A house, not a hotel.
Nine rooms in New Farm, run by Kate and Sam, who own every stick of furniture in it. Breakfast is cooked when you come down for it. Banjo the dog is, regrettably, not for sale.
You will be met by name, and it will be your name.
There is no front desk, no lift, and nobody wearing a badge. What there is: deep baths, heavy curtains, a kitchen that starts at six, and two owners who have done every job in this building at least once. If something is wrong, the person who can fix it is already in the room.
Three reasons people book the same week next year
Small enough to remember how you take your coffee. Big enough to leave you alone when that is what you came for.
The rooms
Nine, no two alike. Ask for the Garden Room if the forecast is kind, and the Long Room if it very much is not.
The table
One sitting, one menu, six nights a week. Non-residents are welcome whenever we have the chairs.
The garden
Walled, south-facing, and the sole reason breakfast runs late every July.
Rooms, corners, weather
Photographed in November, which we think is fairer than June.
The Garden Room
Ground floor, own door.
Baths
Every room, no exceptions.
The Snug
Fire lit from October.
Breakfast
Cooked, not held.
The view
Four rooms have it.
The staircase
1904, and it shows.
Written on the way out
We arrived in filthy weather and were handed tea before we had our coats off. Three nights and I never once had to explain what I wanted.
Booked it for the garden, stayed in for the dinner. The kitchen does one menu and does it properly, which after a year of long menus was a relief.
The honest list of what they do not have is on their own website. That is the whole character of the place and it is why we keep coming back.