Cottage Lodge Hotel

About Cottage Lodge Hotel

Cottage Lodge is a small, family-run hotel in the centre of Brockenhurst, parts of which date to around 1650. Original beams, handmade brick and reused ship timbers survive in the older sections, and the building has grown outwards over the centuries rather than being rebuilt, which explains why no two rooms are quite alike. It is run with an unusual degree of attention to environmental impact, from the heating and lighting to where the breakfast ingredients come from.

There are 16 bedrooms, including hand-crafted four-posters, family rooms, doubles and twins, and three rooms that take dogs. Some are snug and low-ceilinged in the way of a seventeenth-century cottage; others in the later parts of the building are larger and lighter, and a few have their own garden access. The furnishings mix antique pieces with locally made items, and several rooms use New Forest timber.

Breakfast is locally sourced and cooked to order, and guests are given tea, coffee and homemade cake on arrival. The Fallen Tree restaurant on site serves dinner using regional suppliers, and there is a coffee shop as well. Practical touches matter here more than grand facilities: a reserved parking space for each room, fast wi-fi, drying space for wet walking gear and bike hire arranged from the property.

The location is about as convenient as the New Forest gets. Brockenhurst's pubs, restaurants and shops are a few minutes on foot, the station with direct London trains is close by, and the open forest starts at the end of the road, with ponies and cattle wandering through the village itself. It suits walkers, cyclists and couples who want somewhere personal and well-run at a fraction of the cost of the big country house hotels, and it consistently ranks at or near the top of the local listings.