A house party with a difference in Devon this Christmas

Join a three-night house party (Monday 24 – Thursday 27 December) for just thirty-two guests this Christmas at Combe House - hotel and restaurant - a magical country hideaway near Exeter in the heart of Devon. Winner of the Good Hotel Guide UK Country Hotel of the Year 2007, Combe is the perfect venue for a festive house party – Christmas has been celebrated in the wildly romantic Grade I Elizabethan for around 400 hundred years.

Guests arriving on Christmas Eve will see trees twinkling with fairy lights as they come up the mile-long winding drive, which meanders from the pretty cob thatched village of Gittisham and up through the huge wooded country estate.

They will be warmly welcomed by their hosts with some celebratory wine waiting in their room and after settling in, can enjoy a Devonshire clotted cream tea in front of the Great Hall’s crackling log fire. In the evening the Kir Royale will flow accompanied by homemade canapés as the pianist tinkles the ivories before a memorable candlelit dinner with wine, also in the Great Hall.

Christmas Day starts with Bucks Fizz and a splendid Devon Country breakfast. Lunch will be a five-course gourmet feast with carefully selected wines to match, fancy hats, jokes, much conviviality and happy conversation. On the menu will be festive food created by Combe’s two Master Chefs of Great Britain using the best of local produce – fresh fish from Brixham, poultry from Silverton, Ruby Red Devon Beef and handmade West Country cheeses. Later there’s afternoon tea and a candlelit buffet supper and quiz – just in case anyone is still hungry!

After breakfast on Boxing Day its time to explore; guests can take a bracing walk and go fossicking along the World Heritage Jurrasic Coast around Charmouth or hunt for Combe’s letterbox on Dartmoor. Tea will be by lamp and candlelight in Combe’s beautifully restored Georgian kitchen, a true reflection of Christmas past. Later Mark the magician and harpist Emma will entertain while guests can sample a creative tasting menu with special wines before chancing their luck in a glamorous, fun casino.

The three-night house party starts on Sunday 24 December priced from £1,035 per person sharing a double/twin room in the main hotel or in the secluded Combe Thatch Cottage (sleeps two), fully inclusive of accommodation and all meals, wines and entertainment.

Extra nights available at special rates. For more details visit Thishotel.com.