How do I love thee, Thyme? Let me count the ways. The love and care that has been poured into the Southrop Manor Estate is strikingly obvious the minute you drive up the pastoral property. The self proclaimed "village within a village" is the result of a decade-long renovation project by Caryn Hibbert, a retired physician who relocated from London to the Cotswolds in 2002. Caryn and her husband bought Southrop Manor and its 100-acre farm as their new family home and soon after, when an adjacent group of derelict barns came up for sale, as did the idea of a hotel. The barns and its neighboring manor houses have been tediously restored and transformed into the hotel reception, bar, cookery school, restaurant and guest rooms. 31 gorgeously appointed rooms are spread out throughout the property - each uniquely designed with classic and modern English charm and aptly named after local flowers and plants. My favorite was the English Rose, an all pink suite with a grand, roll-top tub that looks over a lush green field. The Ox Barn, headed by Caryn's son Charlie Hibbert, serves inventive dishes using seasonal produce sourced from their kitchen garden and farm. While the restaurant is closed for dinner service half of the week, guests are welcome to dine across the street at The Swan, the village's one and only quintessentially British local pub. Not a single detail is overlooked here - for example, bikes and wellies are available to borrow on adventures throughout the village and farm, lanterns hang outside each bedroom to help light the way through the property at night, and a boozy nightcap is placed bedside each evening as a bedtime treat. Honestly, two nights here is not nearly enough time. I recommend staying awhile longer if you can. And if not, at least you get to experience a little taste of heaven as I did.