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All photos courtesy of NHYM 2022

A few years ago, our family had to go to Somerset for some reason or other during the October break, and of course Babington House was fully booked, so that’s how I discovered The Newt in Somerset. How had I not known about the Newt before?! The Newt is the creative brainchild of South African Billionaire Koos Bekker and Karen Roos, who developed Hadspen house, an 18th Century Georgian Manor house, and its 800 acre estate into a luxury hotel and extensive gardens, restaurants, cider orchards, beezantium, and much, much more. It opened in 2019 and is so much more than a hotel and that’s what keeps it being awarded the UK’s best hotel in the Conde Nast Readers Choice Awards 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.

Bonfire Night NHYM 2022

We were there right around Bonfire night and we saw the biggest and most sculpturally complex bonfire we had ever seen: it was in the shape of a dragon and you can compare the gardener for size comparison in the photo. It was huge! And how did they manage to create this? Cranes? Drones? Ladders? It was so captivating that I was just sad they were going to burn it and it would disappear after bonfire night: with all the effort put into it, I wanted it to be kept as a permanent fixture.

NHYM 2022

In the front fields of the Manor house were sheep munching on grass and on the far side of the Manor house, landscaped gardens a la francaise were for walking around and enjoying their beauty. Beyond the gardens and grounds right around the main house, you can take buggies to explore the rest of the vast estate, which I can assure you, was one of my kids’ highlights and are free to be driven around to see the apple orchards, vegetable and fruit gardens, the Farmyard and more. Luckily enough, I didn’t crash it (unlike a friend visiting Fisher island who famously crashed a golf buggy while slightly intoxicated, you know who you are!!)

NYHM 2022

The beauty of the manicured gardens against the rolling hills of Somerset really are aesthetically perfect in my eyes; both elegant and wild, they include fountains, paths and mazes.

The Garden Cafe at the Newt & the Apple Festival Fountain NHYM 2022

There are multiple restaurants that use the estate’s produce and put it at the forefront of each of their dishes. The staff tell us that they are aiming to be fully estate-to-plate in the future, for now everything is locally sourced, with all the produce grown on the estate. They hope to turn the estate into a fully sustainable endeavour in the future and the waiters know exactly the origins of everything on the plates served: the vegetables were from the vegetable patch, the beef from some of their cows in the pastures across the road, and the pork from the pigs at a farm next door. The enthusiasm of the staff was a testament to what kind of estate it is trying to be: sustainable, local and community oriented.

The Newt Spa 2022

The Spa was serene and had an inside/outside pool which my children loved. For once, kids were allowed in the spa, so that scored big points for them. The hotel rooms were nice, my favourite being the family two bedrooms in the main house, and although there were a few service glitches around slow breakfasts and appliances that didn’t work, it didn’t take away from the whole experience. All the staff were locals, who were very excited to be part of this vision and very eager to please.

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APPLE DAY!

Apple Festival at The Newt 2022

NHYM 2022

But one of the most exciting parts of our trip was that we were there – coincidentally – for their annual Apple Festival. It really made our trip go from a nice country weekend away in a luxury hotel, to a unique, fun, engaging, and unforgettable festival getaway. On display, there were every kind of apple grown on the estate. Who knew there were so many kinds of apples?

NHYM 2022

The best part of the festival was that we were able to make our own apple juice: one of the fountains was filled with hundreds of apples that you could fill a bucket with and then turn into apple juice with a hand press. After collecting the apples, we did a lot of squishing, turning and pressing, making our own apple juice, which we funneled into glass bottles and were given to take home with us. It was so fun and it felt so productive and satisfying making our own juice. The juice was so fresh and without any additives; it was as natural as it could be. Who knew I would be so happy to become an apple farmer for the day?

NHYM 2022

NHYM 2022

Not only did they have apple pressing, but every kind of possible apple games galore you can imagine: apple toss, apple skittles, apple bowling, and toffee apples and roasted pork & apples to taste. We were amazingly lucky with the weather, and the whole experience was unbeatable (friends who went when it was pouring rain another time, did say they were disappointed with their Newt stay, so check the weather ahead of time to make the most out of your trip).

NHYM 2022 Apple Skittles

We loved the whole experience. My children were at the right age to fully engage and enjoy all the games, food and estate exploration. There are also multitudes of events throughout the year for members: woodland tours, garden tours, Christmas trails, a Beezantium, cider tastings, Bee safaris, Roman Villa tours etc etc etc. Need I say more? We didn’t even get a chance to see the whole estate in one weekend and even if you don’t stay at the Newt, you can always book tickets to explore this magical estate and the annual memberships are really reasonably priced, especially to support what they are trying to create.

This is a really special place indeed, created and conceived to glorify all things gardening, apples, cider, woodlands, farmlands with sustainability in mind. Finally, what I loved the most, was that behind all this ‘Billionaire fantasy estate’ talk, was a place that was giving back to its community: the events sell out quickly and you can see how much it is not just about creating a luxury hotel that only a few can enjoy, but creating a place that welcomes the whole community, providing jobs, food and special events for the whole community throughout the year, that is loved by all.

xx

NHYM

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Hanging squash NHYM 2022