Studland Bay, Isle of Purbeck · Hotel
A gabled country house above Studland Bay with a kitchen garden, a greenhouse restaurant and sea views across to Old Harry Rocks.
THE PIG on the beach sits on a rise above Studland Bay in a rambling Victorian manor with turrets and gables, looking out over the beach towards Old Harry Rocks and the chalk stacks at the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast. It is the seaside member of the PIG group and follows the same formula: a walled kitchen garden, a restaurant built into a greenhouse, and interiors that lean deliberately shabby rather than polished.
There are 28 bedrooms spread between the main house, the converted stables and a set of dovecotes and shepherd's huts in the grounds. The cheaper rooms are compact and face inland; the sea-view rooms in the main house have the balconies and the freestanding baths, and the huts suit anyone who wants privacy over proximity to the bar. Every room has a larder stocked with local snacks rather than a minibar.
The kitchen works to a 25-mile rule, taking most produce from the garden, the surrounding farms and the boats at Poole and Swanage. Menus change daily and lean heavily on vegetables, wood-fired cooking and whatever has been landed that morning. Booking dinner well in advance is sensible, as the restaurant takes non-residents and fills quickly in summer. There is a small treatment area in a pair of potting sheds.
It suits couples and small groups more than young families, though children are accepted. The location is the real draw: the National Trust beach at Studland is a few minutes' walk downhill, the coast path to Old Harry starts nearby, and the Sandbanks chain ferry puts Poole within reach without the long drive around the harbour. Note that the walk back up from the beach is steep, and that the surrounding lanes are narrow.