The best hotels in Dorset
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Dorset, as the farmers and wine-makers will tell you, changes character with the seasons in theatrical fashion. In winter, the countryside morphs into a Ye Olde England Christmas card and ruddy-faced country pubs pull local drafts and stoke spitting log fires. In the more cosmopolitan stretches, restaurants, bars and theatre thrive in the dark brooding evenings, from Bournemouth to Bridport, where burgeoning art scenes are afoot.
Spring is Dorset’s finest coat, particularly in the countryside where bluebells carpet woodland, primroses and daffodils line snaking lanes and beach walks are fresh and bracing. Before long, brittle grass crunches under wellies and ice cream shops lining the coast fling open. Then, rather abruptly, autumn paints the landscape in shades of gold and rust then gunpowder clings to the cool air as people fill gastro-pub tables with game and trophy cod.
This is Thomas Hardy country; a land of seventh-generation fishermen and farmers whose ancestors inspired Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the D'Urbervilles. A puritanical approach to provenance is written into Dorset’s DNA, by necessity, not fashionable philosophy. And Dorset has for so long been wonderfully unfashionable, a rush of green en route to Devon and Cornwall, in the shadow of Somerset’s clipped bohemia – exquisitely scruffy and worlds away from the Soho House set.
From eccentric cliff-top boltholes to squire-like townhouses with secret walled gardens, here are the best hotels in Dorset.
The Bull, Bridport
This West Country market town is having a moment. Perhaps due to its burgeoning arts and foodie scene, its artisanal rhythms that urban folk fetishise over, or its proximity to West Bay and Burton Bradstock. Quite possibly, all three factors combine to explain this rural Georgian town’s new groove, of which The Bull Hotel has been front and centre. Dating back to 1953, this centrally-located Fuller-owned hotel is no Luddite. The retro furniture filling its historic, sweeping rooms may feel a little cookie-cutter and incongruous with the deep stain glass windows and original Victorian fireplaces, but who doesn’t love a standalone bathtub or oversized upholstered beds? A pub-style restaurant serves up posh ploughmans, beer-battered haddock and truffle mac and cheese, and just next to it, a café lined with carrot and coffee cake spills onto a narrow, vine-tangled terrace. Having scoured the Saturday morning markets, lunched at Hive following a bracing Jurassic Coast walk, and scoffed cake and scones in the various tea rooms lining Bridport’s main stretch, guests can head to the Venner Bar for a tipple – the hotel’s prohibition-style drinking hole, tucked at the very back of an opulent, Jane Austin-worthy country ballroom.
Address: The Bull, 34 East Street, Bridport DT6 3LF
Yalbury Cottage
Dorset is an appealing proposition for high-octane urban chefs tired of the commercial machine and provenance drivel. Jamie Jones is one of them, an ex-Four Seasons chef who unwittingly stumbled upon England’s pantry en route to Devon and Cornwall to scout out potential plots. Working in step with West Dorset farmers and fishermen and channelling his classic French training, Jones serves up an exquisite foodie show, with his wife Ariane in front of house. A topsy-turvy farmhouse strikes a laid-back chord, but the service, fine-dining rituals and culinary spec are anything but. Aperitifs and beautifully-presented canapés are served in a low-beamed sitting room, building the suspense for the main show. With its white tablecloths, silver service and dark beams, the small restaurant is reminiscent of a French auberge. Piping hot slithers of homemade bread soon arrive, with proper Dorset butter, followed by a compact menu of Dorset snails and tapenade baked gurnard fillet. Those leaning into the Dorset cheese platters and apple and almond tarts with the county’s cider toffee apple syrup would be wise to book one of the basic cottage rooms for a night or two (Jamie’s French training is also manifest in the long wine list).
Address: Yalbury Cottage, Lower Bockhampton, Dorchester DT2 8PZ
Moonfleet Manor
This milky Georgian pile lords over the Jurassic coast, with access to Fleet’s lagoon beach. Its name is passed around networks of weary parents like precious china, and is usually accompanied by whispers of “complimentary childcare” and “Ofsted registered crèche”. Indeed, Moonfleet is part of Luxury Family Hotels, a group who have set the bar high by smoothing over the multitude of crinkles experienced when travelling with sprogs. Those without them will be just as pleasantly surprised. A recent overhaul puts a fresh spin on coastal classicism with wicker, velvet chairs and scalloped headboards. The vast spa is a big draw, where guests are lathered in Elemis oils and creams before drifting onto a sunlounger to gaze across Chesil Beach’s 18-mile strip of honeyed sand.