A casino hotel resort kept quietly, in the manner of a country house.
Marlowe & Vine is a Top Hotel and Casino Resort, and the building does most of the talking — pale brickwork, oak shutters, gravel walks under the cedars. The casino hotel was rebuilt in 2019 from an older coaching inn; the present rooms occupy what were once the stables and the granary.
The valley sits eight miles north of the railway, far enough that the ring road never reaches it. Guests of the casino hotel resort tend to arrive in the late afternoon, settle in for a long bath, and come down for the seven o'clock seating without much hurry. The orchard beyond the south wall is in apple from August. The library, on the first floor, holds about nine hundred volumes, mostly inherited.
Two restaurants serve at the casino resort: the principal dining room, panelled in walnut, and a smaller orangery that opens to the lawn in summer. Breakfast is laid in the morning room from seven, and tea is brought to whichever sitting room you happen to have settled in.
The casino hotel is not a destination for the restless. Mornings begin late, walks are encouraged, and the bell for dinner is rung at quarter to seven. There is a card room on the ground floor, behind the library, fitted out with green baize tables and the original Edwardian cornice — quiet enough that the only sound is usually the long-case clock in the hall.
The property is family-held, and we mean to keep it that way. The casino resort is staffed by a permanent house of fourteen, with seasonal additions during the summer and at Christmas, when the long table is laid for thirty-six.
Spaces of the casino hotel resort.
Each room has its own character; none are themed. The list below is not exhaustive — guests are welcome to wander, with the exception of the still room and the kitchen passage.
The walnut dining room
The principal restaurant of the casino resort. Fourteen tables, a single long sideboard, and the original 1908 panelling restored in 2019. Service from seven; jackets preferred but not required at lunch.
The card room
A west-facing room behind the library, fitted with four green baize tables and a long brass lamp. Quiet by intention. Open to house guests by appointment with the concierge; closed on Sundays.
The orangery
Built against the south wall of the kitchen garden in 1922 and re-glazed last spring. Used for breakfast in summer, and for the second sitting at dinner from May through September. Tea is laid here in the afternoon.
The library
Roughly nine hundred volumes on the first floor, mostly inherited from the prior owners and lightly added to since. A reading desk by the window, two armchairs, and a single quiet rule.
The walled garden
An acre and a half within brick, including the orchard, a herb garden kept for the kitchen, and a long lawn under the cedar. Walking is encouraged. The gardener is generally about in the mornings.
The morning room
Where breakfast is laid from seven, and where post is sorted and read aloud over coffee on quiet weekends. South-facing, with a view to the cedar walk and a single very old armchair near the fire.
Eight miles north of the railway, under cedar.
Ashbourne Vale lies in upper Oxfordshire, set into the chalk fold north of the river. The drive from London is reliably a little over two hours; from Birmingham, slightly less. Trains stop at Charlbury, where the porter from the casino hotel resort meets the 4:18 by arrangement, in a green Land Rover that has seen four decades.
The lanes that approach the property are narrow and unsigned past the third turn. Most guests of the casino resort arrive in time for tea, which is laid in the morning room from four. There is no through traffic and the village holds about three hundred souls, the same as in 1881.
The casino hotel resort keeps its own grounds and gates. The main house faces south, with the long lawn rolling down to the cedars and a single gravel walk leading to the orchard. There is no main road within earshot. The nearest church bells are at Ashbourne St Mary, half a mile further down, audible on still mornings.
For maps, directions, and the porter's schedule, please see Contact. We are happy to arrange transfer from any of the local stations with sufficient notice.
The card room is kept as a quiet room of the house.
Marlowe & Vine is, by registration, a casino hotel — but the card room is run more in the manner of a private library than a public floor. It is not promoted, not advertised, and not open to guests under twenty-one. It is closed on Sundays and during the week before Christmas.
This website does not facilitate, advertise, or take part in any form of online play, wagering, or remote gambling. If you have concerns about gambling — your own or someone else's — please see our Responsible Gaming notice for resources that are kept current and locally appropriate.
The cedars are quiet again, and the valley holds.
You are welcome whenever the season suits. We keep a long table and a slow clock, and the porter will know which train you took.