From High Street to Hotel - my visit to the new Laura Ashley Hotel

There is no shortage of product endorsement these days. The best of the best make no excuse for showcasing their skills, fame and fortune to the viewing public, making a pretty penny as they do. Chefs with restaurants, models with fashion lines, pop stars with perfumes and the latest, high street furniture stores with hotels. 

Laura Ashley is the latest in a long line of success stories to cross pollinate their wares to a new arena, and what better way than a boutique hotel. They only need to lift and shift their window displays to create the perfect room, and that is pretty close to what they have just done. 

Newly acquired in Elstree, The Manor has been reborn with a new luxury boutique birthmark. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was curious to find out just what the new Laura Ashley hotel would look like. Don't get me wrong, I have a fair flavour of Laura Ashley silks and velvets in my own home, but my immediate thoughts a feared a floral overload and embroiderie anglais bedrooms, in an effort to create the quintessential English country garden.

They haven't. You certainly know you are in Laura Ashley terrain. In fact, you are like a human mannequin in a Laura Ashley store, a page from their catalogue. 

Their fabrics and accessories are fairly recognisable, even out of the shop front, but the hotel is gracefully appointed and is the epitome of relaxation, thanks to a calming palette of duck egg blue and putty shades in bedrooms, pearlised walls in hallways and pops of signature yellow and taupe in break out bars and lobby. There is plentiful adornment of oversized mirrors and glass lighting to add elegance and the necessary finishing touch cushions and throws to lock in the comfort. All with the mandatory Laura Ashley magazine as bedside cabinet reading, just in case you want to savour the style for longer, at home. 

You can sense the hotel is new and perhaps not running at full occupancy. I tried two rooms during my stay - one lacked toiletries, the other missed the delicious lemon shortcake for in-room coffee. 

I missed the latter more and my one advice is that you pack your own bathroom products for your stay, as the quality of the Laura Ashley branded ones provided is harsh if not caustic and lacks the luxury to match your surroundings. 

I'm unsure if they are own brand minis from an in-store range, or a poorly chosen. low quality hotel amenity, but they did put me off buying future products for gifts, as I have often done for Xmas in the past. 

Decor aside, because that is pretty much a given, there is a host of other surprises to delight you at The Manor.  

The restaurant is fantastic - traditional British fayre from lamb to venison, chicken and beef, taken up a notch or two, wonderfully cooked and as beautifully presented as the table tops. Taste and quality is pristine - the restaurant might set you back £50 per person for a meal before wine, but they have a great online offer at the point of booking that cuts this in half. Regardless, you must eat here, it is so good. Bar food is also offered and, I imagine, as great. Breakfast certainly is, and was included in the rate I had online.

The exterior grounds are also impressive. Front to back, meticulously manicured lawns and flower beds, delicate fountains and garden ponds and a quirky rework of the former tennis court to a human sized chess board on the lawn. On a clear day, the view extends to the London skyline, showing the Gherkin and the Shard in the distance.

Surrounded in acres of quietude and greenery, it is hard to think you ares till just a 20min train ride into London.

My favourite takeaway? Without a question of a doubt the great night's sleep, courtesy of the Laura Ashley Strathmoor mattress, I was soon to learn. And, yes, I will be ordering one for home. I imagine you might also find a favourite and have a delivery soon after your stay. 

'Til next time, Pandora