– teamed up with Hampshire chef Alex Aitken and bought what was then the Parkhill hotel. In 2004 Ratcliffe and Aitken closed Parkhill, with the intention of transforming it into one of the best country house hotels in the UK. The refurbishment project saw the original Regency build- ing almost entirely rebuilt. The renovation was carried out by architect Charles Morris – whose previous commissions include the Orchard Room at Highgrove for the Prince of Wales – and designer David Collins, responsible for the inte- riors at London’s Claridges Bar, The Wolseley and Nobu Berkeley Street, among many others. In 2008, Ratcliffe approached Hotel du Vin founder Robin Hutson to help oversee the project. Hutson had sold Hotel du Vin in 2004, before joining the Soho House Group as chairman. The Soho House Group was sold in 2008, and while Hutson continued to work for the company as a con- sultant, he found himself with free time on his hands. “When Jim Ratcliffe asked me to come down and look at the hotel to see if I wanted to get involved, I was blown away by the quality of the build,” says Hutson. “I know this area pretty well and my work for Soho House was coming to a natural end, so I thought, why not?” Hutson is chairman of the Lime Wood Group, which owns Lime Wood; Whitley Ridge hotel, an 18th century coun- try house hotel in the New Forest; and four luxury chalets and a hotel in Courchevel, France. His original role at Lime Wood, he says, was to “develop the spirit of the hotel, and concentrate on the marketing and style.” When Hutson joined the Lime Wood Group at the start of 2009, the positioning of Lime Wood still hadn’t been
ISSUE 1 2011 © cybertrek 2011
Herb House’s pool has retractable windows that offer views of the surrounding forest (main pic, opposite page); Guests can borrow wellies to explore the area (above right)
decided. As a result of his previous involvement with two very different country house hotels – the formal Chewton Glen in Hampshire and the informal, highly fashionable Babington House in Somerset, part of the Soho House Group – Hutson was convinced that the gap in the mar- ket lay somewhere in between. “We want the staff at Lime Wood to be friendly, but we don’t want them to be stiff and starchy and we certainly don’t want to be subservient and formal in the old style of country house hotels,” he says. “We want this to be a fun and relaxed place; somewhere you can put your feet up and not be constrained by daft rules.” While Hutson feels that they’ve largely achieved this aim, his legendary attention to detail means he’s never entirely satisfi ed. He says that some of the furnishings are a little “precious” and is planning to rip up the carpet in the formal dining room because “carpet in a country house hotel sug- gests a hushed environment, and that’s not what I want.” Of course the most important aspect of creating the right ambience is the staff, and Hutson admits this has been a challenge. “If you tell staff you are looking for informality and friendliness, that can easily be interpreted the wrong way,” he says. “What people have to understand is that a lot of the young kids we employ haven’t necessarily had the experience of fi ve star hotels and nice restaurants. Getting
Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital 57
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76