Beaulieu Hotel – 2 J's World of Adventure

On our way to breakfast we stopped at reception and I spoke to the receptionist to ask if Dads bed could be made up with sheets and blanket because he hates sleeping under a duvet…..we’d brought a sheet with us because usually there’s a blanket in the wardrobe but evidently not in these parts….and I also requested that our TV had a reboot as we could only get BBC 1&2…. We were greeted by a wonderfully cheerful receptionist, who said she’d sort it out. The 2 receptionists we’ve met at this hotel are definitely “The Face” of The Beaulieu Hotel. Their greetings are so welcoming and friendly they are such an asset to the establishment and they set the scene for a high class stay….”thank you lovely ladies”.

We went across to The Drift for a continental breakfast. It was beautifully laid out with a nice range including yogurt, fruits, cereals, pastries, ham and cheese, toast and preserves…..all anyone could possibly want. We were asked if we wanted to upgrade to a full-English but we were perfectly happy with the continental. Our only problem was the coffee….we had to laugh because above Johns head was a sign saying “ All you need is Love and a good cup of coffee” …ummm. Well we all had the former but none of us got the later… We did our usual coffee scoring…John and Dad gave the coffee 4/10 which I thought was overly generous scoring it 2/10 – 1 for being wet and the other for being warm!!! An extra two spoons of coffee in each cafetière would have allowed it to taste like coffee instead of dirty dish water ……

After breakfast our lovely reception ladies told us they had achieved both of our requests and sure enough they had. We headed out on the moors. We had a lovely drive and saw a few ponies. We love the signs slowing cars down…

The rain stopped and the sun came out just as we arrived at Mums carpark-

“Horseshoe Bottom”- as if by magic there were loads of ponies we counted 26…a hive of activity….it always is, they love my mum and she loved them….even though that “Grey Stallion” had obviously been around 🤣🤣

I got out to make the coffee only to discover we hadn’t refreshed the flask and had no hot water…what a trio of nutters we are….never mind we still sat and enjoyed the view for a while.

I asked John to navigate us down the “ Ornamental Drive” . This takes you through the most magnificent arboretum and at this time of year the trees and undergrowth are nothing short of magnificent in colour.

The route takes you past Rhinefield House, a top class hotel which is a member of the “hand picked” collection.

We turned in to their drive, we usually drive up to the house and out again because you can often see deer on their drive. As soon as we turned in I suggested we stopped and had a coffee – “my plan B”!!…

It was agreed…we parked up and walked through the trees to the lovely house.

Down some stairs to the lounge…this overlooked some ornamental gardens, ponds and fountains.

And guess what?? We had a magnificent cup of coffee…

We walked back to the car and found a tree for me to hang out on ! …John said I was “ the branch manager” …. ( Johns background is in Banking) 🤣🤣

Feeling refreshed from a great coffee and a loo break we drove on through the forest, stopping at a carpark for our picnic lunch…we had bought sandwiches in Sway…

We slowly wound our way back to the hotel for an afternoon rest prior to going out for supper. We passed plenty more ponies.

Our friendly receptionists greeted us on our return, showing genuine interest in what we’d been doing and where we’d been…we thanked them profusely for their warmth. When we got back to our room Dads key card wouldn’t work, but the friendly cleaner let him in and took the key card to reception for us then returned and checked it worked…what a lovely lady…all the staff in the hotel really are genuinely kind and helpful, a rarity in hotels these days..they couldn’t do more for you and nothing is too much trouble…..it makes it all the more sad that their restaurant lets them down….tonight I’ve booked a table at The Royal Oak the other side of Beaulieu. …….i’ll let you know how we find it in tomorrows blog…for now I need a cat-nap or 40 winks….

Every year we come to the New Forest, Hampshire, UK ….my mum loved it here and we enjoy sitting in her favourite carpark on the forest moorland. New Forest ponies ( never call them horses) are naturally bay in colour…but over the years they have become chestnut, black and grey….mum used to laugh and say “That Grey Stallion has been on the rampage again”…

So! We set off from home and picked Dad up before heading through Bicester down to Eastleigh, just outside Southampton. We stopped for a sandwich, while John watched a variety of trains.

We progressed on to Chandlers Ford for coffee with my mums second cousins Simon and Sheila. It was good to catch up.

Finally we arrived at The Beaulieu Hotel, next to Beaulieu Road Station, in the New Forest. We had a lovely welcome from the receptionist. We had booked deluxe rooms. The Ambassador lift took us up to our rooms. They were spacious, uncluttered and extremely pleasant. Just inside the door was something I’d only ever seen on over night trains….a pull down set of bunk beds….what a clever idea for families……

The reception areas had big “flop down” sofas, chairs and a roaring log fire…the whole ambience was most congenial, relaxing and very nice…The wifi seems good !!!!

We had booked our evening meal for 6.30pm. We were told it was in “The Drift”- a pub and restaurant in a different building on the same site, we presume it’s part of the hotel…However!!!! It was very different…although not unpleasant it certainly didn’t have the same welcoming ambience that the hotel had. We waited too long to be seated and even then I eventually went to the bar and asked if we just sat anywhere – even though a sign said “please wait to be seated”. The lady behind the bar asked if the chap was there “No” !!! That’s why we were stood there like lost souls….I am never very good with people who don’t use what I call “ with-itness” or more commonly called common sense…..from the bar it was a clear view to where we were stood…ummmm any way she did seat us…The menu was very limited…John had gammon and chips, Dad and I had Chicken and Ham pie and chunky chips…..Dad compared the pie to a “Pukka pie”… just full of stodge, not a piece of chicken to be found… and everything swimming in a thick gravy resulting in soggy pastry and chips…..oh dear….. the plate says it all…..

The service didn’t really improve…and the dessert menu was all a sugar loaded over kill….the saving grace was that Dad enjoyed his wine and I had a nice glass of cider. The drinks and meal came to £71. I think we’ll eat somewhere else tomorrow.