Devon Heaven: An Indulgent Stay At Lympstone Manor

With some of the best food, wine and accommodation, Lympstone Manor ticks every box. Margaret Hussey checks in.

Review: Lympstone Manor, Devon

Michelin-starred chef Michael Caines is super proud of his West Country roots. So when he opened Lympstone Manor, overlooking Devon’s Exe Estuary, he was determined to use the best ingredients from the sea and land larder on his doorstep. Eight years on, wow, how he’s succeeded.

Fusing his impeccable chef skills and hospitality knowledge, Michael, who trained under Raymond Blanc in Oxfordshire and Joël Robuchon in Paris, has put this area, just twenty minutes from Exeter, firmly on the South-West’s culinary map.

Lympstone Manor, a Grade II listed Georgian house and part of the Relais & Châteaux group, has all the credentials of a country house hotel: plush yet cosy interiors, discreet service and laid0back elegance.

You can fine dine in one of the three restaurants at the house, or go more casual in the restaurant at the Pool House, where there’s an outdoor heated pool with loungers, a tennis court and croquet lawn. Plus the most incredible views over the estuary, beautiful even on a winter’s day.

The lunchtime set menu at the Pool House is £35 for two courses or £45 for three, and includes starters of salt and pepper squid and prawns or a Waldorf salad, while mains are fish of the day or a wild mushroom tagliatelle. Portions are so huge that we sadly couldn’t make it to the desserts of chocolate and vanilla mousse or Tonka bean orange Paris-Brest.

It was time to walk it off around the 28 acres which wrap around the house. There are bikes on offer for the cycle path or you can stroll along the coastal path to Exmouth Beach too.

We wandered around the outskirts of the estate’s 11-acre vineyard, which has 17,500 vines and a mix of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier grapes. Though it was only planted in 2018, the vineyard’s wines have already been winning awards, including its very moreish rosé Isabeau, named after Michael’s daughter.

From May to September you can tour the vineyard every Tuesday and Friday. When we visited, its only guests were Poll Dorset sheep from the nearby Powderham estate. They graze in different fenced-off areas, before the vines are pruned ahead of the grape growing season. It’s a lovely synergy as they help keep the weeds to a minimum, while bringing nutrients back into the soil and reducing the need for spraying.

Collaborations like this are very important to Michael, who is a big champion of the region’s livestock, as well as building up long-standing relationships with local butchers, fishermen and dairy producers.

His outstanding tasting menu is testament to that. There’s Powderham Estate venison, Cornish sea bass and Devon blue cheese bavarois among the eight courses while vegetarians are fully catered for too with dishes like a sublime aged Comté raviolo with fried quails egg and the fluffiest pistachio soufflé.

Giving back is a big part of Michael and Lympstone’s ethos: there’s a discretionary donation on restaurant bills, and charities to have benefited include Michael Morpurgo’s Farms for City Children and the Exmouth RNLI.

After a postprandial drink in the well-stocked and stylish bar, we waddled back to our suite, the Oystercatcher. All the 21 rooms and suites are named after birds from the estuary – and we were lucky enough to have a view over it.

There are lovely touches in the rooms, like a help-yourself own brand gin and tonic, Lympstone Manor refillable toiletries, and a pantry on the room’s floor for tea, coffee and cake. Staff will also bring a breakfast tray with tea or coffee to your room in the morning if you haven’t the inclination to make it yourself.

Breakfast is leisurely and includes the full English, fruit compote, prunes and home comforts like boiled eggs and  soldiers, as well as kippers and omelettes.

If you’re staying in one of the six well-kitted out Shepherd Huts at the bottom of the vineyard, you can also choose to have a continental hamper in your room. The huts are all individually designed – some with outdoor soak baths or hot tubs – and are great for young children and big kids. You can embrace your inner child by toasting marshmallows at the fire pits or borrow wellies from reception and get mucky in the surrounding woodland. Simply heavenly.

BOOK IT

The tasting menu at Lympstone Manor is £240 per person (£255 from April 2025). The Shepherd Huts are from £385 per night and rooms in the main hotel are from £522 per night. lympstonemanor.co.uk