Hotel Review:
South Lodge: Horsham
SBT offers our review of South Lodge Hotel in Horsham, with its 17th Century style refinement, Michelin star dining and excellent business facilities
South Lodge Horsham
Address: Brighton Road, Horsham RH13 6PS Telephone: 01403 891711 Web: www.southlodgehotel.co.uk
50 www.sussexbusinessgroup.co.uk
It’s always refreshing to spend a night at Hotel a hotel that exudes not only character Review and history but also an abundance of comfort and impressive grace. The South Lodge Hotel, as part of the Exclusive Hotels chain, provided exactly this for my stay. Built as a home in 1883, the hotel has since been expanded into the 5-star dwelling it is today, set upon 93 acres of land. The ‘extensions’ on the original building are by no means obvious, however – the hotel has done well to keep the original style, actually using the exterior brickwork of the initial façade of the house within the reception area and new Michelin star restaurant. On arrival, I spent a few minutes admiring the view, feeling a little like a guest from a period drama. I eventually found the reception area – I must admit now that I got a bit lost on arrival due to parking in the wrong car park – and was shown to my room. I walked down an almost hidden corridor, past rooms that were each named according to the ‘Sussex Landmark’ theme of the ground floor wing that my room was also in (other wings have themes including flowers and equestrian). Stepping into
my room - one of the 89 suites available at the hotel - I was met with a huge living space with a grand four-poster bed, facing a huge window that looked out over the grounds and towards the South Downs. Additionally, I had a flat screen television (with sound system), two armchairs, a desk with a tablet for ordering room service, a dressing table with large mirror, an enormous wardrobe and an ensuite to rival most people’s bedroom alone – the bath even had its own television. Suffice to say, I was impressed. Everything was extremely well thought out with the guest in mind. The room offered personalisation at every opportunity; using my tablet, I had the choice of ordering a different set of pillows for my particular needs; I had an integrated light system, with buttons allowing me to turn on, or off, the reading light, wall lights, the ceiling light, spotlights and blue night lights. My ‘do not disturb’ option came in the form of a stuffed sheep toy – a very unique concept and one that suited the heritage of the grounds, which used to have sheep on them, extremely well. Although I didn’t actually use my sheep, or my catalogue of pillow choices, I appreciated the freedom of choice and inventiveness nonetheless.