The Newt in Somerset

"A working estate offering hands-on farm experiences and cider crafting for urbanites seeking rural upskilling."

"The Newt is a three MICHELIN Key-award-winning hotel and estate in Somerset. It features lovely gardens, a deer park, a replica Roman villa, a farm shop, and a spa. It offers a luxurious experience for both visitors and hotel guests." - Edward Barsamian

"The Newt in Somerset, a luxurious hotel nestled between market towns Bruton and Castle Cary in the English countryside. A two-and-a-half hour train ride from London’s Paddington station, The Newt is a hop, skip, and a jump for visitors from the Big Smoke, but it’s not just locals who are sojourning to the majestic estate. Just named one of The World’s 50 Best Hotels in 2023, the 800-acre sprawl of woodland orchards, labyrinthine gardens, and regal architecture has become a global destination." - Lauren Valenti

"Why book?So much more than a country house hotel, The Newt incorporates enough activities to keep guests amused for days: glorious gardens worth visiting in their own right, a deer park, interactive museums, a barn for cider production and tasting, and a dreamy spa. There’s a lot of buzz about this place—literally. Guests can also take a bee safari, do a honey tasting, and explore the Beezantium, a building designed to showcase the world from a bee’s perspective. Oh, and there’s a Roman villa. Yes, you read that right—a reimagined Roman villa with hand-chiseled mosaics and colorful frescoes has been created next to the original Roman ruins and interpretation center. This is clearly not your average hotel. Set the sceneAt the heart of the 800-acre estate surrounding Georgian Hadspen House and Farmyard hotel are the 30-acre formal gardens created by Franco-Italian Patrice Taravella. They might be formal but they have fun features, with a paddling area to splash through, toad statues spouting water at unsuspecting tourists, and a raised wooden walkway called The Viper leading to the immersive Story of Gardening museum. There’s a similar amount of personality within Hadspen House, where a Roman bust wears a necklace of seashells and a snug room is decorated in the colors of the croquet set outside on the lawn. Portraits of the Hobhouse family, who lived here for more than two centuries, hang alongside tapestry wall trophies in the drawing room, while the teal bar mixes original cornicing with vibrant bamboo chairs. The backstorySouth African billionaire and tech magnate Koos Bekker and his wife Karen Roos had already created waves at Babylonstoren in South Africa, with its gardens modeled on those of the Dutch East India Company, vineyards, and herbal spa. Keen to buy a UK base with cider orchards, they settled on Somerset’s Hadspen House in 2013; it opened as a hotel six years later. Bekker concentrated on the estate while Roos, a former editor of Elle Decoration South Africa, applied the same attention to detail and no-expenses-spared mentality on the interiors. She calls her style “classical contemporary,” in part inspired by her love of the Georgian period and Jane Austen. While Babylonstoren is all about wine, The Newt is all about cider—or “cyder,” as it calls it: There are orchards to amble around, single varietals produced in the cyder barn, and 300 types of apple tree on show in the parabola, the egg-shaped garden at the core of it all. The rooms The 42 spacious rooms are divided between Hadspen House, its outbuildings, and the Farmyard, a bike or buggy ride away. Those in the main house have a feel of understated elegance. One has an enormous bathtub from which you can look out of the double-aspect bathroom while another incorporates Cape Dutch tiles, a nod to Babylonstoren. In the outbuildings and the Farmyard, it’s more rustic chic, with exposed stone and wood and oodles of character; some rooms in the Farmyard have personal steam pods. Food and drinkWhile many hoteliers rhapsodize about their estate-to-plate dishes, The Newt puts its guests right in the heart of the garden, in its café overlooking the parabola. Whatever is plucked from the vegetable patch that day appears on the menu, accompanied by dangerously tasty sourdough, fermented using the appley waste from the cider production. More formal but just as exquisite fresh dishes are served in the oak-lined restaurant with cascading lights and glass-roofed extension: perhaps fresh broad beans with whipped goat's curd followed by estate venison or beef. Dinner slips down a treat with a glass or two of Babylonstoren’s wine or a cyder flight. The homemade buffalo gelato and cider caramel sauce accompanied by cyder ice, a delicious take on dessert wine, shouldn’t be missed. The spaWith its original beams and honey-hued stone, the old cowshed makes a spectacular setting for the spa, which includes an inside-outside pool, hammam, and rasul mud chamber. There’s a real sense of place here, from the apple chip snacks served in the relaxation room to the glass oblong of a gym, where active folk can pound the treadmill while watching the gardeners at work. The neighborhoodThis little corner of Somerset has seriously cool credentials. Bruton itself has a Hauser & Wirth art gallery with a Piet Oudolf-designed garden outside, interesting independent shops, and superb food, from great pizza in At the Chapel to Osip for Michelin-starred magic. The serviceEveryone who works here seems to have a passion for the place, from garden specialist Shaun Froud, who answers guests’ gardening queries as he gives a tour of the formal gardens to head cider maker Paul Ross, who waxes lyrical about single varietals. In the restaurant, the young, dynamic staff are eager to help you pick the perfect dishes, and the best Babylonstoren wine or cider to match them. Eco effortThey had fun with the hotel’s name, derived from the rare crested newts whose presence delayed building work, but Roos and Bekker take environmental issues seriously. Heat and hot water are supplied by a wood chip biomass boiler, the nursery uses solar power, and they think in terms of food steps rather than food miles. AccessibilityWhile there are two rooms suitable for those with mobility impairments, the grounds have irregular surfaces and some steep gradients. Manual wheelchairs are available to borrow on a first-come first-served basis. Anything left to mention?Most activities are complimentary for hotel guests, and can be experienced at any time within a 12-month period; membership is automatic. It also includes complimentary access to partner gardens, including those at Blenheim Palace, Chatsworth House, and the Eden Project." - Jane Knight

"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