The best places to stay in Hampshire for a dreamy weekend getaway
Think of Hampshire and it’s a red trouser-clad gentleman with a fishing rod in one hand (and a broadsheet in the other) striding out along Stockbridge high street that might spring to mind. And that’s not entirely off the mark. Here’s a corner of middle England that is unashamedly smart. There are groaning stately homes (the romantic Mottisfont and Highclere Castle of Downton Abbey fame); soaring Winchester Cathedral; olde-worlde Beaulieu and opera at The Grange. But there’s a rumbling of something else too. Sculptor Peter Mears is amongst the young creatives who have their studio at Dummer Down Farm (where there’s also a brewery); at the Yard in a converted 19th-century livestock shed in the Candover Valley their own Moon Roast Coffee is served alongside workshops; and for the ultimate mini-break keepsake make a beeline to Mads Montagu-Andrews’ studio for one of her cult bronze busts. Then there’s The Town House in a restored Georgian building in Alresford where laptop wielding locals descend on the workspace before ordering south coast crab for lunch. And as dusk falls, the music fires up at The Tractor Shed in the Highclere Valley where Hampshire nestles against Berkshire, with food trucks fuelling the dancing.
Here’s our pick of the best places to stay in Hampshire, all an easy hop from London and worth making a post-work dash down the M3 for.
The best places to stay in Hampshire
- The Pig Brockenhurst</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"69dcbad69a1078cd7295c56a","index":0,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"offersLength":0,"component":"gallery_slide_component","image":{"altText":"Image may contain Architecture Building Housing House Portico Mailbox Porch Bed Furniture and Chair","caption":"Even on a Monday lunchtime deep in the New Forest, The Pig is full for lunch, with tables hunched over “Piggy bits” (carlin pea hummus with crispbreads and smoked cod’s roe with focaccia) followed by plates of whole Poole plaice with New Forest asparagus and crab sauce. This is the kind of haven that newly engaged, or newlywed, or first time-leaving-the-new-baby couples descend, where there isn’t a hint pretence. Which is exactly what Robin Hutson and his wife Judy had in mind when they opened it two years after Lime Wood in 2011, and what has since spiralled into nine Pig hotels in total. The kitchen garden here in a tumbled down walled garden sparked the idea of The Pig’s signature 25-mile radius menu concept, so expect chalk stream trout and Isle of Wight blue cheese. Upstairs in the 17<sup>th</sup>-century main house, once a lodge for groomkeepers protecting the New Forest, are that mix of velvets and moody panelling that The Pig has mastered, and outside alongside the cabins, huts and wagons to bed down in are the blissful potting shed and shepherd’s hut where you can collapse for a treatment.\nPrices from £345 per night\nBeaulieu Road, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, SO42 7QL","contentType":"photo","credit":"Jake Eastham","segmentedSources":{"sm":[{"height":480,"width":320,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcbad69a1078cd7295c56a/master/w_320,c_limit/Forest%20hut%20exterior.jpg"},{"height":960,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcbad69a1078cd7295c56a/master/w_640,c_limit/Forest%20hut%20exterior.jpg"}],"md":[{"height":960,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcbad69a1078cd7295c56a/master/w_640,c_limit/Forest%20hut%20exterior.jpg"},{"height":1920,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcbad69a1078cd7295c56a/master/w_1280,c_limit/Forest%20hut%20exterior.jpg"}],"lg":[{"height":1536,"width":1024,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcbad69a1078cd7295c56a/master/w_1024,c_limit/Forest%20hut%20exterior.jpg"},{"height":3072,"width":2048,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcbad69a1078cd7295c56a/master/w_2048,c_limit/Forest%20hut%20exterior.jpg"}],"xl":[{"height":1920,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcbad69a1078cd7295c56a/master/w_1280,c_limit/Forest%20hut%20exterior.jpg"}],"xxl":[{"height":1920,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcbad69a1078cd7295c56a/master/w_1280,c_limit/Forest%20hut%20exterior.jpg"}]}}}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Jake Eastham1/7The Pig Brockenhurst
Even on a Monday lunchtime deep in the New Forest, The Pig is full for lunch, with tables hunched over “Piggy bits” (carlin pea hummus with crispbreads and smoked cod’s roe with focaccia) followed by plates of whole Poole plaice with New Forest asparagus and crab sauce. This is the kind of haven that newly engaged, or newlywed, or first time-leaving-the-new-baby couples descend, where there isn’t a hint pretence. Which is exactly what Robin Hutson and his wife Judy had in mind when they opened it two years after Lime Wood in 2011, and what has since spiralled into nine Pig hotels in total. The kitchen garden here in a tumbled down walled garden sparked the idea of The Pig’s signature 25-mile radius menu concept, so expect chalk stream trout and Isle of Wight blue cheese. Upstairs in the 17th-century main house, once a lodge for groomkeepers protecting the New Forest, are that mix of velvets and moody panelling that The Pig has mastered, and outside alongside the cabins, huts and wagons to bed down in are the blissful potting shed and shepherd’s hut where you can collapse for a treatment.
Prices from £345 per night
Beaulieu Road, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, SO42 7QL
- Luttrell's Tower</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"69dcdd049a1078cd7295cebe","index":1,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"offersLength":0,"component":"gallery_slide_component","image":{"altText":"Image may contain Home Decor Rug Bed Furniture Lamp Indoors Interior Design Art and Painting","caption":"Perched on the south coast overlooking the Solent with Cowes beyond, is the Grade II-listed Luttrell’s Tower, a folly built towards the end of the 18th century for Temple Simon Luttrell – a flamboyant MP, but allegedly a smuggler too (there’s still a smugglers’ tunnel running from the tower to the beach). Designed by Thomas Sandby, the first Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy, it’s now in the care of the Landmark Trust, with a double and twin bedroom sleeping four in total – all mahogany furniture, intricate cornicing and open fires – which means you can have breakfast overlooking the silky blue sea, clocking the yachts as they pass.\nPrices from £1,040 for four nights<br>\nLuttrell’s Tower, Calshot, nr Southampton<br>","contentType":"photo","credit":"JOHN MILLER","segmentedSources":{"sm":[{"height":213,"width":320,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcdd049a1078cd7295cebe/master/w_320,c_limit/Luttrell's%20Tower-1.jpg"},{"height":427,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcdd049a1078cd7295cebe/master/w_640,c_limit/Luttrell's%20Tower-1.jpg"}],"md":[{"height":427,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcdd049a1078cd7295cebe/master/w_640,c_limit/Luttrell's%20Tower-1.jpg"},{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcdd049a1078cd7295cebe/master/w_1280,c_limit/Luttrell's%20Tower-1.jpg"}],"lg":[{"height":683,"width":1024,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcdd049a1078cd7295cebe/master/w_1024,c_limit/Luttrell's%20Tower-1.jpg"},{"height":1365,"width":2048,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcdd049a1078cd7295cebe/master/w_2048,c_limit/Luttrell's%20Tower-1.jpg"}],"xl":[{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcdd049a1078cd7295cebe/master/w_1280,c_limit/Luttrell's%20Tower-1.jpg"}],"xxl":[{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcdd049a1078cd7295cebe/master/w_1280,c_limit/Luttrell's%20Tower-1.jpg"}]}}}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
JOHN MILLER2/7Luttrell's Tower
Perched on the south coast overlooking the Solent with Cowes beyond, is the Grade II-listed Luttrell’s Tower, a folly built towards the end of the 18th century for Temple Simon Luttrell – a flamboyant MP, but allegedly a smuggler too (there’s still a smugglers’ tunnel running from the tower to the beach). Designed by Thomas Sandby, the first Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy, it’s now in the care of the Landmark Trust, with a double and twin bedroom sleeping four in total – all mahogany furniture, intricate cornicing and open fires – which means you can have breakfast overlooking the silky blue sea, clocking the yachts as they pass.
Prices from £1,040 for four nights
Luttrell’s Tower, Calshot, nr Southampton - Hollycombe Home Farm</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"69d8dc11f31dee91f1bf2347","index":2,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"offersLength":0,"component":"gallery_slide_component","image":{"altText":"Image may contain Backyard Nature Outdoors Yard Grass Plant Architecture Building Countryside Hut and Rural","caption":"It was when his father was injured that Edd Jenner returned to the family farm in the South Downs after a corporate career, where he launched his sell-out supper clubs: noisy feasts cooked over an open fire and served up down long tables in the open-sided barn. And now there’s a cabin for guests to decamp into as the night peters out too. With a copper bathtub outside to soak in, guests can pre-order the farm’s lamb or beef to go on the BBQ, book in for one of the foraging courses or bag a spot in the woodfired sauna, before setting off on foot or bicycle to explore the 300 acres of farmland and ancient woodland.\nFrom £140 per night\nHollycombe, nr Liphook, Hampshire, GU307LR","contentType":"photo","credit":"Kyle Stirling","segmentedSources":{"sm":[{"height":180,"width":320,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dc11f31dee91f1bf2347/master/w_320,c_limit/Holleycombe%20Farm%20Air%20BnB-15.jpg"},{"height":360,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dc11f31dee91f1bf2347/master/w_640,c_limit/Holleycombe%20Farm%20Air%20BnB-15.jpg"}],"md":[{"height":360,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dc11f31dee91f1bf2347/master/w_640,c_limit/Holleycombe%20Farm%20Air%20BnB-15.jpg"},{"height":720,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dc11f31dee91f1bf2347/master/w_1280,c_limit/Holleycombe%20Farm%20Air%20BnB-15.jpg"}],"lg":[{"height":576,"width":1024,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dc11f31dee91f1bf2347/master/w_1024,c_limit/Holleycombe%20Farm%20Air%20BnB-15.jpg"},{"height":1152,"width":2048,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dc11f31dee91f1bf2347/master/w_2048,c_limit/Holleycombe%20Farm%20Air%20BnB-15.jpg"}],"xl":[{"height":720,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dc11f31dee91f1bf2347/master/w_1280,c_limit/Holleycombe%20Farm%20Air%20BnB-15.jpg"}],"xxl":[{"height":720,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dc11f31dee91f1bf2347/master/w_1280,c_limit/Holleycombe%20Farm%20Air%20BnB-15.jpg"}]}}}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Kyle Stirling3/7Hollycombe Home Farm
It was when his father was injured that Edd Jenner returned to the family farm in the South Downs after a corporate career, where he launched his sell-out supper clubs: noisy feasts cooked over an open fire and served up down long tables in the open-sided barn. And now there’s a cabin for guests to decamp into as the night peters out too. With a copper bathtub outside to soak in, guests can pre-order the farm’s lamb or beef to go on the BBQ, book in for one of the foraging courses or bag a spot in the woodfired sauna, before setting off on foot or bicycle to explore the 300 acres of farmland and ancient woodland.
From £140 per night
Hollycombe, nr Liphook, Hampshire, GU307LR
- Heckfield Place</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"69d7c972f9dc36495b9d5174","index":3,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"offersLength":0,"component":"gallery_slide_component","image":{"altText":"Image may contain Dining Table Furniture Table Plant Potted Plant Architecture Building Dining Room and Indoors","caption":"The turn off for Heckfield is admirably discreet – you’d be forgiven for cruising straight past. But crawling up the drive through the 438-acre estate is an exercise in suspending yourself from reality. Your car is whisked off to be parked on arrival, your bag taken off your hands (and returned with an embossed luggage tag) and inside are the sort of interiors that make you weep with envy. It was nearly a 10-year project to transform Heckfield, which opened in 2018, with interior designer Ben Thompson deploying muted greens, blushed pinks and pieces from Rosie Uniacke and Soane, with the modern British art collection of the hotel’s owner Dr Gerald Chan in his arsenal. In each of the 46 rooms and cottages are cleverly curated literary collections; milk has the cream intact; there are freshly made cheese straws to devour with a pre-dinner negroni; and in spring the thousands of tulip bulbs that were planted on the estate are then littered in bloom in vases on every surface.\nIn the Bothy Spa, found through the walled garden, the window from the pool is floor to ceiling, with far-as-you-can-see views of the Hampshire countryside. Treatments start with a ginger-laden shot and the massages with Wildsmith oil give an out of body dose of relaxation. But perhaps the biggest luxury is the enforced ditching of your phone as you enter.\nBack in the house, rows of Barbour wellies and umbrellas stand guard for you to explore the estate – there’s fishing, falconry, guided walks and cycle rides… – before returning for dinner in the Hearth restaurant. Here the seasonal ingredients from the estate’s farm are chalked up on a board, with the open fire adding unashamed drama as the plates of red mullet with rhubarb or lamb leg with cauliflower and chermoula appear with flair.\nPrices from £650 per night\nHeckfield, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 0LP","contentType":"photo","credit":"","segmentedSources":{"sm":[{"height":479,"width":320,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d7c972f9dc36495b9d5174/master/w_320,c_limit/HP_Marle_Terrace.jpg"},{"height":959,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d7c972f9dc36495b9d5174/master/w_640,c_limit/HP_Marle_Terrace.jpg"}],"md":[{"height":959,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d7c972f9dc36495b9d5174/master/w_640,c_limit/HP_Marle_Terrace.jpg"},{"height":1918,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d7c972f9dc36495b9d5174/master/w_1280,c_limit/HP_Marle_Terrace.jpg"}],"lg":[{"height":1534,"width":1024,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d7c972f9dc36495b9d5174/master/w_1024,c_limit/HP_Marle_Terrace.jpg"},{"height":3068,"width":2048,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d7c972f9dc36495b9d5174/master/w_2048,c_limit/HP_Marle_Terrace.jpg"}],"xl":[{"height":1918,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d7c972f9dc36495b9d5174/master/w_1280,c_limit/HP_Marle_Terrace.jpg"}],"xxl":[{"height":1918,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d7c972f9dc36495b9d5174/master/w_1280,c_limit/HP_Marle_Terrace.jpg"}]}}}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
4/7Heckfield Place
The turn off for Heckfield is admirably discreet – you’d be forgiven for cruising straight past. But crawling up the drive through the 438-acre estate is an exercise in suspending yourself from reality. Your car is whisked off to be parked on arrival, your bag taken off your hands (and returned with an embossed luggage tag) and inside are the sort of interiors that make you weep with envy. It was nearly a 10-year project to transform Heckfield, which opened in 2018, with interior designer Ben Thompson deploying muted greens, blushed pinks and pieces from Rosie Uniacke and Soane, with the modern British art collection of the hotel’s owner Dr Gerald Chan in his arsenal. In each of the 46 rooms and cottages are cleverly curated literary collections; milk has the cream intact; there are freshly made cheese straws to devour with a pre-dinner negroni; and in spring the thousands of tulip bulbs that were planted on the estate are then littered in bloom in vases on every surface.
In the Bothy Spa, found through the walled garden, the window from the pool is floor to ceiling, with far-as-you-can-see views of the Hampshire countryside. Treatments start with a ginger-laden shot and the massages with Wildsmith oil give an out of body dose of relaxation. But perhaps the biggest luxury is the enforced ditching of your phone as you enter.
Back in the house, rows of Barbour wellies and umbrellas stand guard for you to explore the estate – there’s fishing, falconry, guided walks and cycle rides… – before returning for dinner in the Hearth restaurant. Here the seasonal ingredients from the estate’s farm are chalked up on a board, with the open fire adding unashamed drama as the plates of red mullet with rhubarb or lamb leg with cauliflower and chermoula appear with flair.
Prices from £650 per night
Heckfield, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 0LP
- Rope Cottage</a>, Rope Yard","brand":{"name":""},"id":"69d8dba2a85017683236e6cf","index":4,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"offersLength":0,"component":"gallery_slide_component","image":{"altText":"Image may contain Bench Furniture Plant Indoors Interior Design Architecture Building Housing and House","caption":"Tucked behind the Jenna Burlingham Gallery in the sleepy village of Kingsclere – idyllic Watership Down country – are a well-kept secret: a one-bedroom loft apartment and a two-bedroom cottage, each immaculately designed with William Morris wallpaper, wrought iron beds and modern British and contemporary paintings, prints, sculpture and ceramics from the gallery. After Jenna, an ex-Phillips auction house modern British specialist, opened the gallery in 2010 when she moved out of London with her young family, it fast became a go-to for collectors. But stepping inside, it’s the interiors – antiques trawled from fairs, fabrics from Brunschwig & Fils… – that are just as lust-worthy.\nPrices from £230 per night\n10-12 George Street Kingsclere, Hampshire, RG20 5NQ","contentType":"photo","credit":"Boz Gagovski","segmentedSources":{"sm":[{"height":213,"width":320,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dba2a85017683236e6cf/master/w_320,c_limit/_hires_12.jpg"},{"height":427,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dba2a85017683236e6cf/master/w_640,c_limit/_hires_12.jpg"}],"md":[{"height":427,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dba2a85017683236e6cf/master/w_640,c_limit/_hires_12.jpg"},{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dba2a85017683236e6cf/master/w_1280,c_limit/_hires_12.jpg"}],"lg":[{"height":683,"width":1024,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dba2a85017683236e6cf/master/w_1024,c_limit/_hires_12.jpg"},{"height":1365,"width":2048,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dba2a85017683236e6cf/master/w_2048,c_limit/_hires_12.jpg"}],"xl":[{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dba2a85017683236e6cf/master/w_1280,c_limit/_hires_12.jpg"}],"xxl":[{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69d8dba2a85017683236e6cf/master/w_1280,c_limit/_hires_12.jpg"}]}}}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Boz Gagovski5/7Rope Cottage, Rope Yard
Tucked behind the Jenna Burlingham Gallery in the sleepy village of Kingsclere – idyllic Watership Down country – are a well-kept secret: a one-bedroom loft apartment and a two-bedroom cottage, each immaculately designed with William Morris wallpaper, wrought iron beds and modern British and contemporary paintings, prints, sculpture and ceramics from the gallery. After Jenna, an ex-Phillips auction house modern British specialist, opened the gallery in 2010 when she moved out of London with her young family, it fast became a go-to for collectors. But stepping inside, it’s the interiors – antiques trawled from fairs, fabrics from Brunschwig & Fils… – that are just as lust-worthy.
Prices from £230 per night
10-12 George Street Kingsclere, Hampshire, RG20 5NQ
- Lime Wood</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"69dcb6029a1078cd7295c47d","index":5,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"offersLength":0,"component":"gallery_slide_component","image":{"altText":"Image may contain Home Decor Bed Furniture Lamp Bedroom Indoors and Room","caption":"It’s hard to fathom that industrial Southampton is just 10 miles away from Lime Wood, so bucolic is the approach through ancient woodland, with scruffy New Forest ponies as unofficial gatekeepers. It was nearly 20 years ago that hotelier Robin Hutson set out to dispel the notion of a stuffy country house hotel when he opened Lime Wood with billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, ripping up the rulebook of ties at dinner and hushed whispers in the drawing room. Which doesn’t mean it isn’t grand: the drive is winding, the main house (once a 13th century hunting lodge) was given a Georgian façade by architects Ben Pentreath and Charles Morris, and inside the main staircase luxuriously curves up to its bedrooms, with Susie Atkinson’s clever mix of Andrew Martin wallpaper, Christopher Farr upholstered armchairs and a medley of wool, linen, and silk.\nAlmost two decades on from opening Lime Wood still makes you want to theatrically exhale on arrival. Dotted across the grounds are cabins and houses immersed in the woodland – does forest bathing count if it’s conducted from your bed? – with roaring open fires, bottles of Bamford oil next to roll top baths and cocktail glasses primed to be filled.\nHere’s a place where you can get happily lost weaving through the woodland, sign up for pre-breakfast yoga or brace yourself for a spin class – if only to muster an appetite for the Italian menu at Angela Hartnett and Lime Wood’s Luke Holder’s Hartnett Holder & Co (think double agnolotti of smoked ricotta or parmesan gnocchi).\nDon’t leave without booking a Ground BIOME facial (60 minutes of wizardry) in the Herb House Spa, with its sauna overlooking the forest, indoor lap pool and Rure & Cured café where you can charge yourself with a guilt-free juice or muesli with home fermented kefir.\nPrices from £495 per night\nBeaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, SO43 7FZ","contentType":"photo","credit":"Jake Eastham","segmentedSources":{"sm":[{"height":213,"width":320,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb6029a1078cd7295c47d/master/w_320,c_limit/Eaves%20%C2%AE%20Jake%20Eastham.jpg"},{"height":427,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb6029a1078cd7295c47d/master/w_640,c_limit/Eaves%20%C2%AE%20Jake%20Eastham.jpg"}],"md":[{"height":427,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb6029a1078cd7295c47d/master/w_640,c_limit/Eaves%20%C2%AE%20Jake%20Eastham.jpg"},{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb6029a1078cd7295c47d/master/w_1280,c_limit/Eaves%20%C2%AE%20Jake%20Eastham.jpg"}],"lg":[{"height":683,"width":1024,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb6029a1078cd7295c47d/master/w_1024,c_limit/Eaves%20%C2%AE%20Jake%20Eastham.jpg"},{"height":1365,"width":2048,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb6029a1078cd7295c47d/master/w_2048,c_limit/Eaves%20%C2%AE%20Jake%20Eastham.jpg"}],"xl":[{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb6029a1078cd7295c47d/master/w_1280,c_limit/Eaves%20%C2%AE%20Jake%20Eastham.jpg"}],"xxl":[{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb6029a1078cd7295c47d/master/w_1280,c_limit/Eaves%20%C2%AE%20Jake%20Eastham.jpg"}]}}}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Jake Eastham6/7Lime Wood
It’s hard to fathom that industrial Southampton is just 10 miles away from Lime Wood, so bucolic is the approach through ancient woodland, with scruffy New Forest ponies as unofficial gatekeepers. It was nearly 20 years ago that hotelier Robin Hutson set out to dispel the notion of a stuffy country house hotel when he opened Lime Wood with billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, ripping up the rulebook of ties at dinner and hushed whispers in the drawing room. Which doesn’t mean it isn’t grand: the drive is winding, the main house (once a 13th century hunting lodge) was given a Georgian façade by architects Ben Pentreath and Charles Morris, and inside the main staircase luxuriously curves up to its bedrooms, with Susie Atkinson’s clever mix of Andrew Martin wallpaper, Christopher Farr upholstered armchairs and a medley of wool, linen, and silk.
Almost two decades on from opening Lime Wood still makes you want to theatrically exhale on arrival. Dotted across the grounds are cabins and houses immersed in the woodland – does forest bathing count if it’s conducted from your bed? – with roaring open fires, bottles of Bamford oil next to roll top baths and cocktail glasses primed to be filled.
Here’s a place where you can get happily lost weaving through the woodland, sign up for pre-breakfast yoga or brace yourself for a spin class – if only to muster an appetite for the Italian menu at Angela Hartnett and Lime Wood’s Luke Holder’s Hartnett Holder & Co (think double agnolotti of smoked ricotta or parmesan gnocchi).
Don’t leave without booking a Ground BIOME facial (60 minutes of wizardry) in the Herb House Spa, with its sauna overlooking the forest, indoor lap pool and Rure & Cured café where you can charge yourself with a guilt-free juice or muesli with home fermented kefir.
Prices from £495 per night
Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, SO43 7FZ
- The Candover</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"69dcb546649f58aec82751b4","index":6,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"offersLength":0,"component":"gallery_slide_component","image":{"altText":"Image may contain Brunch and Food","caption":"When The Candover opens this spring in one of Hampshire’s prettiest patches, in the village of Preston Candover near Winchester, there will be pints of locally brewed Candover Best at the hand-crafted bar, glasses of sparkling wine from neighbouring regenerative vineyard Candover Brook and plates of ricotta stacked with broad beans and fennel alongside slivers of local beef. But also 10 hotel-worthy bedrooms that defy any tired gastro pub tropes, each inspired by Jane Austen characters (Hampshire was Austen’s birthplace and creative haven). After what was The Purefoy Arms was sold for residential development, a drunken lunch in 2023 spiralled into three friends convincing themselves to rescue it. And with architect Rebecca Haines-Gadd at the helm of the overhaul, old doors have been restored, walls limewashed and antique furniture sourced, painstakingly bringing this local back to life.\nPrices from £200 per night\nPreston Candover, Hampshire, RG25 2EJ","contentType":"photo","credit":"","segmentedSources":{"sm":[{"height":445,"width":320,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb546649f58aec82751b4/master/w_320,c_limit/WTFS-TheCandover-Sep25-50.jpg"},{"height":891,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb546649f58aec82751b4/master/w_640,c_limit/WTFS-TheCandover-Sep25-50.jpg"}],"md":[{"height":891,"width":640,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb546649f58aec82751b4/master/w_640,c_limit/WTFS-TheCandover-Sep25-50.jpg"},{"height":1781,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb546649f58aec82751b4/master/w_1280,c_limit/WTFS-TheCandover-Sep25-50.jpg"}],"lg":[{"height":1425,"width":1024,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb546649f58aec82751b4/master/w_1024,c_limit/WTFS-TheCandover-Sep25-50.jpg"},{"height":2850,"width":2048,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb546649f58aec82751b4/master/w_2048,c_limit/WTFS-TheCandover-Sep25-50.jpg"}],"xl":[{"height":1781,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb546649f58aec82751b4/master/w_1280,c_limit/WTFS-TheCandover-Sep25-50.jpg"}],"xxl":[{"height":1781,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/69dcb546649f58aec82751b4/master/w_1280,c_limit/WTFS-TheCandover-Sep25-50.jpg"}]}}}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
7/7The Candover
When The Candover opens this spring in one of Hampshire’s prettiest patches, in the village of Preston Candover near Winchester, there will be pints of locally brewed Candover Best at the hand-crafted bar, glasses of sparkling wine from neighbouring regenerative vineyard Candover Brook and plates of ricotta stacked with broad beans and fennel alongside slivers of local beef. But also 10 hotel-worthy bedrooms that defy any tired gastro pub tropes, each inspired by Jane Austen characters (Hampshire was Austen’s birthplace and creative haven). After what was The Purefoy Arms was sold for residential development, a drunken lunch in 2023 spiralled into three friends convincing themselves to rescue it. And with architect Rebecca Haines-Gadd at the helm of the overhaul, old doors have been restored, walls limewashed and antique furniture sourced, painstakingly bringing this local back to life.
Prices from £200 per night
Preston Candover, Hampshire, RG25 2EJ
