as room service. Just saying…

We also went back for a (potentially ill-advised) night cap after a fantastic dinner at The Square (review here). Not very busy for a Friday night.

After a refreshing sleep, we went down for the breakfast, and it was nice to see the bistro area full. However, the lighting is a little sickly. It is the orange end of warm white, which makes it feel a little dark and uncomfortable.

The buffet spread was surprisingly good, although it would have been good to have the elements like Greek Yoghurt separate rather than pre-mixed with muesli and fruit. The coffee was also of a high quality.

But true to form, HdV cannot do hot food. We stopped eating in the various Bistro du Vin a number of years ago, and TripAdvisor reviews have never tempted us back. Not being overly hungry, but wanting to at least sample the offering, I asked for the Cumberland sausage and bacon. This arrived.

Ok, so it is always going to be hard to make sausage and bacon look attractive, but this is surprisingly flattering compared to its taste. The sausage was actually white underneath, but extra cooking would not have helped it. It was dense and homogeneous, and very much at the ultra-processed end of the spectrum. But actually quite acceptable compared to the bacon which seemed to have been held to ransom under a heat lamp until every ounce of moisture had been extracted from it.

I suggest that HdV just convert all of their restaurants to accommodation and hand out vouchers for local cafes.

Will I go back? At that price, of course. It is getting hard to get decent hotel rooms at a reasonable price post-COVID, and while in monetary terms not inexpensive, in value terms, worth every penny. Parking is not cheap at £15 a day, and is almost impossible to get into without a very patient companion. If you are looking for it, turn into Old Brewery Lane just before you get to the hotel. Bring T-Cut as you or someone else is not getting out without some paint being shed.

Rating: 4.5/5

Hotel du Vin Henley: https://www.hotelduvin.com/locations/henley-on-thames