My big four-oh birthday. The one that must be emphatically landmarked. A key life moment tricky enough to get my head around before the mental arithmetic required to arrange a birthday getaway. Planning a celebratory break in my late thirties required the sort of formulae scrawled madly across a white board that would even befuddle Will Hunting. There’s the friend who, once happy to pass out on a rug after a few too many cocktails, is now adding children to the mix; plus the friend who might still snooze on a rug; plus recent teetotallers; plus little ones with big demands; plus a mum-to-be; plus a pick and mix of generations — a conundrum of room types and left-field requests. My solution: the Pig near Bath.
Founded by British hotelier Robin Hutson, these havens of casual high-living, spread across the UK from the Kentish wilds to the Cornish coast, strike a harmonious chord. Especially at this Somerset outpost, whose bountiful backyard and deer park give it an Edenic feel. But it’s also a millennial mothership of rural cool. The just-shabby-enough decor of scarred wooden seating and pre-slouched velvet sofas; Hunter wellies lined up in the entryway; assorted vintage prints and taxidermy vitrines — it’s late-Twenties/early-Thirties escapism at its finest. Minibars and drinks lists bear niche local brands, food comes from within a 25-mile radius, and homemade cakes appear in the lounge at afternoon-tea time each day: it all feels as reassuringly authentic as the creaky wooden floors (which actually came from repurposed railway carriages).
But — luckily for me — the Pig brand has also successfully flexed with the times, as its loyal clientele has grown up; as couples who spent romantic minibreaks here start bringing kids, parents, dogs. Family-sized cabins have been built out in the grounds; and while the attitude is still, ‘What if we kissed amid the alliums?’, it’s also, ‘Yes, Cressida will have the saddleback pork from the kids’ menu…’, which makes life all the easier if your booking is a Gordian knot of addendums.
Like the hotel’s impressive kitchen gardens (even the country-dwellers among us were bowled over by the exotic-chilli hutch, the polytunnels packed with rare basils and heritage tomatoes, and the alien growths in the mushroom hut), the Pig’s all-rounder feel has been carefully cultivated. The hotel vies with luvvie-nest Babington House, foodie-draw the Talbot Inn and Bath’s revved-up Regency stays, like the Royal Crescent, close by; but here’s why I found it to be a Goldilocks-zone sanctuary for young, old, fussy eaters and drinkers, country and city sorts, and someone who doesn’t want to make a big deal about turning 40, but also secretly does…
ALL THE FRESH AIR
The pub garden — where Brits know the tipsy peace of sipping a pint at a picnic table while kids go safely feral — is here elevated into the grounds of a stately (but not stuffy) Georgian manor. Sprigs of mint and verbena decorate tables, and elderflower ciders or pints of Glastonbury Ale idle away drowsy afternoons. There are even croquet sets to borrow and, sometimes, live music.
But there are also veg patches, berry cages and a wildflower field — a garden tour may sound blue-rinse-y, but the team here is so dynamic. These khaki-clad trowel-ninjas attuned to the seasons’ nuances add interactive elements, which make it so compelling: eating Japanese wineberries straight from the shrub, scenting our fingers with herbs, sniffing out the difference between lime and lemon basils… it’s enchanting. Plus, it’s a passive lesson in sustainability that’ll kindle a passion in younger guests, gently inspiring by showing how the land nurtures us back. And, a short drive away, there’s also the Mendip Hills, Cheddar Gorge or Somerset Lavender Farm’s purple pathways for further rambling.
It’s also easy being green at the Artist Residence Oxfordshire, which has a small kitchen garden; and Heckfield Place, whose harvests support chef Skye Gyngell’s plant-focused cookery.
ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS
Parents, don’t underestimate the hour-melting mesmerism of resident animals. The hotel’s chickens, quail, deer herds, butterflies and bees, skittish wild rabbits and bold-chancer birds — parrying with the garden’s scarecrow — proved to be rock stars when it came to on-the-fly entertainment.
They diverted wobbling lips of burgeoning tantrums and patiently accepted fistfuls of grass from tiny hands, while delighting adults too. Despite an awkward moment when the resident pigs went missing (presumed delicious, but revealed to be living, happily as the proverbial, in larger quarters nearby), furry and flying friends kept boredom very much at bay. However, you like to live a bit more dangerously, Longleat Safari Park is only a 30-minute drive away.
Find more furry friends at Coombeshead Farm, which has sheep, pigs, bees and more, and lets guests participate in lambing come spring.
NO WASH-OUT DAYS
If it rains — which it did — huddle around the huge billiards table or cosy up in a lounge, where staff pay no mind to wandering young explorers, and there’s a stash of all-ages board games and shelves lined with paperbacks. If staying in the Orchard or Nuttery Stable hide-outs — each with two generously sized bedrooms and a roll-top bath tub — borrow games to play in the wood-burner-warmed lounge (and just call if you want drinks and snacks delivered).
Guests can also use staff recommendations for local babysitters to take a grown-up time-out in the Potting Shed spa cabins at the bottom of the garden, where eco-friendly Voya and Bamford products leave you scented and serene — expectant mothers can indulge in bespoke massages too — or foray out to Bath’s adults-only Thermae Spa.
More playful stays await at the Grove, which has the UK’s first wooden role-play town and mini Land Rovers for kids to bash about in; and the Lygon Arms, which has giant lawn games, puzzles, board games and kid-friendly events.
EASYGOING GATHERINGS
If chess revives family rifts, dinnertime in the Pig’s plant-flocked conservatory is where the healing starts. Impressed silences at first bites and little ones contentedly tucking into crudités and garden salads with no resistance give way to the kind of easy, languorous communality hearty Brit feasting inspires. And it’s all so ethical-feeling that even helpings of spindly crackling, stout chipolatas and mustardy loins won’t make you feel too guilty. Exotic substitutions, allergies and intolerances are deftly handled, and puzzles and crayons are duly served alongside dishes (to the kids, but adults could probably play too).
And when it came to toasting, aside from much of the hotel’s own Pig Cut wine — and some best-of-British bottles — those abstaining had more choice than a sad pint of non-alcoholic Beck’s. Corks were popped from Noughty and Wild Idol sparkling ‘wines’, Pentire and Drinks Kitchen ‘spirits’ were measured out, and low-percentage cans from Bath’s Lowtide Brewery and the Bristol Beer Factory were cracked open, ensuring cheers all round amid the faded fabulosity of the private dining room.
Or come together at Cliveden for Astor-level gilt-edged opulence in its private French Room; Grantley Hall for a tasting menu with a thoughtful non-alcoholic drinks pairing; and family-focused Fowey Hall, where kids are VIPs.
THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS
My takeaway from the trip was that it’s the little things that really make a big birthday special. The delighted ‘happy birthday’ from staff as we walked up to the check-in desk; opening our room door to see a bottle of champagne chilling in a silver bucket and a bag of just-baked oat-and-raisin cookies; more pig-shaped cookies presented with candles at dessert; then later finding an array of gift bags from friends and family, and a bouquet laid out at turndown to welcome us after dinner: it all lifted my indulgent melancholy at hitting a milestone. Along with the magical-elf quality to the way the team operated; like-clockwork care that made all the little surprises feel more serendipitous and made the stay play out in much smoother style than a board-game battle.
I would certainly return for the half-century turn, but I don’t want to have to wait 10 years for my next visit to a Pig — luckily one has just opened in the Cotswolds, and more are planned for 2025, so all the more reason to celebrate, whatever the reason.
See our full collection of Pig hotels here