A One-of-a-Kind British Country Inn: Was It Worth the Wait?
We scrutinized Heckfield Place, a newly opened luxury estate in Hampshire and found a whole other breed of country house—both eco-conscious and sumptuous
WELCOME TO the new age of old English countryside hotels. Among the slew of openings is a deluxe manse for every taste. Bohemian aristocrats will want to rest at Durslade Farmhouse, an elegant six-bedroom relic on the grounds of Hauser & Wirth Somerset, the Swiss dealers’ sprawling art center. Clubby sorts might make a sortie to Oxfordshire’s Soho Farmhouse. Tux owners? Their black-tie-optional ideal might be the Langley, a 41-room inn with 18th-century Capability Brown gardens in Buckinghamshire, set to open this spring. Of all the new arrivals, none has teased Londoners as long as Heckfield Place, opened last fall after nine years in the making. A 400-acre self-sustaining luxury estate in Hampshire—about 60 minutes by train from the capital—the retreat was exactingly made over by owner Gerald Chan (a Hong Kong-born, Boston-based real estate mogul), and spares no frills but isn’t frilly at all. Here, a closer, critical look:
The draw: An immense estate anchored by an 18th-century Georgian house, Heckfield Place is a back-to-the-land venture with lofty goals of sustainability. Captured rainwater, recycled waste and a host of biodynamic practices sustain the working farm (sheep, pigs, chickens, bees), greenhouses, orchards and gardens, where guests can pick their own courgettes for supper. Despite that nod to agricultural exertion, you’re not preparing your own supper: The hotel offers two restaurants, under the direction of noted London chef Skye Gyngell. Forty-seven guest rooms, all painfully tasteful, occupy the main house and a more modest new addition. Among the other bells and whistles: a screening room and a snob-worthy wine cellar.
The hood: Jane Austen country. Approximately an hour by train from London’s Waterloo Station and about 30 miles southwest of Heathrow.
Rooms to book (or balk at): The Long Room is the most lavish, with its dreamy kitchen, fireside dining room and private terrace. Heckfield’s owner, Gerald Chan, wanted the place to feel like a relative’s country house, resplendent but intimate, yet no one’s Aunt Hermione charges $13,000 for one night. A somewhat less ludicrous option, the Ochre Room runs about $2,300 a night. That’ll buy you 614 square feet adorned in a sexy palette, cashmere and Irish linen bedclothes and a vast bathroom with a decorative screen that doubles as one of those mirrors that lets you see yourself from behind.
Elbow rubbing: Guests tend to be a mix of weekending families, fans of the chef (Ms. Gyngell also runs Spring in London), and art enthusiasts keen to ogle Mr. Chan’s collection of midcentury British painters hung throughout.
Atypical amenity: Head arborist Sam Crosse, who used to look after Andrew Lloyd Webber’s trees, guides walking tours of the disorientingly expansive grounds and 200-year-old arboretum.
Room for improvement: The property ran many years behind schedule, so construction persists. The free-standing Bothys spa is due to open in the fall and 40 Guernsey cows won’t start mooing until spring.
Most expensive item in the mini bar: A 17-ounce bottle of Compass Box whiskey, $96.
Room Cost: From about $460 a night, including breakfast.
Corrections & Amplifications
Hampshire is about 60 minutes by train from London’s Waterloo Station. An earlier version of this article said that Hampshire was 90 minutes by train from London. The name of the owner of Heckfield Place was also misidentified. His name is Gerald Chan, not George Chan. (February 1, 2019)
Appeared in the February 2, 2019, print edition as 'Manor Reborn.'