It’s always nice to get away to celebrate special occasions, so that’s what we chose to do last week for our 3rd wedding anniversary, with a stay at New Park Manor Hotel. Being mid-week, we didn’t really want to head off anywhere too far away, having work either side, so we decided to keep it local, opting for the beauty of the New Forest National Park.
Around a half hour drive from Southampton city centre, the New Forest National Park is the smallest National Park in the UK, yet still holds so much natural beauty. With wild New Forest ponies roaming free, picturesque villages, coastal views of the Solent estuary and beautiful expanses of green woodland.
Having been to New Park Manor Hotel for a spa day with family last year, I was excited to go back for a stay at the hotel, which included dinner, use of the spa facilities and breakfast. We arrived in the early afternoon to check into our room, the Roe.
The room was large and spacious, with beautiful beams, luxury bed linen and many home comforts including plush robes. The en suite was also really spacious and had a beautiful bath with separate shower and spa toiletries that smelt amazing!
After checking into the hotel, we had a walk around the grounds admiring the hotel exterior and looking out across the forest where we could see deer and wild ponies, before heading to the spa. The spa includes a heated indoor pool, sauna, steam room and outdoor Canadian hot tub, which looks out across the forest. It was lovely and quiet when we arrived so we took the outdoor snuggle seat and enjoyed reading our books in the afternoon sun, before enjoying a dip in the hot tub.
Before dinner I was really excited to try out the bath in our room, but unfortunately, the whole of our floor didn’t have hot water for a couple of hours so we had a relaxing nap instead. We headed down to the adults-only dining room for our meal, choosing from an extensive menu, which included many local ingredients.
After a starter of bread and olives (we didn’t actually order the olives – a bit of a kitchen mix-up!) we both chose to have the rump of lamb, which was served pink and tender with beautiful sauces and a lovely salad that included goats cheese, spiralised peppers and radishes. For dessert we chose chocolate fondant with salted caramel and ice cream, which was amazing. It was warm and gooey in the middle with a perfect spongey exterior, yum!
Despite a couple of things being wrong with our meals – such as the olive dilemma and our sides coming out late on our mains, we still really enjoyed our meal – the lamb was amazing!
We enjoyed a lovely relaxed evening enjoying a glass or two of red wine and watching a movie from the hotel’s own DVD collection (although I’m not quite sure why they had a few pirate DVD’s in there – naughty!)
In the morning, we enjoyed a lovely continental breakfast of croissants and cereals in the conservatory, followed by freshly made pancakes and berry compote. The conservatory looks lovely in the morning light, feeling fresh, light and airy!
After breakfast we had a lovely morning swim in the main pool and a last minute dip in the hot tub before check out at 11am. It was beautifully peaceful and quiet, the perfect way to end our stay before heading off back to Southampton for an afternoon at work, driving through the forest on the way.
Our stay at New Park Manor Hotel was lovely. I’d especially recommend it if you have a family as we were one of the only couples there without children, so perhaps didn’t quite fit the target demographic, but we enjoyed it all the same. The views from the hotel were lovely and the hotel is situated in an idyllic location, not far from Brockenhurst village. We were really impressed with the quality and taste of the food at the restaurant and really enjoyed our room – despite not being able to use the bath. The outdoor Canadian hot tub was a definite favourite of ours!
Thanks for a lovely anniversary stay New Park Manor Hotel!
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