The February half term conundrum: do you go skiing with the whole world and his dog (unavoidable once they are a bit older I know), or stay in the UK with the bad weather? Usually around this time of year we would go on a ski trip, but with Savannah being so young, we decided it wasn’t worth it this year as it wouldn’t be fun (for her or us, let’s be honest). So we decided to stick to the UK and went back to one of our favourite hotels, the Four Seasons in Hampshire. It’s proximity to London makes the journey super easy with children, and once you are there, you feel like you could be in the middle of the New Forrest – the landscape is so beautiful.
I posted some pictures on Instagram about the hotel during our stay and received a lot of questions about it, the facilities, pools, rooms etc so I thought I would write a brief summary here and share with you all.
Rooms
There are a wide range of rooms to choose from, but we booked a suite this time around as we wanted to have two separate room spaces for sleeping. There are different levels of suites that you can book so do check in advance. Oh and always call the hotel when you want to book as they can advise better on what will work for you as a family. The hotel provide a lot of extras for families in general, but in your room you will have things such as a nappy bin, children’s robes and toiletries, a cot/bed, a steriliser, nappies and wipes, baby bath etc. The list is endless. The staff are super helpful to provide you with everything you need to make your stay as easy/comfortable as possible. Our suite was really spacious so there was more than enough room for the four of us.
Food
The dining facilities and experiences for both adults and children are great. Children under 5 eat free for the duration of your stay. The Wild Carrot restaurant and bar serves breakfast lunch and dinner, and always has a small kids buffet on the go so they can help themselves. There is also an extensive children’s menu with lots of healthy options and all allergens can be catered for. Savannah is dairy and wheat intolerant and there was always something nutritious for her to eat.
Breakfast is a fabulous buffet selection, with the option of a la carte should you want it. Lunch is a la carte, and so is dinner. The menu is fairly modern British/European dining. On a Sunday, there is a special farmers market lunch that starts from 12.30 throughout the afternoon which is great.
There is also another restaurant in the spa called Sante which has an Asian inspired menu. This is adults only in the evening. My husband and I actually got a babysitter for one of the nights and ate there and the food was delicious. It made a nice change from the main restaurant.
Afternoon tea is served in the library. A wide range of sandwiches, cakes, teas and champagne are on offer. We did have this one afternoon and Athena really enjoyed it. The setting is more formal than the other restaurants, but children are of course welcome and there were lots there when we stayed as it was half term.
Facilities
The hotel really is one of the best in terms of facilities and activities both for couples and families. There are two tennis courts, two swimming pools (separate children’s one), an ice skating rink (seasonal), equestrian centre, kids club, games room, falconry, cycling, fishing and croquet. There are huge grounds to explore too.
I had so many questions about the pool area for children so here is some more information. It is a completely separate space to the main pool and spa. There is an activity pool with a slide and various water features, as well as a small swimming pool next to this (next to the pool on the image below). All towels, swimming nappies and flip flops are provided and there are beds and chairs to put towels etc on. Don’t go in the children’s pool if you want a relaxing time as it is not designed for that. Most parents are in the pools with their kids and it is noisy. If you want peace and tranquility, then the spa pool is the place to go. Children can go in there too until 10am and also after 4pm. But to be honest the children’s pool is warmer and we generally preferred it for our girls.
In addition to the pool, our second favourite thing for children was the equestrian centre. It’s a short walk down the drive from the hotel and home to 18 horses/ponies. Children can have riding lessons throughout the day (as can adults) and there is also a unicorn meet and greet experience that you can do. The weather was too bad for us to ride whilst there, but we did go and meet the horses and Athena enjoyed watching the blacksmith changing the shoes. She was also very lucky to receive one of their horse shoes afterwards. I would recommend booking in advance for any of the equestrian activities.
The hotel also offers a babysitting service which my husband and I did use one evening so that we could enjoy a few hours off and have a nice meal together. Babysitting has to be booked in advance and costs £10ph + a booking fee as it is done through an agency associated with the hotel. All sitters are CRB checked. I would say that if you are going to use the babysitters, make sure you get a large room or a suite. With our girls sleeping in one room, it meant that the babysitter could sit in the lounge area whilst we were out rather than sitting in a dark room with them and waking everyone up when we got in.
Finally in terms of facilities there is the spa for adults. My husband and I both had amazing massages in the spa. It’s a really relaxing, dimly lit space, and there is also a sauna and steam room next to the pool area. The main pool area is fairly large and also has an outdoor pool/jacuzzi which is lovely in the summer.
I hope this is helpful to those of you who have asked about the hotel and the facilities. We would absolutely recommend it to both couples and families for the perfect balance of luxury and family activities. It is just one of those hotels that ticks all the boxes.
Lisa
xoxo
