02The story

01

Lime Wood stands inside the New Forest National Park, where the ponies wander the lanes as a matter of course and the walking starts at the gate. The main house is relaxed rather than grand, and the accommodation spreads outwards from it into suites, lofts, lodges, cottages and cabins, so a couple, a family and a party of friends can each have the version they came for.

Two things decide the weekend. Herb House occupies three floors of pools, heat and forest views, with a rooftop gym above and a food bar called Raw & Cured to hold the middle of it. Hartnett Holder & Co, from Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder, cooks Italian food with English produce in a dining room that never asks anyone to behave. Between the two, an afternoon disappears very pleasantly.

02

Inside a national park

Everything at Lime Wood begins with the forest. The hotel sits within the national park itself, so a walk starts at the door and finishes in the same place several hours later, and the coast is close enough for an afternoon if the mood turns. An itinerary is beside the point here: trees, a long lunch and a fire between them cover the requirements of a good English weekend rather thoroughly.

03

Beyond the main house

Rooms in the main house keep the sociable side of the hotel within reach of the bed. Around it, suites and lofts add space, while the lodges, cottages and cabins hand over a degree of independence that suits a family, a longer stay or anyone who would rather arrive without meeting a soul. The forest is the constant. Whichever version is chosen, the trees are outside the window and the spa is a short walk away.

04

Herb House, then dinner

Herb House takes up three floors and is built to hold an entire afternoon: a 16-metre lap pool with glass doors onto the garden, a hydro pool with jets that mean business, an outdoor hot pool, a forest-view sauna, a mud house for couples and The Hideout, an outdoor studio looking across the lake and fields. Raw & Cured feeds the interval. Dinner at Hartnett Holder & Co follows, Italian in accent and generous by design.

03Highlights

What sets it apart.

The signature moment

Four o’clock, and the outdoor hot pool is steaming into cold forest air. The light goes early under the trees. An hour later, a table at Hartnett Holder & Co, where the pasta arrives without ceremony and the room hums. The walk back upstairs takes two minutes.

01Inside the New Forest National Park
02Herb House spa over three floors
0316-metre indoor lap pool
04Hartnett Holder & Co
05Lodges, cottages and forest cabins

04Mr & Mrs Smith

Here, as a preferred guest.

01
Breakfast for two, every morning
Breakfast for two each morning, at the hotel’s own table: the first privilege of the day and the one most worth taking slowly.Breakfast served however the house prefers, and cooked from the estate where there is one.
02
A hotel credit to spend
A credit held in your name at the hotel, to spend as the stay suggests: a table, a treatment, an evening at the bar.A credit for dinner from the estate, the spa or the bar before it.
03
A room above your booking
An upgrade to the category above, so the room you return to each evening outranks the one on the confirmation.A room above the one reserved, at houses where every room is an individual.
04
An earlier arrival
Check-in before the house’s usual hour: the overnight flight lands, the car draws up and the first day begins in your room.The room ready for a Friday lunchtime, so the weekend has three afternoons instead of two.
05
A later departure
Check-out after the house’s usual hour, so the last morning is spent as the first was: at the table, by the pool or simply in the room.Sunday kept until after a last walk through the grounds and one more coffee.
06
Known before you arrive
VIP recognition as a guest of the house: your preferences and the occasion known to the hotel before the door is opened for you.The hosts know the occasion, and the name on the booking, before the gravel announces you.
07
Offers for preferred guests
The offers a programme keeps for its own preferred guests, extended to a Dip Needle booking and shown beside the rate for your dates.Smith’s preferred offers for your dates, kept distinct from the Extra in your proposal.