Hampshire - 2
Well-being at Four Seasons, Hampshire can be taken for granted, as if a matter of course. Look at the space. 580 acres of parkland. There’s equestrian, and boating. Two professional bird-watchers are on hand. There is bike riding, shooting, archery. Indoors, there is an excellent Technogym with French doors opening to give fresh air from outside. And the neighboring studios have nonstop classes every day of the week. There are two Olympic-sized indoor pools, one for adults and the other, Sharkie’s Reef, for families and fun.
The spa is a real benefit, too. Girlahead luxuriated with a 111skin facial and after 80 minutes’ sheer bliss, thanks to Anna from Kazakhstan – trained in England – she, recipient if not therapist, could swear before judge and jury that honestly, me lord, the effect made her feel oodles better (in all honesty, generally, there’s so much colour around in this place, you psychologically feel better anyway – see photos.
And the food is a big contributing factor. Dinner in Wild Carrots is like going into a children's party with adults invited. Every table seems to have little ones who are amazingly well behaved. Wild Carrots menu is an A3-sized cream sheet of paper. look at the opportunities while enjoying whatever - in our case, glasses of By Ott 2025, with extra ice by the side. Puglian Burrata with little quarters of green, yellow, or red, tomatoes. and an invisible calamansi gel. and balsamic pearls. Next were dry-aged Cornish rib eye, 285 grams. Grass fed. Served simply with six red tomatoes on the vine. Sides of truffle mashed potatoes. and leaf spinach. No room for dessert. but out came nonetheless a Summer pudding birthday cake with a single candle.
Pre-prandial morning hike took in a low hill, an archery hut and several of the lifesize Sophie Ryder metal animals for which this sculptor is renowned. Breakfast in Wild Oats is a lovely experience, highlighted by an open kitchen which has lots of white coats working hard. Leader of the gang the numbers of people working hard there, led by chef Talha Barkin, a Turk who grew up in a food family. How rare it is to see an Executive Chef really ‘working’ breakfast. Memo to self for next visit; don't overlook the homemade granola, which is full of goodness, and do once again bag a lemon yoghurt, from The Estate Dairy, in Cheshire.
There's no music other than the kids playing around. This is very much a children's hotel. Plain wood tables set with Churchill ceramics. Two pale pink carnations stand guard, in a pink glass vase.
