Having stayed at the sister hotel the Bull and Swan in Stamford a couple of months ago, I had a good idea of the style and décor that the William Cecil was likely to offer.

The rooms, have three levels, Classic, Chic and Super Deluxe, I booked two Chic rooms and being extremely tall I requested a large room with no sloping ceiling or anything which would prove to be a hazard. I also booked a single Classic room for the father in law.

Upon arrival there was no one on reception but this was soon resolved and the pleasant receptionist checked us in and said the rooms would be ready later. I reiterated my request for a large room with no potential height hazards.

When we were shown our room (room 2) I was somewhat taken aback as the room was small in the extreme and had two internal doors which I would estimate were certainly less than six feet in height. The Classic room (15) contained a large bed and was very small indeed, hardly room to walk between the bottom of the bed and the room wall, as pointed out by an earlier reviewer!

I requested a change of room and was shown room 9, in size this was somewhat better and fell on the cusp of acceptable in it’s size, there were no height hazards so I accepted the room.

The only other negative of my stay was the Wi Fi, certainly in room 9 the connection was very hit and miss, with signal being often lost.

Having dealt with the negatives, I must say that the positives far outweigh the downsides. The staff were pleasant, friendly and obliging. They were clearly well versed in their jobs and dealt with any requests efficiently.

The hotel itself is an imposing old building which has beautiful period features and has been very sympathetically decorated. Room 9 had some lovely furniture all of which had a Chinoiserie style, the bed was large and extremely comfortable. The carpet was a luxurious and a complementary colour. A thoughtful touch was the bed turn down service during the course of the evening.

The bathroom was serviceable, the shower was a sensible height and provided an excellent and constant stream of hot water.

Breakfast was served in the hotel restaurant over looking the fields of the adjoining Burghley estate and a park. There were a number of semi private booths for guests, which was a nice touch. Breakfast itself was a well organised affair, there was a self service, and buffet with a reasonable choice, and orders were taken from an excellent range of cooked breakfast choices. My wife chose the scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, the serving was most generous. I had the full English breakfast which was well cooked and well presented.

Check out was swift an efficient.

I would recommend this hotel as it has many welcoming and comfortable features, moreover it is a dog friendly hotel which does not charge for four legged friends staying.

There is a large and free car park on site and the hotel is a five minute walk into the centre of Stamford.