Local food, International wines
People become hoteliers for many reasons. Some are repeat offenders, unable to leave the business they enjoy so much. This 11 bedroom hotel in the New Forest in Hampshire was a rundown family hotel that has had a total revamp by just such a team.
Already winning awards for its food and drink, the hotel should run to perfection as the owners are Nina and Gerard Basset, respectively an ex-AA Hotel Inspector, and one of the most respected Masters Of Wine in the UK. They were also part of the team that created the Hotel du Vin chain (see Hotel du Vin Birmingham)
Superbly placed near Southampton on the edge of the cultivated wilderness that is the New Forest (landscape so popular that consideration has been given to closing it to new visitors at peak times) the hotel offers well designed, well fitted accommodation. Its crowning glory however, is its food and wine offering.
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Restaurant has a sense of theatre and place, as well as good food and wine - if the Bentleys and Beamers outside at lunchtime are anything to go by it is already finding an appreciative audience. Click for another view
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The restaurant has a large terrace - here clad in winter snow - looking onto the garden and swimming pool. Click to see that the Forest doesn't lose its attractions in winter
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The small bar is large enough for guests - click on the cross or image to see the view from the bar into the restaurant
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"oak floors and plenty of hard surfaces the noise is that of the trattoria and the bistro"
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Housed in a Victorian building with walled gardens above which tower the majestic oaks of William the Conquerors Royal Forest, this is almost too small to be a country house hotel, yet too large to classify as a B&B. The owners have plans to extend the hotel in the future adding not just additional bedrooms but a Wine School.
The dedication to food and wine is evident in the way in which the dining room shows off the wine cellar at one end, and by the creation of a show kitchen, with a chef who did not mind discussing the food and its ingredients as he worked. As one would expect the sommeliers are all knowing and the range of wine by the glass is wide and recommendations superbly complement the local produce.
The restaurant is comfortable in the contemporary English style. Not large, there is a wide covered balcony accessed through glass doors along one whole side of the room, almost doubling the seating when the weather is fair. With oak floors and plenty of hard surfaces the noise is that of the trattoria and the bistro, appropriate for a space to enjoy and celebrate food and wine rather than the reverential respect demanded in some restaurant environments.
One end of the restaurant is the theatrical presentation of a part of the cellars, the other a small and intimate bar. Service is relaxed from a team who actually appear to like guests, surprisingly rare in hotels these days. They also know their jobs extremely well, which makes for a relaxed and attentive service.
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Reception desk sets the air or relaxed informality. Click to see the major alteration - the addition of a new staircase in the reception lobby
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