Chewton Glen – New Forest house named after a ravine called Chewton Bunny

Chewton Glen sits on Christchurch Road in New Milton, on the edge of the New Forest National Park and within easy reach of the Hampshire coast. Chewton Glen sits on Christchurch Road in New Milton, on the edge of the New Forest National Park and within easy reach of Christchurch, Bournemouth and Southampton. Its own name comes from a tree-lined ravine, also known as Chewton Bunny, a short distance south of the hotel. In the 12th century the estate was known as Cheventone, Chyveton or Chewghton, and historic documents suggest the house was built in the early eighteenth century, with land and premises known as Chewton Glen House appearing in 1732. Rooms such as Jacob Faithful and Midshipman Easy are named for characters in Captain Frederick Marryat's The Children of the New Forest, which was written here in 1847, when the house belonged to the author's brother, Colonel George Marryat. The Duval family first made it a hotel, the Skan family bought and transformed it in 1966, and sold it in 2007 to private owners who had long been regular guests. Chewton Glen is a five-star country house hotel and a member of the Relais & Châteaux group, and the MICHELIN Guide now gives it Two MICHELIN Keys.

01The house

The estate runs to 130 acres of Hampshire woodland, gardens and parkland. The beach is less than a mile away and the New Forest begins at the estate's edge. Much of the vegetables, herbs and fruit served in the hotel's restaurants come from Chewton Glen's own gardens, which guests can visit with the hotel's forager and gardeners.

The Marryat connection runs through the building itself. Many of the hotel's rooms are named after The Children of the New Forest and the captain's other novels and characters. The largest suite in the main house carries his name, a quiet nod to the novelist who is said to have drawn on the surrounding forest for his fiction.

02Rooms and suites

Rooms and suites in the main house have country-house character and marble bathrooms, while the separate Chewton Glen Treehouses sit among the canopy with private terraces, outdoor hot tubs and breakfast delivered to the door. The treehouses first opened at Chewton Glen in 2012, ahead of the wider trend for treetop, back-to-basics luxury accommodation.

Insider tip

Beach at Highcliffe and Barton-on-Sea within walking distance; New Milton station 1.7 miles away.

According to the MICHELIN Guide the hotel has 58 rooms in total. Master Suites and the Marryat Suite, the grandest of the house rooms, look out over the lawns and parkland rather than the forest canopy, and take their names from the same Marryat characters that give the Treehouses and garden rooms their identity.

03Where to eat

Guests can dine in the award-winning Dining Room on seasonal cooking from the walled garden, at The Kitchen by James Martin, or over traditional afternoon tea. The Kitchen pairs a 42-seat informal restaurant with a cookery school, both overseen by the chef James Martin.

The split between the two rooms gives Chewton Glen two distinct registers: polished, garden-facing cooking built on produce grown a few steps from the kitchen door, and a more relaxed room next to the cookery school for grills, pizzas and hands-on classes.

04Spa and wellbeing

The spa has a 17-yard indoor heated pool, an outdoor heated pool, a hydrotherapy pool, an outdoor whirlpool, a steam room, a gym and fitness studios, alongside treatments, spa days and twilight spa sessions. The spa dates back to 1990, when it opened as one of the first hotel spas of its kind in the UK.

It has recently been named Best Luxury Spa at the Well Travelled Awards, with guests able to move between the hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room and the indoor pool through the course of a visit.

05The neighbourhood

Chewton Glen is set in the New Forest National Park but also a short walk from the coast and the beaches of Highcliffe and Barton-on-Sea. On the estate itself, guests can play on indoor and outdoor tennis and pickleball courts and croquet lawns, or try clay pigeon shooting, archery, falconry and foraging, with New Forest walks, riding and coastal boat charters nearby.

A nine-hole, par-three golf course runs through the grounds alongside the spa, treatment rooms and 130 acres of parkland. New Milton station is 1.7 miles from the hotel, with Southampton Airport around 40 minutes away by car, and on-site parking and EV charging are provided.

06Making the most of a stay

Chewton Glen combines five-star quiet with a family-friendly vibe, running a Beehive Kids Club alongside treasure hunts, nature rambles and cookery lessons for younger guests. That family emphasis goes back to the house's earliest years as a hotel under the Duval family, long before the Skans or the current owners took it on.

Days here tend to move between the walled garden, the spa and the lawns rather than off the estate: with golf, tennis, croquet, falconry and foraging all on site, and the beach and New Forest within walking distance, there is rarely a reason to get back in the car.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.