It all begins at the heated outdoor pool, open from May until October. Dive in, cool off, have a splashtastic time, then chill out on the deck.
There’s plenty deck to choose from. Bubble and boil in the hot tub. Swim hard, go nowhere fast and get fit in the swim spa. Sip cocktails and munch through nibbles at the cabana-style bar. Throw some steak on the barbecue, load up the firepit with logs and make a night of it.
You’ve six acres in which to lose yourself, a terrace for al-fresco dining and drinking, a trampoline and table tennis for the kids, and footie goals to smash a ball into. Stay out for the summer, get wet, get dry, sip cocktails under the stars, run the kids ragged. Do it all again tomorrow.
Luxury jumps out at you at every turn here. Quirky, deep-pile, high-ceilinged, multi-roomed luxury with homely comfort at its heart. With a little wow on top. Wow such as a state-of-the-art, 12-seater steam room, a sociable space for clearing your congestion and chilling as you sweat and sizzle in the dry heat.
Still not chillaxed? How about the spa room. Book our masseuse and lie face down on the table as she gets the knots out. Or call in a beautician for facials, waxing, manicures and pedicures. Energy to burn? There’s table tennis in the games room. Wrap things up in there with a bunch of board games.
If you can tear yourself away from the other goodies, you’ve an in-house cinema. Binge a box set or settle down for a series on Sky, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. Stream your stuff on the BT Wi-Fi. Or bring some DVDs for the Blu-ray player. Sing along with the Bluetooth, chat to Alexa about the weather, chuck some more wood on the fire.
Get busy on the two electric ovens, electric hobs and microwave. Or don’t. Just put your feet up and let our pros prepare anything from a buffet to a barbecue and a hog roast to a fully catered stay. Call up takeaway treats from The Shish, Pizza Express or Kokoro. Or even book your own cookery lessons. Just ask.
Stock up with meat, cheese and veg from the New House Farm Shop and fizz from Majestic Wine. Eat around the 12-seat dining table or out in the sunshine on the terrace with space for 15. Pour drinks from the outside bar and top them off with the ice machine. Pop some pods in the Nespresso to wrap up your meals.
Try a taste of Italy at Carmela Deli: vanilla cream brioche bun, carrot cake and arancini, anyone? Tuck into juicy British steaks at Miller and Carter, to healthy Turkish at Zeytin, or lobster and smoked salmon at seafood place The Green Man. Or tickle your French tastebuds at The Red Deer.
Tuck into Thai at the Giggling Squid, go gastro at The Chequers Inn with classic French- and British-inspired dishes, or make a meal of it at a Michelin-starred eaterie – Restaurant Tristan is Horsham’s first. Pick from six-course or nine-course dinner menus and sample black-tempura squid or smoked-turbot bourguignon.
Long driveways mean quiet nights. And that’s what you get on the edge of The Weald: sheer silence broken only by the hoot of the owls and the wind through the boughs.
Six bedrooms here sleep 15 with three shared bathrooms. Bedroom one is a double, while bedroom two offers a king-size, and bedroom three another double. Bedroom four offers a superking, as does bedroom five, plus a single sofa bed, and bedroom six accommodates three in a double and single.
Kids love a drop of wow, and there’s a positive flood of the stuff here. Even better, children will feel right at home, because they can bring home with them. Sussex Estate sleeps 15, which means everyone from mum and dad to cousins and grandads, and maybe even a pal can come along.
The main event here will probably be the heated outdoor pool. Bring your cossie and inflatables between May and October and splash away a few hours. Older kids will also love the hot tub and swim spa – swim hard, go nowhere, get fit. From there, it’s off to purify your body in the 12-seat steam room.
Keep stacking wood on the firepit and you could spend 24/7 in the six-acre garden here. The deck’s a monster, like something off a plantation, with a barbie and a bar the centrepiece. Lemonade and mocktails only, of course. Need to burn them off? The outdoor table-tennis table and trampoline are on standby.
Inside, the fun keeps on coming. There are huge spaces here to get together with family and friends, to stretch out in front of the burning logs and catch a cinema-room movie on Amazon Prime, Sky or Netflix. Or just drop out with a book or headphones tuned to Bluetooth.
