Hotel Review: The Newt in Somerset
The Newt is easily my favourite hotel in the entirety of the UK. Since opening in 2019, it has quickly cemented itself as the country’s forerunner for modern and luxury hospitality, pioneering a new wave of luxury hotels that cater to twenty first century tastes. From the same couple behind Babylonstoren in South Africa, The Newt prides itself on incredible attention to detail throughout the property, and a sustainable ethos at heart: the hotel aims to be entirely self-sufficient within a couple of years, producing as little waste as possible. Read on below for why The Newt is such a special place, and your guide for making the most of your stay.
First impressions: 5/5
Upon arrival at The Newt, there’s an exclusive, almost secretive atmosphere on site - high hedges conceal the wonders to be discovered on the hotel grounds, and guests are dropped off at a distance from the main house to check in, before being invited to wind through the gardens. After weaving through the beautifully maintained grounds (more on that later), you’ll arrive at the Hadspen House, a stunning Georgian manor in sandy stone, where thirteen of the hotel bedrooms are located, ranging from large garden view rooms to cosier lofts. Bedrooms are inviting, with elegant period features offset by contemporary furnishings in muted colours. The first time I stayed at The Newt, we stayed in room number 1, one of the biggest in the Hadspen House, featuring a four-poster king-size bed, sumptuous velvet sofa, flat-screen TV, and complimentary mini bar. The bathroom was almost as big as the bedroom, featuring dual-aspect windows overlooking the gardens, a huge freestanding bathtub situated as the bathroom’s centrepiece and a generous walk-in marble shower.
A further ten bedrooms are scattered throughout the adjoining Stable Yard (just next to the main house and steps away from the hotel spa), and have more of a rustic feel, featuring wooden, cabin-like interiors - some are even large enough for families. My favourite room that I’ve ever stayed in at The Newt was actually located here: named Farrier’s Loft, it has a vaulted ceiling that incorporates the stable’s original beams, and is completely whitewashed, featuring a modern bathtub opposite the bed.
Downstairs in the main house, there are multiple spaces to lounge around in, including the pistachio-coloured drawing room, where bold and contemporary furnishings marry well with panelled walls, crackling fireplaces, and wooden bookcases. Take a seat at one of the marble coffee tables, and at teatime every day, you can expect to be treated to complimentary homemade scones and tea. The hotel bar is also a welcoming place to rest your feet, featuring a gleaming marble bar, fireplace, and multiple nooks to curl up in.
Meanwhile, over at the newer Farmyard (an extension of the hotel which opened in 2021), you’ll find a further 17 bedrooms. Hop in a buggy (guests are invited to drive themselves) and navigate away from the main house and through apple orchards until you reach the Farmyard site, which feels like a world away from the buzz of the main house despite the drive being only 5 minutes. The Farmyard is home to its own restaurant, the cosy Garner Bar where guests can curl up with games and help themselves to drinks from the honesty bar, and the Farmyard pool. Bedrooms are designed in a more Scandinavian style, featuring slick wooden four posters and neutral colour schemes - some even have their own private steam pods. Rooms are spacious and perfect for couples: cosier rooms that are slightly more classic are located in the Farmhouse (a quaint house situated on the Farmyard site) - having stayed in both Farmyard and Farmhouse room types, I would recommend splashing out a little more on a Farmyard bedroom, as these feel much more spacious, although Farmhouse bedrooms are still lovely of course (there’s no such thing as a bad room at The Newt!).
Whether you stay at the Farmyard site or the main house, rest assured that guests have access to all facilities on site, whether that’s the hotel spa, both swimming pools, all restaurants, and gardens. It’s down to personal preference whether you should book the main house or Farmyard for your stay - I personally prefer the main house as I like being near the action and close to the spa, but I wouldn’t pass up a room at the Farmyard if I had the opportunity to stay there again.
To do: 5/5
The Newt’s incredible gardens are unrivalled to any other hotel I’ve visited in the UK before. Featuring a maze of different delights, from the yew hedge transported all the way from Belgium, to the walled garden featuring every type of apple grown in England, the care and level of attention is astonishing. All guests of the hotel are treated to a complimentary Garden Tour, where you’ll be walked through the various details and attractions the garden has to offer, which I would absolutely recommend taking advantage of. Aside from hotel guests, you’ll find day visitors exploring the garden every day, but it never feels overcrowded thanks to the number of attractions (each time I’ve visited, there seems to be a new one to explore).
Various other attractions are located in the hotel grounds, including the Cyder Press (all hotel guests also get a complimentary cyder tour), a Beezantium where you can learn all about bees, a farm shop and deli where you can purchase homemade cheeses and baked goods amongst other delicacies, and the hotel’s boutique shop. Day visitors can pop into the farm shop to pick up takeaway lunch and eat on the tables scattered outside, or when it’s cold, the Winter Garden (a greenhouse filled with cacti) makes the perfect picnic spot.
The Story of Gardening is the hotel’s impressive onsite exhibition, and an attraction that I have never encountered at any hotel in the world before: you’ll find it by wandering through the woods, before reaching an incredible sky bridge winding through the treetops, which ends at a mysterious, glass building. Inside you’ll find a cafe serving a delicious variety of cakes, and an interactive exhibition that takes you through the history of gardening, encompassing multiple different eras, cultures, and experiences (including VR headsets that will transport you to South Africa and Italy) - if you visit with kids, you could easily spend the entire day here.
The Newt is always improving and adding to the attractions they have on site and its most recent opening is the Villa Ventorum, an incredible reimagining of a Roman villa which once stood on the estate. After exploring the museum, which uses cutting-edge technology, guests are invited to explore the villa itself, which has been carefully reconstructed to provide a very real-life experience that transports visitors back to AD351.
After exploring everything that the gardens and grounds have to offer, it’s time to wind down at the spa, which is located in the hotel’s Stable Yard. Featuring private treatment rooms, manicure booths, and an indoor-outdoor swimming pool in a barn-like extension with a vaulted ceiling, the spa is both beautiful and impressive. The space is heated, meaning that the indoor pool is refreshingly cool to dip inside. A separate part of the pool extends outdoors and functions like a hot tub - it feels incredibly serene and romantic here, as the spa looks onto an enclosed garden area. It’s never busy here, even when the hotel is fully booked.
Food and drink: 5/5
The Newt aims to be entirely self-sufficient within a couple of years, and already most of the fresh produce you’ll enjoy throughout your stay is grown or made onsite, (or sourced from nearby) with waste being kept at a minimum.
The main restaurant in the Hadspen House is The Botanical Rooms, featuring an open kitchen, modern conservatory, and slick wood-panelled dining room. A three-course menu is served at lunch and dinner, featuring seasonal ingredients and beautifully plated dishes: expect options such as fresh sea bass served with leeks and crispy roast potatoes, and caramelised apple tarte tatin on the menu.
Breakfasts are also served in The Botanical Rooms every morning: a continental spread of fresh croissants, fruit, yoghurt and freshly squeezed juices is available to graze from. Afterwards, move onto cooked options such as creamy scrambled eggs and salmon, or buttery mushrooms and kippers on toast.
Meanwhile, The Garden Cafe is the hotel’s second onsite restaurant, located in a stunning glass-panelled building in the gardens. Perhaps the word ‘cafe’ is a little misleading here, as the menu is still fairly formal: dishes here revolve around the fresh vegetables grown in the hotel grounds, and the majority of the menu is entirely vegetarian. After nibbling on freshly baked apple sourdough and whipped yoghurt, you’ll feast on a variety of vegetable-focussed dishes such as whole roasted harissa cauliflower, and tomato bean stew with homemade paneer: many of the dishes seem very simple, but were truly wondrous to taste. I always make a point of booking lunch here whilst at The Newt, and it’s usually my favourite meal: it’s rare to find a restaurant where vegetables are the main feature of the menu, and the dishes really do sing with flavour.
The third restaurant on site is the Farmyard Kitchen, located at the Farmyard. Housed in a stunning converted barn with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and open kitchen, you’ll find a more laidback menu and atmosphere here. Guests are encouraged to order sharing plates for the table, including roasted carrots with sunflower seed hummus and charred hispi cabbage, followed by buffalo milk gelato and apple crumble.
For those that prefer a lighter meal throughout the day, the farm shop is available to grab takeaway baked goods, or the bar in the Hadspen House also serves a simple lunchtime menu. On our first day, we enjoyed some delicious grilled cheese sandwiches here, followed by complimentary homemade scones (served every day at teatime)…
Comfort and service: 5/5
Service at The Newt is slick and professional and reflects the considered, thoughtful attention to detail that you’ll find throughout all aspects of the property. Staff are all happy to work here, and that’s evident in the friendly, personable service throughout the entire estate. Little touches such as the complimentary minibars and afternoon teas will make your stay that bit sweeter; every guest at The Newt also gets sent a £50 voucher to spend at the online farm shop following your stay (meaning you can order a slice of The Newt at home: cheeses, homemade pastries and more are all available to be delivered straight to your front door).
Upon arriving on the estate, you truly do feel like you’ve escaped the responsibilities and mayhem of the modern world…instead, an immediate sense of calm washes over you, and every hotel guest’s slightest whim and fancy is made to be accommodated: whether you’re exploring the gardens, indulging on delicious food, or relaxing in the spa, there are multiple ways to unwind. Bedrooms all come with extensive movie libraries installed on the TVs, and there are multiple nooks and crannies to sit back with a book (whilst waiters serve you scones and tea). As there are only twenty three bedrooms in the main house, the hotel never feels overcrowded either (day visitors to the gardens aren’t permitted inside the hotel).
My recommendation for those visiting would be to research what exactly it is that you want to do on site, and make sure to book it well in advance! Tours around the garden and Cyder Press are limited, as are slots at the exhibitions, and this means that in order to avoid disappointment, it’s necessary to carefully plan your itinerary so that you can take full advantage of everything there is on offer. I definitely recommend trying lunch in the Garden Cafe - if you’re staying for two nights, definitely try one dinner and one breakfast each at the Farmyard Kitchen and Botanical Rooms. It’s worth not being overly ambitious with how many activities you can fit into one day: if it’s your first time visiting, I’d recommend three nights as the perfect amount of time to enjoy everything there is to offer while still taking everything at a relaxing pace. I have no doubt you’ll be racing back at the earliest opportunity.
