For our last breakfast in Stratford, we were seated in a beautiful sunny window where we lingered a while soaking up the sunshine.

After leaving the hotel I photographed the garden and our room windows from outside. Our room was on the same side as the room we stayed in previously but high at the front rather than ground floor at the rear. Overall, I preferred the room of our first visit but I preferred the views from the room on our second visit.

We were grateful for the hotel holding our booking when we had to cancel at the last minute but we found that the hotel had deteriorated in service quality since our previous visit. All that is needed is a bit more attention to detail or, as our friends who are in the hospitality business would say, ‘consistency’.

On our way home we decided to visit Avoncroft Museum, a childhood memory for Mr C, stopping briefly at the Jinney Ring Craft Centre in Hanbury. It is a delightful place with a lovely café and water gardens. I took the opportunity to walk the loop of the pools and enjoy the wildlife whilst Mr C sat on a bench overlooking the nature area.

In Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings Mr C revisited his childhood memories of a school trip, in particular the windmill. The museum also houses the National Collection of Telephone Kiosks and a mobile telephone exchange. The phones in the boxes and the exchange are fully functional and we were treated to a display of how the technology worked by a volunteer in the telephone exchange. This also brought up memories for Mr C, his father was a telephone engineer. Sometimes he would take Mr C into his exchange so there was much that Mr C found familiar in the Avoncraft example.

We took the opportunity to have lunch in the café before continuing our homeward journey. I couldn’t resist the opportunity of lime and passionfruit cake. Yum Yum.

We detoured to a farm shop to purchase items for our weekend meal requirements. Lasagne on Saturday and chicken on Sunday.

Once again, I chose some pick and mix options from the full English breakfast. It was interesting to see that the items were presented differently by the chef of that morning.

We drove the short distance to Evesham hoping to visit St Lawrence’s Church. After picking up leaflets from the Tourist Information office, we arrived to find the church firmly shut despite the sign on the door clearly stating that is open in the mornings. Later we found out from the Tourist Information Office that opening times were flexible. It depended upon whether the grounds keeper was available to open up and it was likely to be open more often as we move into the spring and summer months.

Next Mr C browsed the military model shop. He was overwhelmed by what was on offer so he left without making a purchase. We started out on the river walk which was next on our list of things to do. However, we aborted the walk; I found the traffic noise from the nearby road unpleasant and Mr C wasn’t enjoying the views. It was lovely to get back to the tranquillity of the former Abbey grounds.

We drove to Worcester where we enjoyed lunch in the Cathedral’s Cloister Café. My brie and cranberry toastie didn’t disappoint. We had a look around the Cathedral before walking to the nearby Commandery museum which was used by King Charles II’s forces during the battle of Worcester.

The museum has displays on the building’s former uses dating from the Medieval period right through to the 1950’s. As we made our way there, the heavens opened making the walk rather unpleasant. Thankfully it was only a spring shower and the sun emerged so that we could enjoy the museum without getting wet.

We arrived back at the hotel to find that our room had not been fully serviced, in particular we were lacking in milk for our cup of tea. Mr C went to hotel reception to request some. It took some while for the milk to arrive leaving us no time for a pre-dinner aperitif. Instead, we arrived at our restaurant of the evening, Edward Moon, so that we could enjoy one whilst perusing the menu. I chose seabass with ratatouille and sautéed new potatoes followed by black cherry crème brulee. The food was every bit as good as I remembered it on our previous visit and the restaurant were kind enough to honour the deposit we had left for our cancelled Valentines Day visit.

Before returning to the hotel, we stopped off at the nearby Woodsman to have a nightcap in one of its cosy snugs.

Breakfast was lovely but just as quirky as I remembered it. The continental breakfast options were even more limited than they were on our previous visit where meats and cheese were available but no bread. This time there was no bread, cheese or meats, just fruit and cereals and a token croissant and cake. However, I was able to select items from the full cooked breakfast; the food was delicious and presented in an appealing way.

After breakfast, we drove to Stoneleigh Abbey which started life as a Cistercian monastic house before being converted to a family home after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. We were guided around the house by Hugo who is a fount of knowledge regarding the history of the house and its former owners. Afterwards, we walked around the Humphrey Repton styled grounds before having lunch in the Abbey tearoom. The food was excellent but the menu led to some things having to be ordered in ‘sets’ rather than individually. I was could only have have tea with my cheese scone and had to pay extra for my drink of choice.

It was a bit late to venture further afield so we returned to Stratford and mooched around some different shops including the Shakespeare House bookshop. I was hoping to find a book that I had seen advertised in the programme for ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ but I had forgotten to write down the book title before leaving on our travels. I knew I would recognize the book when I saw it but it was not immediately visible.

Now to plan B; visit the RSC shop. I had a little chuckle as we entered the RSC, I knew that our bags would be searched. We were carrying a couple of shopping bags with items that we had picked up in town. This led to a lot of amusement as our bags were inspected before we entered the shop.

Once inside, I asked one of the assistants to help me by looking in the Midsummer Night’s Dream programme where we found the advert for the book I was looking for, after which she soon located the book, ‘Shakespeare’s House’ within the shop.

Whilst I was making my purchase, I chatted with the lady who was serving me. She asked if I was local because the author was due in Stratford soon to discuss this book. We also discussed the current ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ production. Mr C and I had seen the understudy perform Puck whilst she had seen the main actor perform Puck. She told me that her friend had seen performances by both actors and thought that the main actor provided a darker version of the fairy rather than the more mischievous version displayed by the understudy.

Before we left the shop the assistant gave me a RSC production schedule and enthused over the best productions that we should come and see, including a shortened version of As You Like It that was being performed in the Garden Theatre.

Back at the hotel we had champagne and chocolates in our room, using champagne glasses that had been checked in the RSC shop’s bag search. The champagne and chocolate were Christmas gifts which we intended to enjoy on Valentines Day but saved the indulgent treat to enjoy on our rescheduled holiday. We had forgotten to bring some suitable glasses. The room only had tumblers which are not quite the thing for drinking champagne.

The expected ‘bed turn down service’ that we had requested did not arrive…

Later we dined in Loxley’s where I couldn’t resist ordering the Dried Tomato Arancini. I didn’t regret my choice and Mr C chose the curiously named ‘Rose Blood wine’ to accompany our meals.

Unusually Mr C wasn’t in the mood for a pub nightcap so we returned to the hotel to find that the bar was closed! Mr C spoke to Hotel Reception who tracked down the night porter, it was barely 10pm.

A young man arrived to help us and, as he served us, he poured out all his woes. We opted to have our nightcap in our cosy comfort of our room rather than sit in the bar area on our own!

We had a good journey after setting off later than intended. We arrived in Stratford in time for lunch in Huffkins where I couldn’t resist the warmed almond croissant.

After lunch we walked to the butterfly farm where we found the butterflies were more active than they had been on our previous visits in 2022. We also saw the lady iguana sitting on her lofty perch, turning her face away from food that was offered by the keeper. The keeper told us that this particular iguana was addicted to the sweetness of fruit which had led to her becoming overweight. So ‘lady iguana’ is no longer allowed sweet treats.

In the rainforest area, I was looking forward to seeing the spectacled caiman but when we found him he was zonked out and looking comatose (albeit with his beady eye open) just a short distance from his bed area. Didn’t he know I had come especially to see him?

However, the nearby chameleon with his amazing feet and claws (not to mention his active beady eye) made up for the caiman’s nonchalance.

Next, we moved our car to the hotel car park and checked in. We were shown to our room, ‘Pear’, which was reached by a quaint spiral staircase. Our room was not the grade we had originally booked but it had amazing views over the theatres and river beyond. We were just grateful that our booking was able to be transferred to another date when we had to cancel our theatre Valentines Day break at short notice due to my mum being rushed into hospital and her subsequent illness.

After checking in we headed into Stratford for a cup of tea in York’s then browsed a couple of cookshops before heading back to the hotel to unpack our bags and chill out before our evening meal in ‘The Opposition’. The town was buzzing with Irish people; it was Cheltenham Cup week. Our meal was followed by a nightcap in The Woodsman.

The history of the Arden Hotel:

Like many buildings in Stratford-upon-Avon, the buildings and land which constitute the Arden Hotel form part of the Royal Shakespeare Company estate. According to the RSC, the Arden has a historical association with William Shakespeare himself.

It is known that Shakespeare’s father, John, became a prominent member of society in Elizabethan Stratford following his marriage to Mary Arden, a member of the local gentry, despite being born to a relatively poor farming family.

In subsequent years John Shakespeare forged a reputation as a local entrepreneur and it seems alongside his trade as a glover, various civic roles, and a propensity to get in trouble with the law, he also found time to build a modest property entire – for the 1,500 population market town – of which the ‘Arden’ was a part.

Though the main house of the Arden dates back to the late 17th Century, and the mock-Tudor Udimore House later, the land and garden used to contain an Elizabethan dwelling called Brook House, and it is reputed that William Shakespeare wrote some of his works in the garden and the family were associated with the house.

Since then its history is hazy but at one stage it was the Flowers Brewery Family estate before passing to the RSC. It has been a hotel in various incarnations since 1965.

We navigated our way around the breakfast menu which somehow didn’t quite work, for example there was no bread to accompany the meat and cheese that are part of the continental breakfast.

After breakfast, our first destination was Shakespeare’s birthplace where the room guides’ explanations and stories added to the experience. We then visited the nearby MAD museum, The Museum of Mechanical Art and Design which displays such things as kinetic art and automata.

Before deciding on a place for lunch we browsed the Sunday market which had been recommended to us by the hotel receptionist as we were checking in. I was tempted by a scarf and went back to the stall after we had done a circuit of the market. As luck would have it the stall owner was demonstrating the scarf that had taken my eye to another couple and then went on to demonstrate a second scarf to them. This was one that Mr C had pointed out to me. I joked with the couple that they were picking the same scarfs that I liked. They left with one of their choices and I came away with both of mine…

For lunch we both had a delicious chicken Waldorf sandwich in the Fourteas 1940’s tea room. The place had a lovely atmosphere, with the ladies wearing appropriate dresses of the ’40s and the menu was presented as a ration card. The Tudor museum, just across the road from the tea room was our next destination.  The visit was interesting but left us with time on our hands for another adventure.

We decided on a second visit to the butterfly farm but first I needed to go back to the hotel to change out of my yellow butterfly-attracting jacket. During this visit to the butterfly farm, we were treated to the delightful sight of one of the iguanas who had climbed down from his high perch to mingle with the humans. In-between snacking on the greenery he posed for the cameras.

After our busy itinerary we returned to the hotel to chill out.  Before dining in the Giggling Squid, a Thai restaurant, we ordered Proseccos in the hotel bar which avoided the complications we had been experiencing with the gin. The food in the Giggling Squid was delicious as it always is in this restaurant chain. For some reason we were not offered a dessert and I had not seen any desserts coming out of the kitchen so I thought perhaps they were not available that night. That was until just after we had paid our bill the next table were offered the dessert menu…

Mr C chose a nearby pub to finish of our evening. It was small place that locals frequent and it was live music night. The place was full and it took me a while to find a seat (I hate standing at the bar). The live act was George Wilson, he was amazing. He did two sets, the first being of a vintage era and the second bringing us up to more modern times. His rendition of Bad Manners took me back in time to when I saw them performing live.

We arrived back at the hotel to find the door was locked and there was no-one to be seen in the reception area. We pressed the intercom button several times and nothing happened! Mr C had the presence of mind to Google the hotel website where he found a phone number for the hotel. To our relief the phone call was answered immediately and the member of staff apologised most profusely, explaining that there is no hotel porter on a Sunday. This is the first time I have ever found myself locked out of a hotel. I have stayed in some rather dodgy hotels over the years but even those made it clear how to access the hotel when the doors were locked.

We set off a little later than planned because Mr C had been away in London at a conference and needed to pack.

With lunch in mind, just outside of Stratford, we noticed a Dobbies garden centre. We negotiated around a car crash that was outside the garden centre but, on arrival at the cafe we found that only drinks and ’sweet treats’ were on offer. The sweet treats looked a lot sweeter than either of us would enjoy so we decided to lunch in Stratford, which was only a short distance away. It was too early for access to the hotel carpark so we parked in a multi-story car park and made our way into town.

We found a delightful tea room, Huffkins arriving just as a table was being cleaned and reset. Several people who arrived just after we did were turned away as the café, was full. I chose a warmed Almond Croissant with Elderflower Presse. We then strolled into town, visiting the Guild Chapel, the Shakespeare bookshop, Waterstones, the magic yard and the antiques emporium before returning to the car to drive the short distance to the hotel car park.

We checked into the Arden Hotel and were taken to our room on a never-ending up-and- down corridor to our room, which was called Juniper. The room was fabulous and we accepted the offer of the ‘Bed turn down service’. This was sheer luxury after hit and miss room service during the previous two years because of Covid-19 restrictions and laziness (or lack of staff) after the restrictions were lifted.

Before walking to our chosen restaurant we had a pre dinner drink in the hotel bar. The service was slow and chaotic. Our gin arrived in a gold fish bowl full of ice leaving us to duck and dive with the provided straw to find the gin lurking in the bottom of the glass (bowl). Whilst drinking our gin, we enjoyed watching a couple of the staff videoing their attempt at making a hot chocolate drink crowned with cream and chocolate drizzle. It didn’t work out as planned and take two was needed.

We dined in the Edward Moon brasserie where I chose butternut squash and coconut chilli. Mr C opted for chicken and mushroom tarragon pie. We shared a lemon brulee dessert. The food and service were both excellent.

We stopped off at the Garrick Inn for a nightcap before returning to the hotel. I didn’t really enjoy the nightcap experience; it involved climbing onto a high bar stool which isn’t an enjoyable experience when dressed up in a skirt and even worse there was the underlying feeling that the customers were a nuisance and the staff couldn’t wait to go home. Lights were turned off as customers left areas of the bar.