HotelChatter

The night goes like this – you arrive at Le Manoir for champers and canapés, then slip into the little 12th-century church beside the hotel to be serenaded by the likes of Jocelyn Brown and the AllStars Collective (Thursday 1 October), violinist Chloe Handslip (Friday 2) or opera star Bryn Terfel (Saturday).

And after that dignified affair, you retire to the restaurant and stuff your guts till you can barely breathe (trust us, we’ve eaten there before). Those incapable of rolling further than the front door may then stay the night.

Naturally, this doesn’t come cheap – tickets for the concert and dinner (including wine) start at £230 ($377) each, and rooms cost from £410 ($673) on the Thursday, and £460 ($755) on the weekend. Good thing we’d be plumping for Jocelyn, if we could afford it.

There is, however, a special offer, valid Thursday and Friday: two tickets to the concert, dinner, wine and an overnight stay with breakfast will cost you £750 ($1231) per couple. Yes, it’ll still eat up most of your monthly salary, but from past experience we’ve found that this is one place that genuinely is up to scratch for its astronomical prices. If you fancy booking, email private.dining@blanc.co.uk or phone +44 1844 277200.