Leonardslee House — Hotel in Horsham

Leonardslee House reminds me of Beaverbrook. And that’s probably not an accident as Beaverbrook had been open - and been quite a sensation - for a couple of years before Leonardslee opened. ||What both do is bring interwar-ish country house grandeur into a hotel. The bedrooms all have individual designs and individual influences which make the place feel like a home and not a hospitality venue - there’s none of this cookie cutter Four Seasons Hampshire dreck.||In room design and decor, I think Leonardslee slightly betters Beaverbrook. It does not really feel like you are in a hotel room for one moment, and that is just magical. We had booked four rooms for a family stay. I was in Pinotage, which has a strong, masculine aesthetic. The bathroom is nothing short of magnificent. Huge ceilings, freestanding tub, excellent walk in shower. ||This is where the Beaverbrook comparison ends. The issue with Leonardslee is that beyond the rooms, well, there isn’t much else. No doubt there will be in future (I hope) but at the moment these are some rather special rooms above a rather special restaurant. ||The bar is not really much of a space (compared to the one at Beaverbrook, for example) and the decor feels older, several steps below that of the exquisite interior design of the rooms. ||There’s a nice morning room on the ground floor that no one goes into and another adjoining room next to it piled with furniture - emergency supplies from the golf hotel up the road, only temporarily located there. ||The walks around Leonardslee gardens are lovely and far more enjoyable and quiet than the walks at Wakehurst Place nearby. ||The breakfast here at the weekend was a hamper placed outside the door at 9am. Some may be disappointed with this but it’s actually excellent quality and prepared by the Michelin star Interlude team, so far better than many hotel breakfasts. The only thing is there wasn’t anywhere to eat it with any dignity in the room. ||They need to bring up a little collapsible table with the hamper to set it up on and maybe provide slightly larger plates - the Croissant crumbs got everywhere. ||We stayed two nights and had one meal at The Pass by Ben Wilkinson, six minutes walk away at South Lodge Hotel, and one at Interlude. That’s probably the most I would recommend to stay as besides the garden walks, there isn’t an...

We had a really love stay and dinner at the beautiful Leonardslee House. ||The setting is stunning and we were lucky with the weather so able to enjoy the gorgeous gardens which was a real treat, especially in the morning with no one else around. ||We stayed in the Magnolia Suite which was outstanding, huge and so tastefully decorated with lovely views over the gardens. ||We ate dinner at Restaurant Interlude and very much enjoyed it. A really interesting mix of food over 19 courses. The only downside we found was the lack of a menu to enable us to effectively select wine. We asked what the menu would be, as did every other table present. We were all told that the menu would be revealed at the end of the meal and given the advice to simply order one bottle of white and one bottle of red. This didn't really suit us, and the offering of an accompanying wine flight would have been perfect and we'd happily have paid for that option. The sweet straw wine that was recommended to us for the dessert courses was delicious.||Breakfast the next morning was left in a beautiful basket outside our door. A gorgeous mix of yummy goodies that we took out to enjoy in the gardens picnic style. ||The reason I've give 4 instead of 5 is due to the customer service we experienced with the front of house/reception. The welcome we received was brusque and lacking in warmth and much explanation about the room or gardens. Then the next morning we were met with disinterest when asking questions which was a little disappointing given the luxury feel and price of the stay. ||But I'd highly recommend the stay and Restaurant experience ||The key...

We stayed here for 1 night as we had booked dinner at the Interlude restaurant (see separate review). The house and rooms are beautifully decorated and presented. The bedroom ( Eucalyptus) was extremely comfortable and well furnished with a superb bathroom and a wonderful view of the gardens (note that some rooms overlook the carpark instead). Staying here gave us free access to the gardens 24/7 , although they are not lit so in reality only from dawn to dusk. Although you cannot check in until 4pm you can arrive early (we arrived at lunchtime) , park by the house and visit the gardens at your leisure (and also after the public have left) which is an added bonus.|The staff were very welcoming and efficient. This was a peaceful and pleasant stay for us on our anniversary so why not 4 stars?|Unfortunately the stay was let down by the breakfast arrangements. Breakfast has to be taken between 9 & 11 in the public café , a short walk in the gardens from the house. Although the breakfast itself was vey good we felt that the special experience of the house was let down especially as the house has both the restaurant and a patio overlooking the grounds which could have been used - if the cost of a cook is an issue then we would have rather have had a buffet or continental breakfast in the house than sit in the café with the public having a drink with noisy children - an unfortunate end to a...