Mr & Mrs Smith

Lime Wood

Hampshire, United Kingdom

Originally a mediaeval hunting lodge way back in the 13th century, this New Forest manor was reclaimed for royalty by the Duke of Clarence in the 1740s. Since then, Lime Wood hotel has had another extravagant makeover, giving this stately pile a serious air of perfection, with primly landscaped grounds, devotedly designed interiors, a super spa and two tantalising restaurants to prove it.

Need to know

• Rooms 29, including 14 suites.
• Rates Double rooms from $315.93 (£204), excluding tax at 20 per cent.
  The price shown represents the lowest nightly rate for a double room available at this hotel over the next 21 days. Any price conversions from the hotel's local currency (£204) have been conducted using today's exchange rates from xe.com.
• More details Rates exclude breakfast (around £13.50 for Continental; £15 for full English).
• Facilities Library of books and DVDs, pool, snooker and billiards, mountain bikes and wellies for guests, walking and running trails, valet parking, helipad, free WiFi throughout. The Herb House Spa has an indoor pool. In rooms: flatscreen TV, CD/DVD player, preloaded iPod, free bottled water and Bamford bath products.
• Check-out 12 noon. Earliest check‑in, 3pm.
• Children Little Smiths are well looked after at Lime Wood – cots are £10, extra beds are £30; there’s a children’s menu and bikes and scooters on loan. Babysitting with a local nanny costs £55 an evening (48 hours’ notice required).
• Also Pets are allowed in the outside lodgings – the Coach House, Crescent and Pavilions. In-room spa and beauty treatments can be arranged.

Food and drink at Lime Wood

• Hotel restaurant

  Chefs Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder (who have a formidable Michelin pedigree) plunder their British and Italian heritage, forage for fungi in neighbouring woods, hand rear their meat and cure it in the onsite Smokehouse to bring refined comfort food – on small, less formal plates – to Hartnett, Holder & Co. The dining space mixes aristocratic eccentricity with trattoria bric-a-brac, including an espresso machine, oak bar and Tracy Emin artwork; or guests can get cosy on a velvet corner sofa and split a sharing dish for more intimate affairs. Adjourn to The Courtyard for alfresco afternoon tea or opt for a leaner, but no less delectable, salad at Raw & Cured, the Herb House Spa’s café.

• Dress code There’s a grown-up manor feel, so clean off the country muck before dinner.
• Top table Pick a quiet table for two by the window, or ask to dine at the chef’s table in the kitchen.
• Last orders Breakfast is served in the Scullery between 7am and 11am. Lunch is available all day in the Scullery, and between 12pm and 4pm in the Dining Room. Dinner is 7pm–9pm.
• Room service An excerpt of the Scullery menu is on offer 24 hours a day.
• Hotel bar

  Max’s Bar is a relaxed, sophisticated spot, manned by Max himself – a Sicilian barman who has expertly mixed drinks since he helped out in his dad’s watering hole as a child.

Lime Wood Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO43 7FZ