The Newt in Somerset

Palladian Hadspen House, home to the Hobhouse family from 1785, and to gardener Penelope Hobhouse until 1979, is now a luxurious country house hotel. It stands on an estate with orchards, gardens and deer park, cyder press and bar. The name refers not to the famously bibulous amphibians, but to the protected great crested newts discovered on site. Interiors have been designed by Karen Roos, wife of South African billionaire owner Koos Bekker, whose Babylonstoren Cape farm estate is world renowned. House bedrooms have antique furniture, original Georgian features, a smart bathroom and well-stocked larder. Rooms in converted outbuildings are styled with a sense of fun. Stable rooms take rustic-chic to a new level, with heritage stalls, a wood-burning stove and a roll-top copper bath. In the Botanical Rooms, ingredients from the estate appear on menus composed by chef Ben Abercrombie and depending on what was picked in the morning. There is plant-based fare in the Garden Café, and a walled garden with 267 apple varieties, a farm shop, bakery, cheese room, and much more.