Last Updated on May 16, 2026

A Restful Culinary Weekend Away

After a blissful empty nest for a few years, the young adults are now back from university. We have, of course, missed them, but life has changed. There is more laundry – much, much more laundry; the pile of shoes in the hallway seems to have multiplied tenfold; meal times and meals themselves are harder to manage with their schedules being more sporadic than ours, and of course, finding time completely to ourselves in the evening or over the weekend has been tough. Finding time to sit quietly and read over the constant chatter of TikTok in the atmosphere has been even harder. I exaggerate, of course, but you are getting the gist.

Our saviour has been the weekend away. It can’t be too far from home because who wants to sit on the motorway for hours after a busy week? It must have lots of green space, cosy sofas, a lovely bedroom, preferably a large bathtub, and, of course, excellent food. Lainston House is a perfect spot.

Lainston House – a restful and delicious weekend away

Built in the late 17th century on the foundations of a far older medieval dwelling, the beautiful red brick building served many masters before becoming a hotel in 1981. We arrived to wisteria in full bloom, a warm fire with wellington boots lined up ready to borrow and warm smiles.

Our room was ready, but we decided to enjoy the glorious sunshine and have lunch in the garden, overlooking the 63 acres, especially the mile-long avenue of lime trees. It was the perfect spot to unwind after an hour and a half in the car. Greenery and trees for as far as the eye could see.

Accommodation at Lainston House

The hotel has 50 individually designed rooms and suites, ranging from cosy ‘Comfy Rooms’ to larger Signature Suites with private outdoor spaces and hot tubs. At this time of year, the Wisteria Room would be a great choice!

Our accommodation was a huge suite, and we were delighted to find a beautifully made four-poster bed. The bathroom was also huge with a walk-in shower and a freestanding Victorian bathtub, which my 6ft 2 husband rated as the best bathtub he’s ever bathed in.

The décor here is not modern but incredibly plush, as is befitting to the history of the house itself. Heavy curtains drape the tall, almost floor-to-ceiling windows and sweep the floor when pulled shut, blocking every flicker of light. The Aquavision bath TV entertains those gadget lovers, the Le Creuset cups cry out for a cuppa with the complimentary biscuits. The bed is beautifully made with pillows and a duvet that carries away any remnants of stress and cushions you perfectly for a deep sleep – I enjoyed my decadent nap as much as my husband enjoyed his decadent bath.

The Avenue Restaurant at Lainston House

I scrutinise menus before booking into a hotel like this. So many promise so much and fall so short. The Avenue did not fall short. In fact, Head Chef Tom Hamblet’s Signature Tasting Menu was perhaps the best food I’ve eaten all year. N it most certainly IS the best food I’ve eaten all year.

Tom is perhaps best known for winning BBC MasterChef: The Professionals in 2023. He is now Head Chef at the hotel’s flagship restaurant – The Avenue. He aspires to bring ‘a modern, flavour-led approach to fine dining, with a strong emphasis on seasonal British produce and ingredients sourced from the hotel’s kitchen garden’. More on the garden later. His food was creative, refined and absolutely delicious to the last morsel.

The service is theatrical but warm. The ambience is cosy but private. Menus vary depending on the produce that is available. Ours was the perfect combination of the familiar with a generous side order of ‘what’s that?’.

We started off with some snacks. My favourite was the Gougere with Cheese and Truffle

This was followed by a fennel pollen laminated brioche and garden herb butter – this reminded me of the Indian flatbread paratha in a muffin shape. It was just as flaky and light.

He had pigeon on toast, smoked celeriac, parsley, date, pigeon treacle, and I opted for scallop, Jerusalem artichoke, apple, marigold, and roe sauce.

Mains were venison, duck liver ganache, beetroot, onion, blackcurrant, but I chose the wild turbot, chanterelles, cauliflower, girolles, and vin jaune.

Before dessert, a decadent bay leaf ice cream with strawberries and early-harvest olive oil. Quite possibly my favourite of the evening.

For dessert, my husband chose coffee and chocolate mousse, cocoa nib, Pedro Ximénez, and banana, but I wanted something less sweet, so I settled on caramelised puff pastry, stem ginger, orange, and rhubarb sorbet.

You can have the same menus at The Chef’s Table inside the kitchen. Fully booked on the day we dined, so leave yourself plenty of time to reserve.

If you want something a bit more relaxed, The Wellhouse is another dining option. It is one of the UK’s only restaurants with food exclusively cooked by woodfire. The setting is more rustic, in the original listed wellhouse building.

Season’s Cookery School

After breakfast the next day, we took a long walk ending in the Kitchen Garden. This tranquil, walled space is worth a wander on your visit. It’s not curated and pristine. There was barely anything growing, which befits the time of year. Lots had been planted in the beds outside and in the polytunnels for the months to come. Asparagus was ready to be picked. Salsify had flowered, and The Lainston Bug Hotel was looking fully booked.

Within the grounds are woodfired Gozney ovens and Big Green Eggs set up cookery school style for guests to partake in classes ranging from Posh Barbeques and Meat Feasts to Spotlights on Italian or Mexican cuisine. It’s a pleasing set-up with plenty of space for relaxing afterwards within the garden itself.

Whether you’re a hotel guest or not, you can take part in Kitchen Garden tours on Wednesdays, which are £5. This is donated to the Hampshire and IoW Air Ambulance. Also, be sure to check out the schedule of Movie Nights here in the garden during August.

Getting to Lainston House

Despite feeling wonderfully secluded in the Hampshire countryside, Lainston House is surprisingly easy to reach from London. Direct trains run regularly from London Waterloo to Winchester, taking around an hour, and then it’s a 10-minute taxi ride to the hotel. We chose to drive, which took about 90 minutes on the M3.

There is plenty to do in the area (check our guide on things to do in Winchester). Visiting the medieval town of Winchester and its Cathedral is a good starting point. I’d highly recommend the quaint Deanery Bookshop if you do. We visited the Bombay Sapphire Distillery for a tour and cocktail-making class, which was informative and fun in equal measure. Try the French 75.

Lainston House

Sparsholt, Winchester, Hampshire, SO21 2LT

For general enquiries, call 01962 776088

For more ideas for culinary weekends away, try South Lodge near Horsham or The Royal Forest, Epping