Pool, hot tub, gardens and grounds
It’s possible to feel stressed even here, but probably only if you run a troubled country or large investment bank. Even then, you’ll feel tension slip away as you lie back on the sunloungers and listen to the ducks on the lakes. Rise slowly to walk the tranquil banks or for occasional dips in the heated outdoor pool and woodfired hot tub.
There’s a spa-like simplicity embedded in the luxury here. Eat out on the terrace in the open air, with meat from the West Lea Farm Shop on the coal barbecue. Wild-swim in the river, canoe the lakes, play snooker and foosball in the outside games room, get together at night around the firepit and listen out for owls. Still tense?
Living spaces
Be sociable, be solitary. Introverts and extroverts alike will find their space at The Water Lily. Come together in the soaring living/dining area with full-height windows providing a glass canvas out onto the swimming pool and lake beyond. Or duck out to one of two snugs to recharge over Sonos music or your own choice of TV streaming.
Pick from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Now TV and settle back on cosy sofas with coffee from the Nespresso. Head out to the garden games room for foosball and snooker. Or sweat it out in the gym on the treadmill, cross-trainer, weights, skipping rope, bands and yoga mats.
Cooking and dining
That high-spec kitchen’s oh-so tempting but if you’d rather marinate yourself than a leg of lamb, head to the hot tub while our pro cooks from Host Hospitality or Chef Gary do the legwork. Book them for a fully catered break, a one-off celebration, a feast in the woodlands or an afternoon tea by the river. You name it – we’ll make it happen.
Eat in the dining room with the vaulted glass flooding the space with light and offering a window onto a tranquil world of grass, trees and water. Or head out there to sear your steaks on the coal barbecue and eat on the terrace in a world of nature. Too chill to grill? Get takeaways from Shapla, Pi Pizza and Piecaramba!
Pop out to The Chestnut Horse in Easton for fish and chips, smoked trout or double-bacon cheeseburger and chips. Over in Ovington, The Bush Inn offers homemade steak and ale pie, honey and wholegrain mustard-roasted ham or vegetarian risotto. Or try Alresford Townhouse for smaller plates, bigger plates, pizza, sharing and nibbles.
Got kids in tow? Tempt them with the play area at The Plough Inn at Itchen Abbas and tempt your tastebuds with burrata, roast guinea fowl supreme or 280-day dry-aged sirloin steak. Or head to The Inn on the Park for crispy confit duck, smoked chalk-stream trout mousse or braised mushroom and truffle filo tart.
Bedrooms
In the cradle of nature and with crisp, quality linen around you, your sleep will be as tranquil as a lily pond in one of seven spacious bedrooms, each with superking beds, en-suite bathrooms and smart TVs.
On the ground floor, bedroom one provides a bath and will take a cot, while bedrooms two and three offer walk-in shower and space for a cot. Bedroom four comes with a shower and bedroom five offers access to the outside pool area and a walk-in shower. It will take a cot or zed-bed.
On the first floor, bedroom six provides a walk-in shower and seating overlooking the lakes, while bedroom seven – the master suite – comes with a walk-in shower and a separate seating area overlooking the lakes.
What people say
Sup, sip and walk the sky
Wild-water swim in the Itchen. Kayak the lakes. Sup craft beer for humans at Growling Gibbon or sip the spirit of the river at The River Test Distillery. Check out the Otter Cam at Winchester City Mill, ride the Watercress Line, captain a motorised ship and see the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth. Or walk the sky at the Spinnaker Tower.
