Fox & Hounds Country Hotel

What Fox & Hounds Country Hotel does

Fox and Hounds Country Hotel is a privately held, 22-bedroom country hotel located on six acres along the River Taw in mid Devon, between Dartmoor and Exmoor (Eggesford, Chulmleigh EX18 7JZ). Operating continuously since the 1870s, originally as a coaching inn for the Earl of Portsmouth and later as a salmon fishing lodge, the property now functions as a leisure hospitality venue offering accommodation (including a standalone Luxury Treehouse), the Heywood Restaurant (open to public and guests 8am–11pm daily), weddings and private events, and fly fishing across nearly four miles of River Taw beats.

The business model is a multi-stream leisure hospitality operation. Revenue is generated through accommodation, food and beverage, fishing (£30/day or £15 half-day per rod; £159/night Fishing Break DB&B package; Ultimate Fishing Package combining the treehouse), and the Friends of the Fox & Hounds free loyalty programme, which delivers tiered 10–20% repeat-stay discounts, Refer a Friend incentives up to 35% off, and monthly prize draws. Distribution is hybrid: direct bookings via The Booking Button widget on foxandhoundshotel.co.uk, telephone, and email, supplemented by third-party OTAs (Booking.com, Expedia, Pets Pyjamas, Groupon, TravelZoo) and Fish Pass App for fishing beat reservations. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed at the room level.

Technology is operational rather than transformational: a custom WordPress site with an integrated Guest Information Portal, PCI-DSS compliant payment processing through Trust Payments (no card data stored onsite), and guide referral relationships with three named local instructors. Content marketing—monthly fishing reports, downloadable beat maps, the "Tom vs Matt" fly fishing series, and Trout & Salmon magazine coverage—is the primary customer acquisition lever, reinforced by three consecutive TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards (2023–2025, top 10% globally). Ownership is private under Matthew Lane, with Tom Butt as General Manager; no parent company, holding structure, or institutional capital is disclosed.

Name

Fox & Hounds Country Hotel

Legal name

The Fox and Hounds Country Hotel

Website

https://foxandhoundshotel.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1870

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Fox and Hounds Country Hotel is a privately held, 22-bedroom country hotel on the River Taw in mid Devon offering accommodation, dining, weddings, and fly fishing across nearly four miles of beats, serving leisure travelers, anglers, and dog owners via direct bookings and OTA channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Country Hotel & Hospitality

NAICS

Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels (72111), Recreational and Vacation Camps (except Campgrounds) (721214)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Resort-Area Full-Service Hotels (Non–All-Inclusive) (THAGAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Hunting & Fishing Lodges (Sporting Lodges) (THAGAIAJ), River & Wetland Lodges (Delta/Okavango-style) (THAGAIAG), Nature Lodges & Eco-Resorts (THAAAAAI)

Keywords

• Country hotel accommodation
• Fly fishing holidays
• Dog-friendly hotel
• Wedding venue Devon
• Guesthouse dining

Headquarters

HQ city

Chulmleigh, Devon

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Accommodation: The primary revenue stream comes from 22 guest rooms and the Luxury Treehouse. Room bookings include direct bookings and OTA-mediated reservations. Cancellation policies vary by booking type with varying deposit requirements.
2. Food & Beverage: Heywood Restaurant is open to the public and hotel guests for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 8am to 11pm daily. Dining reservations are recommended and sometimes required. Group bookings of 10+ require deposits and pre-ordering.
3. Fishing: Fishing tickets cost £30/day (£15 half day) per person. Fishing Break Package includes dinner, bed & breakfast plus fishing for £159/night. Ultimate Fishing Package combines Luxury Treehouse stay with fishing. Fishing can be added to any stay on an ad hoc basis.
4. Friends Membership Program: Free membership program for returning guests offering member rates (10-20% discount), Refer a Friend benefits, monthly prize draws for free stays, and special offers. Generates repeat bookings and customer loyalty.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Fox and Hounds Country Hotel operates a 22-bedroom country hotel on six acres along the River Taw in mid Devon, providing overnight accommodation, the Heywood Restaurant (open to the public for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), wedding ceremonies and receptions, and fly fishing experiences on nearly four miles of River Taw beats. Ancillary offerings include the Luxury Treehouse accommodation, a free Friends loyalty membership with member discounts and prize draws, dog-friendly stays, and packaged breaks such as the Fishing Break and Ultimate Fishing Package.

Product overview

Fox & Hounds Country Hotel is a 22-bedroom country hotel offering accommodation, dining, and leisure activities. The core offerings include hotel rooms and the Luxury Treehouse accommodation, the Heywood Restaurant for dining, wedding services, and fly fishing experiences on the River Taw and River Torridge. Additional services include fishing packages (Fishing Break and Ultimate Fishing Package), the Friends loyalty program for returning guests, and dog-friendly services. The hotel also provides a Guest Information Portal for local area information.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Heywood Restaurant: On-site restaurant open to the public and hotel guests for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, featuring terrace dining and operating from 8am to 11pm daily.
• The Treehouse (Luxury Treehouse)
• Friends of the Fox & Hounds
• Fox & Hounds Fishing Beats

Quantifiable outcome

• 357 brown trout caught in May 2025 alone (record month), nearly matching the total catch for all of 2023
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Gerald Spiers - Devon School of Fly FishingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal fishing guide specializing in River Taw and surrounding areas. Fully qualified AAPGAI fly casting instructor with particular interest in single and double handed Spey casting. Contact: 07496 557081. Arrangements between guests and guides are made independently of the hotel.
• Anthony Willmington - Little Warham FisherycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal guide based on River Torridge with 40+ years of fishing experience. Specializes in salmon fishing and operates Little Warham Fishery. Contact: 07774 477435. Previously provided 2 miles of Torridge beats for hotel guests (beats changed hands at end of 2025 season).
• Harry Chance - West Country Fly FishingsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerLevel 2 Angling Trust Qualified Coach and fully insured guide. Qualified for National Rivers Final in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Specializes in small West Country rivers and streams. Contact: 07719 302747.
• Westcountry Rivers TrustsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerConservation organization that conducted electro fishing research on Home Beat to monitor fish stocks. The hotel supports initiatives that aim to sustain local rivers and habitat.
• Fish Pass AppsupportingTechnology or IntegrationMobile application that allows anglers to book fishing beats in the South West region. Guides have access to other nearby waters through this platform.
• The Booking ButtoncoreTechnology or IntegrationThird-party booking widget provider used for online reservation processing on the hotel's website. Provides secure booking functionality for room reservations.
• Trust PaymentscoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processing provider for local payments. The hotel is PCI compliant certified (Certification ID: 1f7ffee0-55c7-4e32-9545-6426de5e3d47) with no credit card information stored onsite.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Gidleigh Park: A Relais & Châteaux-affiliated country house hotel in Devon focused on fine dining and countryside leisure. Comparable as a Devon-based, full-service country hotel targeting leisure travelers and special occasions, in the same competitive set as Fox & Hounds.
• Lewtrenchard Manor: A Jacobean manor house hotel in Devon offering accommodation, dining, and weddings in a heritage countryside setting. Comparable on heritage-driven country accommodation, dining-led positioning, and Devon leisure-traveler customer overlap.
• Arundell Arms: A long-established 22-bedroom country hotel in Lifton, Devon, historically renowned as one of England's premier fishing hotels with its own beats on the River Tamar. Highly comparable as a Devon-based, fishing-led country hotel of similar scale, heritage, and target market (angling and leisure travelers).
• Bovey Castle: A luxury country estate hotel in Devon with its own fishing on the River Teign, plus on-site F&B, spa, and outdoor activities. Comparable as a Devon country estate offering accommodation combined with on-site fishing and leisure experiences for an upscale leisure traveler.
• Boringdon Hall: A Devon country house hotel and spa offering accommodation, dining (Àclèaf restaurant), and weddings. Comparable as a Devon-based heritage country hotel serving leisure travelers, weddings, and dining guests in a similar mid- to upscale price band.

Regional players

• Lympstone Manor: A luxury country house hotel in Devon with a Michelin-starred restaurant, focused on fine dining and leisure stays. Comparable on Devon geography, country house positioning, and dining-led revenue, though positioned at a meaningfully higher price tier than Fox & Hounds.
• The Old Swan & Minster Mill: A historic country inn in the Cotswolds offering accommodation, dining, and weddings on a riverside setting. Comparable as a heritage country inn with riverside leisure positioning, dining, and weddings, though outside the Devon geography.

Broad incumbents

• Hand Picked Hotels: A UK collection of country house hotels and spa properties offering accommodation, dining, leisure, and events. Comparable as a broader UK operator of country house hotels with overlapping leisure and wedding customers, but at portfolio scale and full brand/operator capability rather than single asset.
• Chewton Glen: A luxury country house hotel in Hampshire offering accommodation, fine dining, spa, and outdoor activities including fishing. Comparable on luxury country hotel positioning with leisure and outdoor-activity differentiation, though at significantly larger scale and price point.

Others

• Pets Pyjamas: A UK specialist booking platform for pet-friendly accommodation. Comparable as a distribution partner and adjacent ecosystem player that channels pet-friendly demand (a core segment for Fox & Hounds) to compatible properties, rather than a competing hotel.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/FoxHoundsHotel
• Facebookfacebook.com/foxandhoundscountryhotel
• Instagraminstagram.com/foxandhoundshotel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fox-&-hounds-country-hotel

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fox & Hounds Country Hotel