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the reviews of 40 more Bolt Hole hotels
The hotel: this creeper-clad inn on the Longleat estate is quirky and
eccentric, pared down to the edge of minimalism, but its pubby-but-plush
informality is spot-on.
The owner, Christoph Brooke, has hit more or less the right note throughout,
with sunken sofas in the snug and skittles in the chic Shepard room. There’s
a bistro ambience in the posher dining bar, which overlooks a lovely terrace
and leads into the elegant dining room. It even has a tiny organic spa.
Horningsham is one of those quintessentially English villages with
bell-ringing, summer fêtes and three labradors per head. You half expect to
find John Nettles investigating a grisly murder at the WI drinks party.
The rooms: there’s an exuberance about the 15 bedrooms – think ornate
sconces, exquisite marquetry, four-posters and roll-top baths. Every one is
spacious, oddly shaped and aptly themed: the English Eccentric room has a
bathroom featuring a collage of famous faces; the Karma Sutra room a frieze
of suitably graphic images.
Depending on your mood, the lack of professional finishing (scuffed paintwork,
a dearth of bathroom amenities) will feel either shabby chic or just plain
shabby. I tended towards the former.
What about the food? There’s a simple, uncomplicated restaurant, where
the chef, Frank Bailey, puts the emphasis is on seasonal local produce. Our
starters, crayfish and salmon tian and herb-rolled goat’s cheese, were tasty
and prettily presented. West Country rib-eye steak with wild mushrooms and
onion marmalade was fine, but the turbot was overcooked – though the
accompanying chorizo risotto and grilled artichokes made amends. Sticky
toffee pudding more than met our expectations, and the cheeseboard was
satisfyingly regional. Overall, dinner was worth the £27.50 fixed price –
although I object to paying an extra £2.50 for a side order of carrots.
Is it safe to venture outside the hotel? You refer, presumably, to
Longleat’s award-winning safari park (01985 844400, www.longleat.co.uk;
passport ticket £22, children £16)? If you keep your car windows closed, you
should emerge with limbs intact, though retract your aerial if you can, as
the monkeys like them.
A tip: everyone makes a beeline for the safari park as soon as they
arrive on the estate, which means queues. Head instead for the safari boats,
which are fairly empty in the morning, but require long waits in the
afternoon.
The park is closed until February 16, but the house and its 900 acres of
Capability Brown parkland are open year-round (admission £10/£6, free with
passport ticket). The costume collection and state rooms are well worth
seeing.
Beyond Longleat, both Bath and Salisbury are within ready reach.
The Bath Arms (01985 844308, www.batharms.co.uk)
has doubles from £80, B&B
If you are looking for a schmick pristine hotel without character & charm then don't stay at the Bath Arms. This is a great hotel that is warm, welcoming & well worth the visit.
peter, Newcastle, Australia