"There’s so much to love about the Newt hotel and garden it’s difficult to know where to start. Made up of Hadspen House, a Georgian mansion of Somerset sandstone with 13 rooms, and former outbuildings providing another 10 rooms, each is quirky and individual and always the height of luxury. Room One in the main house looks over the ancient tree avenue and has a glorious marble-lined shower, while the stables rooms offer quirky beds in the stalls, and serene white shuttered rooms in the loft. There’s a spa with an indoor-to-outdoor pool, too, and the surrounding woods, orchards, gardens, and deer park are free for guests to roam around. A lovely bar overlooks the croquet lawn, and tastings are offered in the “cyder” cellar. Then there’s the food. The open kitchen offers a tasting menu and à la carte in the Botanical Rooms restaurant, which combines the brightness of a Victorian greenhouse with the elegance of a gentleman’s club. Look out for the sugar snaps with smoked roe and mint and the delicious roast aubergine. In the morning gorge on enormous croissants from the Newt baker. You just can’t go wrong with a stay at this West Country idyll." - Ramsay Short
