New Forest, United KingdomLyndhurst
Lime Wood Hotel
Woodland country manor
Lyndhurst New Forest, United Kingdom
Opened
2009
Price
$$$$
Rated for
Design Luxe WellnessOutside the door
Woodland country manor
Gravel drives wind past grazing ponies to a Regency manor where afternoon cocktails clink beneath a retractable glass roof.
What it’s good at
Remarkable
Regency architecture reframed with bespoke British furniture and a retractable glass-roofed courtyard bar.
Remarkable
Unforced Hampshire hospitality with valet arrival and staff lighting cottage log fires.
What they say
Two Michelin Keys
Michelin
UK Readers' Choice Awards – The best hotels in the rest of the UK
Condé Nast Traveler
2025
Perhaps that’s the key to the casual, almost effortless luxury of Lime Wood, in the New Forest, just outside Southampton.
Tucked away
A place apart: the property is the destination.
Ancient woodland trails branch out from the grounds, where wild ponies and fallow deer roam freely across open Hampshire heathland.
The rooms
Forest Cottages feature rustic timber and log fireplaces, while Main House bedrooms pair Regency proportions with freestanding roll-top baths.
The pool
Bring a swimsuit.
A 16-metre indoor lap pool sits beneath a skylight, and a steaming hydro pool bubbles on the timber deck outside.
The spa and gym
Treatment rooms look out onto ancient woodland, and the attic gym opens to a rooftop herb garden.
Restaurant
Hartnett Holder & Co
Chefs Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder craft Italian-inspired dishes using ingredients gathered from the surrounding forest and Hampshire farms.
the main building’s Brudnizki-designed Courtyard Bar is all modern elegance; but immediately outside it’s manicured lawns, lily ponds and topiary, which eventually turn into the sublime rusticity of the New Forest.
The Courtyard Bar
The central lounge serves cocktails and all-day bites across patterned tiles beneath a retractable glass roof.
At the table
Raw & Cured serves fresh juices, plant-focused plates, and fish cured in the on-site smokehouse.
How it began
Once a medieval royal hunting lodge and later a school where T.S. Eliot taught, the estate was restored before opening in 2009.
New Forest
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Rhinefield House Hotel
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Our shorthand
How we rate hotels.
The medals
Gold
Extremely rare. Sets the global standard.
Silver
Brilliant execution. And we’re picky.
Bronze
They did this well. You’ll notice.
Listed
A defining trait. Makes the hotel what it is.
The eight vibes
Design
Built around a vision. Even the door handles have a designer.
Luxe
Cared for at every turn. The bath is drawn before you ask.
Local
It could only be here. You wake up knowing where you are.
Social
Where the city goes out. The bar is full and the night is young.
Heritage
A building with a story. Once a palace, a monastery, a station.
Wellness
You leave feeling new. Rest, sweat, soak and sleep like a stone.
Classic
The city grew up with it. Same rituals, same regulars, same bar.
Resort
A world of its own. Something to do from breakfast to nightcap.
The scene
Lively
Where things happen: restaurants, shops, people.
Central
Well-located: walkable to some things, a short ride to more.
Quiet
Away from the crowds. Getting around takes intention.
Secluded
A place apart: the property is the destination.