Rhinefield House Hotel Review

I had a training course based at the beautiful Rhinefield House hotel in the New Forest on Thursday and Friday.

The majority of the team were in Executive rooms, which were lovely and included massive Plasma screen TVs and DVD players. Unfortuntely two of us were in Standard Rooms, one of which was me. First of all I was in "Ipley", a very dark room with a view of a mud bank outside one window. I asked to be changed and was moved into Pilley, which while still a Standard room had a lovely view over a lawn on which rabbits were grazing.

The food was nothing to write home about, so I won't, but the main dining room was magnificent. We dined there by candle light and it was very grand.

The staff were very friendly though as many weren't English communication could be a problem at times. The girl at reception couldn't pronounce "Oak" so had to spell it out to me when I asked what room my bag was being stored in.

The grounds are very well kept and there is a large pond with hundreds of Koi Carp that are very restful to watch.

It's about an hours walk through the forest and over the moor to the picturesque village of Brockenhurst. It's certainly worth a visit if you are in the area. As you would expect, there were hundreds of New Forest Ponies grazing in the surrounding area.

All in all it's a very nice area and I'd love to return there for a holiday.

Oh, and if anyone happens to be doing Steve Cowan's treasure hunt, the first clue relates to car parks... good luck!