About the Woodlands Lodge Hotel

About us

The Woodlands Lodge Hotel is set within 3 acres of colourful, mature gardens within the New Forest and uniquely boasts direct access to the forest. Allowing guests to walk or cycle straight out of the hotel gardens and enjoy the stunning scenery that the New Forest has to offer.

Although the hotel is in a beautiful and tranquil setting it is easily reachable as the hotel is located 15 minutes from Southampton city centre and 5 minutes away from the M27 motorway.

Accreditations

History of the Hotel

The original house was built in 1550, however, it underwent extensive rebuilding in 1770. It is reputed to have been owned by the Duchy of Westminster and used as a Royal Hunting Lodge. It was converted into a hotel in the 1950's and underwent extensive renovations in the 1990's. In keeping with its heritage, the Woodlands Lodge Hotel has been sympathetically converted to a comfortable and modern country house hotel, whilst still retaining the charms and character of an English country home.

History of the New Forest

The New Forest was created in 1079 by William 1 (known as William the Conqueror) as a hunting area, primarily of deer. The New Forest is unique, as it retains many of the rural practices granted by the crown in historical times to local people. Foremost of these is the pasturing of ponies, cattle, pigs and donkeys in the open forest by the local people known as 'commoners'. As a visitor to the hotel you will undoubtedly discover this tradition, as the ponies wander into the paddock at the back of the hotel and walking or driving through the area you come across cattle and ponies at every turn grazing on the land.

The New Forest is a beautiful area, but it is not "natural" or wild in the sense of being untouched by man. The Forest has been moulded by the whims of monarchs since William, and the changing priorities of the Crown over the last 900 years: for example, The New Forest was a significant source of timber for the crown in the 17th, 18th centuries and in the 19th century used for ship building.

It is an outstanding recreational area for walking and riding and The New Forest is now a designated National Park, with approximately 144 square miles of wood and heath land.