A wheelchair night at Chicheley Hall

There’s something exciting about packing a little suitcase for a night away somewhere new, so when the opportunity to spend the night at Chicheley Hall thanks to a family wedding my little suitcase was packed in my head ready to go.

I’ve always said that great Britain has to offer most beautiful places and countryside to see this was truly one of them, an 18th Century grade l listed country house you can see why it’s been featured in films like Pride and Prejudice.

We arrived early Saturday afternoon and was greeted by the huge, stunning grounds. It was truly picturesque with the long gravel drive, coated by trees leading all the way up to the huge mansion, Downton Abbey kind of vibe!
you can just see the history pouring out brick by brick imagining the people who used to live there and what their lives must have been like, it’s definitely the perfect location for a wedding.

Being in a wheelchair I was a little dubious to whether I would be able to really enjoy what Chicheley Hall had to offer, pleasantly surprised as you pull into the car pack at the front you have around 5 Wheelchair packing spaces all clearly signed and reserved for Wheelchair vehicles, there are two entrances one at the side then a door facing the car park with a little ramp (it’s a bit of a bump in and out so if you have a tendency to go forward it’s a good idea to have someone hold your head) though the door you come to a larger quite steep ramp but it’s not as bad as it looks, As you get to the top the reception is on your right, just looking around you can start to see the history that chicheley Hall has.

Our room was already pre booked as part of the wedding we was attending it was booked as a disabled room, to get to our room we had to come back outside it was raining at the time and we was offered an umbrella which I thought was a nice touch don’t often get service like that, following the pathway down the right side of the house until we came to a big green wooden door reminded me of the secret garden, going through you see part of the beautiful gardens chicheley Hall have to offer.

The hall is actually home to the Kavli Royal Society International Centre – scientist central and because of this, each room was named after a scientist, We had the kapitsa room named after pyotr Leonidovich kapitsa, the room itself is modern clean fresh looking with two single beds with a side-table in the middle, the wardrobe had an iron, kettle, tea and coffee bits, lighting you have two lamps very bright so no need for a ceiling light, little Tv and telephone on the desk next to the window, not a great deal of room to manoeuvre around but just enough.

The bathroom was a wet room with a shower chair fixed to the wall plenty of room I like the fact the shower was near the door, no fuss getting back into your Wheelchair after showering as your Wheelchair can sit in the doorway, the shower itself had shower curtains and safety bars you can drop around the shower chair, toilet easy to get to when you move the unit out the way with all your free shampoo and conditioner on, that could be easily changed if they put something on the wall to put the bathroom bits on.

The bed I will say was my only problem out of everything it was a little awkward for me, the mattresses where lovely but to soft for me, I don’t have a lot of movement so I did feel very restricted, I didn’t sleep all that well my poor husband didn’t either as I needed moving a lot though the night, the duvet was very heavy for someone who can’t move themselves very well, all these again easy to fixed with a harder mattresses topper and lighter duvet, I’m sure there are people out there that love a super soft mattresses, pillows and very cosy duvet but for someone with limited movement not so great.

Breakfast was delicious definitely filled me it was buffet Style all locally sourced, you had a range of choices from full English, fruit, cereal, toast with their own home-made honey from the grounds and a selection of jams, the staff come and ask you if you want tea or coffee then bring it to you, you also have a range if fruit juices to pick from as well, having the beautiful view while eating breakfast really does set your day to a good start, they do offer room service with a tray price of £5.

it wasn’t until the following morning when we woke up we really saw the amazing view from our window and the well-kept gardens the sunshine being out made it even prettier, the grounds itself are 100 acres that includes a lake, canal, and 25 acres of beautiful gardens still kept as they were when they were designed and laid out by George London and Henry Wise. Theres an avenue of lime trees leads up to the house. The River Ouse lies to the east, unfortunately I didn’t get to see any peacocks but I did see some swans at breakfast.

You do have a large disabled toilet just though the bar area opposite the reception, it’s keep very clean enough space to manoeuvre where needed  which was great as I didn’t need to leave the wedding.

Over all our weekend stay was lovely the staff where amazing very friendly and helpful, there was always a member of staff around, would I stay again yes I’d like to but only if the mattresses and duvet could be changed, I’d love to see the gardens in full bloom in the summer as well.

Kerry x