38 hospitality
Stylishly combining Hampshire’s rural heritage with elegant modern refinement
In the heart of north Hampshire’s Jane Austen country a modern classic is being created by the name of Oakley Hall Hotel, writes John Burbedge
Following a £4 million redevelopment – and just a country walk from the Steventon home of the long acclaimed author of literary classics – Oakley Hall Hotel will soon be providing extensive new hotel and dining facilities to a discerning clientele.
Oakley Hall Hotel has more than doubled its accommodation with an additional 29 luxurious en-suite bedrooms, each stylishly decorated to combine Georgian high-ceiling architecture with elegant modern interior design. The new rooms will provide deluxe, executive and emperor four-poster options to the hotel’s existing 18 bedrooms, attractively designed in 2009 around a rustic courtyard.
Head chef Justin Mundy will now be able to extend Oakley Hall Hotel’s award-winning AA two-rosette cuisine to a brand-new 100-cover Glasshouse Restaurant, available to non-residents and businesses through a newly-formed Glasshouse Dining Club.
Mundy prides himself on using the best local ingredients available and recent restoration work on Oakley Hall Hotel’s original kitchen garden has already enabled him to include fresh home-grown produce on the hotel menus, including Oakley jam for scrumptious afternoon teas.
The Glasshouse Restaurant, overlooking an alfresco-dining patio, was named to recall the magnificent orangery built for the Grade II-listed manor house in 1850 by landscape architect Edward Milner, who also designed the hall’s formal gardens set among 315 acres of rural tranquility.
The transformed and enlarged hotel now has ample space and scope for all occasions – from gala award events, product launches or conferences in its 300-seater garden marquee or seven flexible business meeting rooms, to leisuretime breaks and team-building (Oakley Hall Hotel has a purpose-built clay-shoot), all supported by the inhouse events co-ordination team.
Already a favourite location for weddings and celebrations (there’s a picture postcard cottage in the grounds ideal
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for bridal accommodation) Oakley Hall Hotel will now offer an enticing range of surroundings for morning meetings, lunchtime entertaining, afternoon teas or fine-dining dinners.
One focal rendezvous for such activities is sure to be the tasteful new multi-purpose 1795 Bar & Lounge, just right for a coffee- time morning chat or that afternoon cream tea, or pre-dinner aperitif.
Later this month actor Richard E Grant, currently starring in Downton Abbey, will officially launch the impressively expanded Oakley Hall Hotel, whose fresh facilities may well tempt the future attendance of stars from the nearby Highclere Castle filming location.
Oakley Hall is no stranger to the rich and famous.
It was built in 1795, when Jane
Austen was 20, by wealthy landowner Wither Bramston, who would have known the Austen family well. Later Bramston family owners have included local MPs and a Father of the House of Commons.
During the Second World War, Oakley Hall became home to Hilsea College and its students evacuated from Portsmouth. Some of the school’s books remain in today’s Oakley Hall heritage library.
Although Oakley Hall is well over 200 years old, it now stands poised, enhanced and revitalized, ready to begin an exciting new phase of its intriguing history – serving 21st century guests and business clients.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – NOVEMBER 2014
Ensuring that ongoing service is appropriate and high quality, staffing has been increased by more than 30%, business support has been upgraded, a range of leisure, health and beauty packages established, and a new website and brand-marketing will be tangible proof of Oakley Hall Hotel’s fresh start.
General manager Jon Huxford, justly proud that Oakley Hall Hotel is the highest rated black AA four-star hotel in Hampshire, simply describes his professional domain as “a fine British country house hotel with a modern twist.“
Might I suggest that if Jane Austen had seen Oakley Hall as the splendid hotel it is today she would have said: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that every single person in possession of the good fortune to visit here, will not want for much more in life.“
Details:
01256-783350
www.oakleyhall-park.com
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