Gardens and grounds
The designer touches don’t stop at the interior. These days, we flow from indoors to out like the summer breeze. So you get to drink and dine on the soft-grey bench table beneath giant blue skies, or take tea and cakes around the walled patio, around the painted brick and the wall mirrors.
Among the three-quarters of an acre, the trampoline invites kids to work up an appetite before dinner, while a spot of al-fresco table-tennis is the perfect antipasto to pulled pork or buttery-baked corn-on-the-cob from the barbie. This is outdoor living seasoned with the tang of salty sea air.
Living spaces
Groaning with designer touches, Summer’s Lodge comes artfully presented. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be uncomfortable here. The living spaces are beautiful, but they’re designed to feel like home. So put your feet up, pop some Prosecco and revel in the warmth of family time.
Arty lamps and knick-knacks dot the ‘Blue Room’, with its hardwood flooring, and cosy rugs, throws and cushions. Fix up a Nespresso by day, get busy with the milk-frother, then chill with a book by the blazing fire. By night, pour yourself a Prosecco or cheeky G&T as you bring out the board games.
Making it a movie night? The cinema room is equally tasteful, with its exposed-brick walls and floating media unit. Toss the beanbags on the floor and chill as you load up the superfast broadband and tap into Netflix on the smart TV.
Get together, be apart. The choice is yours. If the party spills over, the garden looks like a living room, too, with easy chairs, wall mirrors and soft-grey brick creating smart spaces for making memories.
Cooking and dining
Unless you live in a stately home, it’s rare you can get everyone together to butter their bread and quaff their wine at the same table. You’ll get 14 round this one and have the chance to cater for them on four ovens and one electric ceramic hob. Better still, down tools and let our chefs do dinner and stack the dishwasher, too.
If you’re stocking up, make sure it’s Turner’s for pies, Hoares for meat and Horrocks for veg. For fresh fish, try Something Fishy in East Wittering or Fisherman Bob’s Hut on East Wittering beach. Be sure to check out Chichester Farmers’ Market on first and third Fridays. Wash it all down with red, white or pink from Majestic Wine in Chichester.
Eating outside? Plenty of space around the bench table for al-fresco dining beneath big blue skies or under the glittering stars. Eating out? Kid-friendly pubs abound, including The Lamb Inn and The Old House at Home in West Wittering, The Crown and Anchor at Dell Quay, the Ship Inn at Itchenor or The Blacksmith’s Arms in Donnington.
Book yourself a little bistro at The Boat House Café on Chichester Marina, enjoy locally sourced food just a skimming stone from the beach at Drifter’s in East Wittering, or try Selsey crab or guinea fowl at The Crab and Lobster at Sidlesham. Or enjoy a beachcomber vibe at the laid-back Drift-In Surf Café.
Bedrooms
There are no right and wrong choices when it comes to bedrooms at Summer’s Lodge. So just anticipate and enjoy bedtime. Wrap yourself up in bed linen and towels sourced and laundered through a hotel-laundry company for premium quality, and sleep like a hunk of driftwood on a deserted beach.
Pick from seven bedrooms, with flexible accommodation in every room, thanks to the wonders of zip-and-link. There’s even a wheelchair-friendly room downstairs with wheel-in wetroom.
The master en-suite bedroom and bedrooms two to four come with a kingsize bed or two singles, while bedroom five offers the disabled-friendly accommodation with direct outside access. Bedroom six sleeps one in a sofa bed on the ground floor, while bedroom seven is a single bed.
What people say
From windsurfing to waxing
Kids can join the windsurfers on West Wittering beach, or splash in the shallow lagoons at low tide. Or steam around Sussex on the ride-on railway. For grown-ups, call up Roses Beauty and Skincare for home facials and waxing. Or maybe soak up the views from Arundel Castle or the architecture of Chichester Cathedral.
