Evaluation: The Bush Lodge Farnham, Surrey, UK

The Bush Lodge Farnham is exclusive. This 95 key resort, courting again to at the least 1618, has a Excessive Road location but sits in three tranquil acres of grounds.

This website has in all probability hosted a watering gap for the reason that eleventh century, with medieval landlords spreading straw throughout the ground for drinkers who needed to remain the evening.

These are good instances for the ivy-clad Bush Lodge, privately owned since 2018. The vast majority of the rooms and suites have undergone a significant makeover, with a refurbishment programme beginning on the final 17 rooms. The Bush is now in all probability in higher form than it has been for the final 900 years.

Good instances time for Farnham too, awarded the standing of World Craft City in 2020. It is only one of three such honoured cities in Europe. Additionally, Farnham has been recognized by The Sunday Occasions as the most effective cities to dwell in England.  This thriving city has an annual craft month in October, a Literary Pageant in March and a month-to-month market hosted in The Maltings.

Down within the south-west nook of Surrey, near the Hampshire border, idyllic Farnham, with its chocolate field cobbles and timbers, is lower than an hour by prepare from London and a mere hour’s drive from the South Coast.

More and more The Bush Lodge is internet hosting company heading to Farnham for the humanities and crafts, biking and mountain climbing within the Surrey Hills or taking in the fantastic thing about the Downs.

The welcome

Regardless of its city centre location, The Bush has ample parking. We took the lavender-lined path via the lawns and striped deck-chairs to a heat welcome at reception.

The suite

Every suite and room is exclusive, designed with authentic artwork, particular person color palettes and distinctive soft-furnishings. Inside the authentic Grade 2 listed constructing, there may be the grand Bush Suite, three different suites and classic rooms.

Our suite seems onto the Excessive Road however efficient double-glazing reduces passing visitors to a whisper. A small-lounge that includes a two-seater couch is the place to learn the Surrey guide-book that’s supplied.

A coffee-maker, tea tray and fridge for chilled water all add to the make-yourself-at-home consolation.

The lavatory

A big bathe takes up the width of the well-lit, grey-walled, wooden-floored toilet.

The services

With exuberant glossy-leafed banana crops, 4 gilded chandeliers and rattan chairs there’s a Palm Court docket really feel to The Backyard Restaurant with its slick service.

We have been there for Sunday lunch, as have been numerous realizing locals. A superbly balanced carrot and coriander soup and a big salmon and cream cheese parcel made for promising starters. A wine pairing suggestion for every dish is a useful.

We opted for succulent beef and the peerlessly roasted cornfed half-chicken from a alternative of roasts that included pork and a vegan wellington. A number of roast greens, a ginormous Yorkshire pudding and wealthy gravy labored effectively with all of the roast choices. Past the Sunday roasts, fish and chips plus burgers have been additionally on the menu.

As with a lot at The Bush, the timbered bar, blends outdated and new. Croquet mallet heads enhance the partitions, recalling the times when croquet was performed on the resort’s lawns. But with a nod to up to date sports activities bars, the extensive display options TNT sports activities channels.

Or you’ll be able to take your drinks exterior  on a serene terrace that includes outsize terracotta planters of white hydrangeas. Deckchairs on the garden look in the direction of a church which as soon as a month hosts the Spire Restore Cafe.

The placement

Farnham is house to the College of Artistic Arts. In addition to onsite exhibitions, guests will discover the work of its college students and graduates within the New Ashgate Gallery and at The Maltings.

All through Farnham makers create. With a purple sizzling flame of creativity blacksmiths work on metals,  a puppet-maker brings new characters to life and weavers use an unlimited palate of colors and textures. While potters proceed and develop a convention courting again to the Roman occupation.

Farnham Sculpture Park is a six miles drive away. Take two to a few hours to meander via 650 trendy and up to date sculptures displayed over 10 acres of arboretum and water gardens. Each sculpture from dragons to a navy tank, made out of 20,000 items of reclaimed pallet and marine wooden, is on the market or rent (topic to negotiation).

Biking, sensory, tree-line and strolling trails at Alice Holt Forest make for one more nice time out from Farnham.

Different good touches

Obtainable from reception, the historical past of The Bush tells the story of the final 900 years.

Within the Oak Room, frescoes solely uncovered in 1931 are rigorously preserved. Prudish Victorians had thought the bare cherubs too cheeky for public show. Look as much as the ceiling and you will note the rarity of an indoor sundial. The solar’s rays, arriving through the gardens, helped long-gone generations maintain monitor of the time.

All through the resort there may be an eclectic number of artwork. Antiquarian maps, architectural plans, avant-garde portraits, Constable-like rural scenes, up to date bursts of color, formal nineteenth century portraits and satirical cartoons do their greatest to sum up 9 centuries of historical past.

The neighbouring Petite Patisserie, owned by the resort, is run by pastry chef Leyre Pedrazuela, featured within the 2019 Bake Off, The Professionals sequence. Few company can resist calling in for a high-end exquisitely offered dessert with a espresso.

The fee

Rooms begin with a Basic Double, inclusive of breakfast for 2, from £161.

The most effective bit

Location, location, location.  From reception, you’ll be able to step out via a cobbled courtyard into the very coronary heart of Farnham. Artwork galleries, impartial retailers and even a Gin and Chocolate store, promoting 400 totally different gins, are all inside a brief stroll.

Farnham Citadel is inside strolling distance too. The constructing dates again to round 1138, usually internet hosting royalty in its early centuries. Although it shouldn’t be forgotten that Oliver Cromwell stayed at The Bush in 1648.

Alternatively, you’ll be able to loosen up in The Bush’s spacious grounds or The Oak Room with afternoon tea.

The ultimate verdict

The Bush Lodge and Farnham are each flying approach below the radar. Go to this charming, historic resort in a uniquely arty city earlier than the crowds uncover them.

Disclosure: Our keep was sponsored by The Bush Lodge Farnham.

Michael Edwards

Michael Edwards is a journey author from Oxfordshire, UK. Though Michael had his first journey items revealed almost 4 a long time in the past, he’s nonetheless discovering new luxurious locations to go to and write on.