The name Angela Hartnett is, for many, associated with the exceptional food at Murano, Café Murano and Merchants’ Tavern. Until I manage to visit one of those hallowed restaurants for myself, my touch point with the acclaimed chef is via the rather less obvious Dish from Waitrose podcast. A couple of years ago, some bright spark thought it might work well to pair ‘Ange’ with Nick ‘Grimmy’ Grimshaw. She cooks. He serves drinks. They both laugh. A lot.

Now, five seasons in, the pair continue to welcome guests ranging from Hannah Waddingham and Grace Dent, to Yotam Ottolenghi and Stanley Tucci, who join in with the duo’s fun, light-hearted chit-chat. Recently, they served a roast topside of beef to Claudia Winkleman, who declared the chef’s food “the best I’ve ever eaten in my whole life.” It drove the point home: I must now find out for myself if Hartnett’s cooking really is as good as these many podcast guests (food critics, at that) say it is.

And so, to Lime Wood.

Not to East London but the New Forest, on a thoroughly grey and miserable English day. The Georgian manor house that forms the heart of Lime Wood has a lot going for it: there are 33 gorgeous bedrooms and suites, a stylish library, the lofty Courtyard bar (with its impressive retractable roof), a huge spa (more on this later), a smokehouse, and the surrounding sprawling grounds.

Main House staircase. Image: Jake Eastham

The Courtyard

It’s also home to Hartnett Holder & Co, a restaurant which promises to be ‘full of character and fun’, as per a menu that features jolly illustrations of the eponymous masterminds behind it. Hartnett and world-class chef Luke Holder teamed up 12 years ago to create HH&Co and, although I know Hartnett is very unlikely to make an appearance, I somehow find myself asking our young waiter that very question. “She’s here about once a month, but not today I’m afraid,” she explains politely, with no idea that, thanks to Dish, I’m a fan of ‘Ange’ the person as much as Angela Hartnett the Michelin-starred chef.

HH&Co’s bar

After our exceptional meal, I know what I had hoped is true: Hartnett is a fantastically talented chef with an equally great partner in Holder. The menu has a strong Italian influence, with a lot of locally-sourced ingredients, and dishes are hearty rather than overly fancy.

Given the standard of my Hen of the Wood salad, vegetarians fare equally well. The rabbit leg tagliatelle is so good I regret sharing, although our lovely waiter is right that we’ll be too full if we have every single course on the menu; we need space to devour perfectly-pink West Country venison and Aylesbury duck with a vibrant sauce. Oh, and to accommodate generous portions of tiramisu (served tableside) and chocolate cremeux with chestnut gelato.

Wine does not play a supporting role here. The restaurant has its own branded wines from Tuscany, as well as a vaulted wine cellar and a wealth of staff expertise; on the evening we visit, there are three sommeliers on duty. This initially sounds like two too many but we can see they spend a lot of time advising diners and we also enjoy our own vini-centric chats. Among (many) others, we’re recommended a Uruguayan chardonnay, which goes down very well, and we are merry when we return to our room for the night.

Actually, it’s wholly inaccurate to call Crescent Lodge, where we are staying, a room. Housed in a pretty white wood building, it’s a split-level cottage, comprising an entrance hall, living room, single bedroom and shower room downstairs; and upstairs, accessed via a spiral, underfloor-heated stone staircase, a master bedroom and bathroom. Both floors have balconies, fireplaces and cosy neutral interiors with pops of colour (orange lampshades and fun art).

Replete from the HH&Co wine-laced feast, we resist the martini tray, but, earlier that day, we did have a mini ransack of the in-room pantry. Booze and Bamford products are to be paid for but there’s a great array of complimentary soft drinks (including detox juices and healthy shots) and lots of snacks, ranging from crisps, nuts and seeds to sweets and chocolate, including an old-school Wagon Wheel (when was the last time you saw one of those?).

It’s only when the birds start singing the next morning that I realise how silent it has been overnight. In our white, wood-turned four-poster bed, I languish with a cup of tea, soaking up the vibrant, verdant forest-scape taking up every square inch of the windows opposite. The small details are done well; in the rainforest shower, for example, the taps are not directly under the shower head. Obvious, perhaps, but I’ve been drenched by cold water more times than I would have liked attempting to figure out the tap configuration under others.

The Library

Although it’s a mere 10 hours since we finished our indulgent supper, we’re lured out of our cosy lodge with the promise of breakfast. The outdoor walkway back to the main hotel building is lined with huge planters and overhung with vine-wrapped beams. The spread laid out in the scullery, lined with wine bottles (not ideal for the mild headache I’m nursing), is too tempting to resist: pretty blue-and-white china plates, squeeze-your-own orange juice, mounds of berries. Help yourself to breakfast staples on the buffet table (£21) or add a Favourite or Classic breakfast for £28. In the name of research, we try potato hash with broccoli and duck egg (me) and harissa baked eggs (husband). Both are excellent.

Last but not least is a visit to Herb House, a bells-and-whistles kind of spa which recently nabbed an AA Best UK Spa award (2023) and the Good Hotel Guide Editor’s Choice – Spa Hotels award (2024). Ten treatment rooms, a rooftop gym, fitness studio, Raw & Cured restaurant, a gorgeous, sizeable sauna, Hands and Feet room (mani/pedis), a spa shop and three pools all play their part in this all-encompassing experience. The indoor pool is technically a lap pool (although, at only 16 metres, I doubt they expect more serious swimmers to use it for lengths), while there’s also a smaller heated outdoor pool and a hydro pool with floor-to-ceiling windows that allow for a gloriously green vista.

There are three tiers of spa membership and six different spa day options available, as well as, of course, access for all the hotel guests, which explains why it feels busy when we’re here. My visit comes only days after I’ve visited a palatial London hotel spa; despite the blissful zen of only encountering two other guests in my hours there, it is surely better to have a spa which works hard and delivers for many.

Image: Amy Murrell

Guests are encouraged to bring their own water bottle to refill, or to buy a reusable Belu bottle for £5. Food and drink packaging throughout the spa (and hotel) is made from recycled materials or is fully biodegradable. Notable brands include that of long-time Lime Wood partner and natural living champion Carole Bamford (also of the beloved Daylesford Organic brand); Herb House was the first spa outside of Bamford’s own to offer its body and skincare treatments. At Lime Wood, you can also get your Bamford fix by way of its soothing bedtime pillow mist and in-room bathroom products. Facial expert Sarah Chapman and her Skinesis treatments also appear on the spa menu, as does Voya’s organic seaweed-based offering.

I opt for a Grounding Ritual treatment, which is supremely relaxing. I particularly like the massaging of one whole side of my body from shoulder to foot, in one go. My therapist tells me this treatment, courtesy of Ground Wellbeing, a newer Herb House partner, is all about the vagus nerve. The longest cranial nerve, it controls various internal organ functions, such as digestion, heart rate and breathing.

Raw & Cured spa restaurant

Lime Wood, I’m sold. You’ve exceeded my Harnett-informed expectations, and you play a strong spa, style, wine and cocktail game. Although, next time, I really would love to meet Ange…

From £495 per night, visit limewoodhotel.co.uk

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