Last Sunday I was whisked away to the New Park Manor Hotel as a bit of a mini-moon after our amazing wedding. Much more on our wedding coming soon! When you have kids and you get married, it’s a lot harder to ‘do it all at once’. We’re going away next week for my cousin’s wedding in Cyprus. So having a honeymoon straight after the wedding just wasn’t do-able. The lead-up to a wedding is so intense and can be so stressful, that all you want to do is getaway as soon as the wedding is over!
So the day after our wedding, we had breakfast, packed up various cars, handed out cases of flowers, waved goodbye to our little one and off we went to a surprise location! I thought we’d probably end up sailing somewhere, but the husband did good and booked a proper hotel… With a spa! Bliss!
The New Park Manor Hotel was once a former Royal hunting lodge for King Charles II (find their website here or on Expedia here). Many of the original features from this period still exist including fireplaces and the coat of arms above the fireplace in the dining room. In 1980 a new wing was built which is very sympathetic to the overall design of the New Park Manor Hotel. The interiors were redesigned in 2013 by Hugo daSilva who created a beautiful balance between antique pieces mixed with contemporary details. Our room was right in the centre of the old part of the New Park Manor Hotel with the most beautiful period detailing.
Nestled in the picturesque New Forest, you can curl up on a settee on the sun-baked spa terrace and watch as the deer graze across the meadow. Or you can just fall asleep like I did! Did I mention this was the day after our wedding? I was knackered! Luckily the New Park Manor Hotel has a fabulous spa… we spent the whole afternoon detoxing and then retoxing with prosecco in the sunchine!
At this point, I must point out that the New Park Manor Hotel is a luxury retreat which is totally family friendly – that includes the pooch too. At the entrance, you’ll find various sized wellies and dog towels as well as a milk bottle drop-off point at reception. Sterilising milk bottles can be a nightmare when you’re away and so this is an awesome USP for anyone wanting to get away with a little one. There’s also a snug to curl up and read with plenty of children’s books and toys. A kiddie play-room with cinema as well as a supervised crèche so you can still have your spa treatments ; )
Outside, you’ll find plenty to keep the kids entertained. The New Park Manor Hotel is kitted out better than your local playground – oh and did I mention that there’s an outdoor heated pool too? Choices… choices…
I took quite some time editing and prevaricating about the final images I chose for this blog post. The hotel has so many fantastic interior design and architectural features that I felt that the images told more of a story than my words ever could. So I’ve ended up with more photos than I’d normally have on a blog post, but I just loved that every room you walked into was an instagram shot in the making!
At this point we were so blissfully happy that I almost forgot to take a shot of my starter at dinner! I quickly rearranged my crispy squid, chorizo, pickled clam & gremolata and took the shot… it was divine!
We both actually ended choosing the same starter and main – honey roasted duck breast, crushed parsnips and griotine jus. We ordered the side of smoked kale not knowing what to expect – that was delicious too! Each item on the menu has a recommended wine and it was handy that we ordered the same meal as it meant we got the bottle! For desert, they brought us out this beautiful sharing platter – I didn’t share the macaron… that had my name all over it!
We finished our bottle of wine in the lounge and looked through all of our wedding photos that people had posted up! #nkwedding was the hashtag by the way – although it seems to be quite popular with other weddings too!
Many thanks to all the lovely staff at the New Park Manor Hotel for taking such great care of us! Hopefully we’ll return soon and unleash the little one on you guys! ; )
Natalia xo
