Picture an English country house hotel and likely it resembles the grand façade of Chewton Glen. The soaring 18th Century building may make for a picture-perfect entrance but hidden in the lush 130-acre garden are the real gems of this property. For, a walled Italian garden on the front lawn shelters one of the manor’s two pools, nearby is a dedicated croquet lawn, just behind the main house is a kitchen garden and a short walk away is the properties pièce de résistance, a set of 14 treehouse suites.
The Treatments
While there is a lot to do at Chewton Glen – falconry or horse riding, anyone? – The spa is especially appealing. Make time to try Europe’s largest hydrotherapy pool, crystal steam rooms and aromatherapy saunas and 17meter indoor pool. There’s an exhaustive list of treatments from some very diligent staff. For the more actively minded there is a gym, of course, as well as tennis courts, archery, duck herding and buggy riding.
The Celebrity Hideaways
If you’re looking for a wow factor the hotel’s private treehouses with floor-to-ceiling windows, private decks and personal hot tubs deliver, in spades. With a buggy system to transport guests across the property its no wonder this set of suites is so popular with celebrities, but mind you don’t need to be A-List to feel thoroughly pampered in this place. For the ivy-clad main property has a classic elegance and cutting-edge facilities (Band & Olufsen speakers and Ren products, aplenty) that are equally enticing.
Insider Tips
The winding driveway that twists through the property gives the feeling of seclusion, but the reality is you’re only a short walk from a sandy beach and the destination seaside towns of Lymington and Christchurch.
The Lowdown
Double rooms start at £325, while the Grand Yews treehouses, which sleep eight, cost from £2850 a night.