There’s something deliciously disorienting about waking up in a new place. Even before you’ve opened your eyes, you can sense something is different – sounds, smells, even the light tells you you’re far from home. You peel one eye open and stare confusedly around the room until, slowly, your brain recalibrates. You smile as you roll over and sigh contentedly.
This was precisely the state of affairs when I woke up at Keeper’s Cottage, the latest private accommodation to open at Heckfield Place. This self-contained retreat is a private residence found at the corner of the hotel’s Walled Garden – think cosy countryside escape, complete with a seriously impressive art collection and endless grounds to explore. It’s the ultimate retreat, and the most magical place to wake up in.
Heckfield Place has long been hailed as one of the UK’s most idyllic country house hotels. The red-bricked Georgian mansion rises from the Hampshire greenery like the beating heart of the estate. It’s as handsome on the inside as it appears on the surface. Light pours through the windows, thrown open on warm summer days; inviting sofas with just-plumped cushions invite guests to unceremoniously flump and sink in; yawning fireplaces look equally welcoming for cosy evenings spent cuddled up with a good book and a glass of wine.
And then there’s the art. Heckfield’s owner, Gerald Chan, an art and sustainability enthusiast, takes pride in his collection and proudly displays it throughout every room on the estate. The entrance hall is notably impressive, with a selection of bucolic oil paintings and portraits adorning the wall, including a Van Gogh-esque sunflower piece by John Bratby and a Sargent-inspired ballerina portrait by David Abercrombie Donaldson.
After some time spent gawping at interiors and gazing at the views beyond the windows, we’re whisked to our home for the weekend. Keeper’s Cottage is another example in a series of seriously sensational rental homes unveiled by iconic UK hotels this year (Hollyhock at Estelle Manor and Wisteria Cottage at The Grove, to name a few), offering guests the opportunity to embrace all the amenities of a hotel stay with the peaceful seclusion of a private home.
A soothing, muted colour palette sets the tone throughout Keeper’s Cottage – gentle creams, soft browns, hushed green shades nod to the wooded wilderness outside. Sofas and chairs as fluffy as those in the main house provide ample, cosy nooks for reading and soaking in the views from the windows, each looking out to a different corner of the Walled Garden. Textures soften the colour scheme further, with rattan rugs, heavy draped curtains framing windows so picturesque they could be paintings, and red-brick floors echoing the main house’s majestic exterior. Blankets and throws are slung over the backs of chairs, logs are stacked by the woodburner, and fresh flowers cut from the garden perch atop every flat surface, filling the room with that sweet, heady scent of the English countryside. It feels comfortable, snug and intimate.
As I entered the kitchen, my eyes were immediately drawn to the teetering tower of apples picked fresh from the orchard, delicately balancing in a bowl on the kitchen table, before skimming past a plate of the biggest tomatoes I’ve ever seen and a board of just-baked bread, fruit compotes and berry jams. Throwing open the fridge, I discovered it was packed full of more foodie farm delights – fresh milk, butter and cream from the cows; jars of olives and pickled vegetables from the garden patch; cured meats; ciders, IPAs, cordials, all made from orchard fruits and pressed at a brewery down the road.
The cottage has just one bedroom (an additional double bed can be arranged in the downstairs living room if required), which opens out to a sprawling balcony with views that stretch all the way across the 438-acre estate. We’re told that the balcony is a coveted spot for sunrise yoga (mats can be provided, although admittedly we had too many cocktails at the Moon Bar to test this 5.30am theory out ourselves).
The bathroom is more like a wet room, with its rainfall shower opening over a mammoth roll-top bath. As with the rest of the hotel, the bathroom is complete with Wildsmith Skin products – the skincare brand which was born on the Heckfield estate. The Bothy, the hotel’s 17,000 square-foot spa and wellbeing space, uses Wildsmith products throughout its treatments. Located less than one minute’s walk from the Cottage, guests staying here can plan days around morning sauna sessions and swims (the pool has uninterrupted views over the grounds), treatments and relaxation time – we spent Sunday morning lazing on sunbeds and hopping between the steam room, sauna and hot tub. I tried the 90-minute Wildsmith Full Body Massage, a total holistic experience that left me feeling more relaxed and pampered, with muscles as pummelled and plumped as the cushions strewn across the cottage’s living room.
Heckfield’s grounds offer further opportunity to distract from daily stresses or concerns, with sprawling fields to tramp across, hidden paths to investigate and two sprawling lakes to explore. The Lower Lake is the place to be on balmy autumn days – go wild swimming, pack a picnic, try your hand at fishing or take a turn on a row boat for a romantic escapade. It’s a rare opportunity to connect with nature and go slow – a concept Heckfield takes seriously, with an impressive sustainability ethos. Across the hotel’s 438 acres, you’ll find meadows left untouched for wild flowers and flora to grow, and a woodland home to ancient trees and over 100 different species of fungi. The restaurants and bars (helmed by culinary director Skye Gyngell) use produce grown at the on-site farm or sourced from neighbouring suppliers – around 80 per cent of the farm plot goes to the kitchens, while the rest gets sold at the hotel market sale, where locals come in their hordes to buy products to take home. Food scraps are reused as compost or recorded in their aim to reach their zero-waste pledge, and no single-use plastics are used in rooms or kitchens.
The farm itself is reason alone to visit – stroll through the grounds to meet the (42!) Guernsey cows, saddleback pigs, sheep and chickens, and meet the masterminds cultivating the fruit and vegetables in the greenhouses. The staff here are intensely passionate about the hotel’s eco-ethos. We took a tour of the grounds to learn more and left feeling even more enthusiastic and appreciative of the food we’d eat throughout our stay. Everything here is deliberate, considered and done with the aim of giving back to the land.
The next morning, we rose with the sun and packed up our stuff before heading to the terrace for one final coffee, soaking up the view. Everything here is designed for guests to recentre and recalibrate, and Keeper’s Cottage is the hushed epicentre of it all. This is a place to find peace of mind – a space to settle in, unwind, and reset.
Rates for Keeper’s Cottage start from £3,350 including breakfast and daily tea and cake.