Gerald Chan, a Boston-based billionaire, began a meticulous renovation of this Georgian mansion near Basingstoke and its 438-acre estate in 2002. The hotel opened in 2018 and the wait was definitely worth it. Sitting rooms come with marble fireplaces, incredible art from Chan’s personal collection, intricate cornicing and heart-stopping views over Heckfield’s grade II listed parklands. Jane Austen lived nearby and there’s even a lake with wild swimming permitted should you wish to reenact Mr Darcy’s famous arrival. It’s sustainable too, using biomass boilers, bore water and producing much of the kitchen’s requirements from its own biodynamic market garden and organic farm.
Overall score 8/10
Main photo: the Long Room, a private apartment at Heckfield Place
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Rooms and suites
Score 9/10
The 45 rooms display a classy contemporisation of the hotel’s 18th-century heritage. There are a dozen in the house, the rest are in the Corridors, a 1980s extension for conference delegates. They feel just as sumptuous, decorated in soft washes of dove greys and barley browns, with context and texture thanks to English oak furniture and mats and headboards handwoven from rushes harvested on the River Ouse. For an indication of the forensic detail, each has a bespoke minibar where the kettle clicks into a base built into one of the illuminated drawers, there are individual leather holsters for every spoon; and homemade lemon verbena cordial sits alongside the coffee and cookies. Room 15, in the Corridors, has French doors that lead out to a sweet terrace. The Heath Room has exquisite handpainted wallpaper and lake views.
Food and drink
Score 9/10
Marle, the conservatory-style main restaurant, has been awarded a green Michelin star. Its rustic dishes include taleggio risotto with wet walnuts, and farm lamb with kohlrabi, braised radicchio and wickedly good crispy potatoes with black garlic vinaigrette and sour cream. Dishes are finished off over an open fire at Hearth, which has sharing plates such as beetroot with labneh and caraway seeds, and onion squash and spinach with sage butter taste. How the culinary director Skye Gyngell and executive chef Michael Chapman make such humble vegetables taste so sensational outdoes magician David Copperfield for wonderment. Much of the produce is supplied by the estate’s organic farm and biodynamic market garden.
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What else is there?
Score 6/10
There is a small gym and spa, which uses the hotel’s excellent Wildsmith products. There are also farm, wildlife and garden tours, bikes and wellies to borrow and a cinema as well as wellbeing workshops and cocktail-making classes.
Where is it?
Score 7/10
The rolling countryside and cute villages of the North Wessex Downs are nearby. For gin lovers, the Bombay Sapphire distillery is a 30-minute drive away.
Price B&B doubles from £450
Restaurant Mains from £26
Family-friendly Y
Dog-friendly Y
Accessible Y
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