Trying to pack in as much decadent luxury and fine dining as we could, when 2020 Covid restrictions were relaxed, I booked another short UK weekend break for the end of August, less than a week after we went to Cambridge.  I chose to stay at South Lodge hotel simply because I wanted to try a restaurant very close to it, and because South Lodge itself has a good reputation for food and several of its alumni have had success in their own restaurants.  South Lodge is located in the rolling West Sussex countryside, very close to Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens, so there are plenty of healthy and beautiful walks on hand. South Lodge also has a renowned spa, but we didn’t make use of it during our stay.

We drove to South Lodge because it’s not too far from home, and being in the countryside, there isn’t a convenient train station. Parking was easy, but their large carpark was surprisingly busy (people come for day-use of the spa).  We’ve stayed at a handful of Country House hotels recently and they all had small reception areas, because of the design of the old former private properties, but South Lodge has a large reception space which gave it the feel of a big hotel. Upon entering guests have to wear a face mask, have a temperature check from an unmanned machine, and use the hand sanitiser (dispensers are all over the building).

Check in was smooth and we were given directions to our room, because escorting is no longer possible in the pandemic.  I had booked a “plush junior suite” for £965 B&B for 2 nights. Our room was called “Melody” and it turned out to be in the newer ‘South Downs’ wing, on the first floor, with views over the front entrance and grounds.

It was really big and spacious! In a way it felt a little too big, which sounds strange; I think a little more attention to the interior design could have made it feel more cosy.

We had a king bed with side tables, two writing tables, an armchair, another table, an ottoman and a sofa which could convert into a double bed. A relatively modest 32″ TV (but with Sky sports) sat on an old chest of drawers and there was a wardrobe too.  We had a coffee machine and 2 x 500ml bottles of ‘Southdowns’ mineral water.

The bathroom was also very large: not content with two washbasins, we had two free-standing bathtubs, facing a wall with a small TV embedded. And the walk-in shower was big enough for a basketball team!

We liked the blue mood lighting in the bathroom. I must say, though, the bathtub was very slippery, so I found it hard to recline without slipping underwater.

After walking quite a bit on Friday morning, I rested in our room and took advantage of the Sky TV by watching the Belgian Formula 1 practice sessions.  That’s when we decided we should have a light room-service lunch, which had to be ordered using the hotel’s in-room information tablet.  Mr A took care of that, because I’m such a technophobe, but I noticed that prices seemed quite high and a £3.50 delivery charge was added, and the available choices (restricted by covid) weren’t great.  Mr A chose the satay pictured, but despite it being priced at £0, we did have to pay for it.  In the second picture you’ll see that the food delivered to our suite bore no resemblance to the menu photo.

I ordered a prawn sandwich, on fresh white bloomer, which was good apart from the fact the prawns were tasteless. 4/10

Both mornings we took breakfast downstairs, where Camelia restaurant is mostly used, along with the bar area, another lounge space and the outside terrace.  A very friendly and customer focused maitre d’ assigned guests to their preferred socially distanced tables very efficiently. The weather that weekend, at the end of August, was ‘mixed’, but we felt it was just warm enough to eat outdoors on our first morning. Unfortunately a few wasps had the same idea, so we were forced to move to a table inside, forgoing the magnificent views of the rolling grounds and countryside.

Breakfast was fully a la carte; I don’t know if that was only because of pandemic restrictions, but it worked well, with tables spread across so many rooms.  I went for my usual staples; OJ (long life), birchermuesli (so so), eggs Benedict (8/10 for the excellent ham, but the eggs were a little over and the Hollandaise was a bit gloopy) and cappuccino (good).  I know that sounds like I’m being very picky, but overall I’ll say breakfast was an enjoyable experience, thanks to the service, the comfortable seating and the general buzz about the place (it was quite busy).

I mentioned earlier that one reason for choosing South Lodge was it’s restaurant. Unfortunately our dinner in Camelia was terrible, and the signature restaurant, The Pass, was closed because social distancing isn’t viable there.

Overall South Lodge exceeded my expectations.  They have a solid professional approach to their business and a good team of staff, which, combined, delivered an excellent weekend break in the middle of a pandemic extremely well.  Rooms seem to be very spacious, though they might benefit from an interior designer’s input.  But the standard of the catering needs to improve.  Would I go back? Yes, but it might not be my first choice in the local area. 7.5/10

On there lawns in front of the hotel entrance is, what I’m led to believe, the world’s largest single rhododendron bush. It must look incredible when it’s in bloom!