STANWELL HOUSE

Impeccable boutique style in seafaring Lymington

FOUR POSTER BEDS hung with velvet drapes, plump pillows, a half-sipped glass of champagne to one side... the bedrooms of Stanwell House – a little Georgian boutique hotel in seafaring Lymington – tell their own tales of stolen weekends.

The rich colours of indulgence mark out this appealing – and highly affordable – hotel set between Lymington’s yacht harbour and the New Forest. With its bare board and York stone floors, antique and bric-a-brac laden shelves and candlelit dining room, Stanwell House has all you need for a seaside adventure à deux. There’s even an old walled garden and a couple of suites with private terraces for late-night trysts.

Centrepiece of the hotel is the airy, glass roofed conservatory lounge, with its bare brick walls and relaxed rattan chairs – just the place to sip a cappuccino or glass of wine. Yachties and their wives are regulars here, and many not surprisingly decide to forgo a berth on the ocean waves for a night or two in one of Stanwell House’s bedrooms.

Smoochy surrounds

Bed down in vamped-up Georgian surrounds in the oldest part of the hotel, where  reds and purples are matched with ornate gilded mirrors, brass chandeliers and oak four-posters. Clawfoot baths with shower cloaks and velvet throws add to the sense of bijou decadence. One room has a deep purple velvet chaise longue – perfect for those ship’s-captain-and-the-wayward-wench scenarios.

If contemporary cool is more your style, opt for one of the rooms in the newer wing. These have hip-high wood panelling, blond wood timber floors and creamy-white walls, with rugs and leopardskin-look lamps. Don’t want to be disturbed? Just place Rolo the fluffy dog mascot outside your door.

Skip down the curved stone staircase, with its ornate wrought iron balustrade, and you can perch on velvet covered barstools in the cocktail bar while deciding which of the two restaurants you’ll dine in – the wood-panelled bistro at the rear or Stanwell’s, the chic new fish restaurant. And if you can’t decide you can simply hop on the bar bed – a huge brocade-covered divan piled with outsize cushions that stretches across one wall.

It’s a fun place alright – with all the charms of cobble-street Lymington on the doorstep. Head for the harbour, and you can be on the Isle of Wight in half an hour. Head the other way, and you could be in the middle of the New Forest. Or simply head upstairs to your quarters. I reckon I’d vote for the latter.


Stanwell House was reviewed for Room for Romance by Mark MacGee

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MID-WEEK SUPER SAVINGS AT STANWELL HOUSE – South
                                                                                                                     
Book a mid-week stay and save a packet with this fantastic offer at Stanwell House

For a limited time guests can stay Sunday to Thursday for the bargain rate of GBP 70 per person per night. This includes full English breakfast, dinner at either of Stanwell's two restaurants – the French Bistro or seafood restaurant. All this in the stylish surrounds of this appealing boutique hotel.

* TO BOOK: call us on 01225 428888

Click on any picture to enlarge it and move through the gallery.

Dining in
Choose your mood – there are two places to eat here. Opening on to the walled garden at the rear, the wood-panelled bistro, with its burgundy walls and oak tables, is the place for informal dining. Bite into deep-fried brie with watercress, apple and walnut salad to start, followed by grilled rib-eye steak with potato wedges, field mushrooms, tomato and herb butter.

Stanwell’s, the hotel’s new fish restaurant, is high on style – pink and purple velvet Regency style chairs, pale wood floors, purple footlights and Baroque-style mirrors – as well as innovative on the culinary front.

Have a guilt-free bit on the side here – a tapas style menu lets you choose from light bites such as rock oysters and battered calamares or more substantial mains such as a monkfish burger with fries or a platter of fruits de mer.

Dining out
The Tollhouse Inn offers traditional pubby surrounds and a good range of real ales.

See & Do
Hop on board a ferry to Yarmouth for a day trip to the Isle of Wight, or head to Buckler’s Hard, where many of Nelson’s battle ships were built. Henry Vlll’s castle at Hurst Spit near Christchurch is also worth seeing. Lymingon ranks as one of the world’s premier yachting resorts, so it’s a place to don your deck shoes and get on the water. It’s also on the doorstep of the New Forest, with its villages and wild ponies.

Shop
Snap up sailing gear, swimmies and all things sporty here.

After dark
Get yourselves invited to bash at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. Failing that, rub shoulders with the yachties at pubs along the High Street.

Dates
August
See the Solent alight with coloured sails in Skandia Cowes Week – the biggest event in the sailing calendar. 

GETTING THERE        

Location
High Street, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 9AA

Parking
No guest parking, but there is a long stay car park across the street – around GBP 5 per day.

Trains
Lymington and Brockenhurst stations – both are minutes away.

Taxis
Lymington train station is within walking distance. Free pick-ups can be arranged from Lymington or Brockenhurst stations with advance notice.

Airport
Southampton – 15 miles

ESSENTIAL INFO

Rates guide
GBP 135 - 195

Open/closed
Open all year

Check-in
2pm

Check-out
11am

Minimum night stay?
No

Breakfast
Breakfast is served until 10am. Menus feature Fairtrade teas and coffees.

Room service
Room service is available from midday to 10pm.

Children
Welcome

Pets
Well behaved dogs welcome

Air conditioning
No

Languages
English and most major European languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese etc)

Wedding license?
Yes. Receptions without a marquee can cater for up to 70 seated, or 100 buffet-style.

Your contacts
Robert Milton and Victoria Crowe – owners