Macdonald Elmers Court Hotel & Resort, Reviewed
Where the new forest meets the sea, the charming small town of Lymington welcomes tens of thousands of visitors each year for two good reasons.
- The new forest is one of the most beautiful and charming parts of England.
- The isle of white ferry to yarmouth leaves from just a few hundred yards up the road.
The Elmer's Court Hotel, Lymington
Two Reviews of Elmers Court
Review 1 from Henry Street - June 2007
Could not find fault with our two night break. An impressive Mock Tudor building standing wonderfully large open parkland style gardens. Perfect location with a fine view across the Solent to the IOW. All the staff were both friendly and helpfull. The food was excellent with a good choice and an impressive wine list. Our accommodation was perfectly adequate with our room finished out to a high standard.
Praise must go to the restaurant manager who stood his ground, without losing his composure, when he turned away an irate guest who had arrived unannounced at the breakfast dining room demanding to be served. His compromise offer she considered unacceptable. The hotel manager stepped in and all ended happily ever after. Thank God she breakfasted elsewhere. True professionalism!
Review Two from J.Huddersfield - May 2006
We stayed for two nights in the Elmers Court hotel which is a 10 minute stroll from town.
First impressions were of a classic tudor manor house conversion. Our arrival was greeted in that over-friendly slightly insincere way that makes you wary of what might be going on. Actually we soon discovered there was a wedding going on, so the staff were probably working at full tilt.
The Elmers Court Hotel is a real medieval manor that will delight history buffs. Lots of tall chimneys, great stone fireplaces and decorated lead pipes to investigate. They even have a gargoyle or two.
The lawn is exceptionally long with an outdoor pool to one side and tennis courts and well built childrens playground on the other. It is a shame you cannot get past the barbed wire and down onto the marshes at the end of the lawns. The lawn does allow a spectacular view over the lyminton estuary. There are few other 4 star resorts where you can watch the a big ferry chug past the breakfast room as you are tucking into your cornflakes.
Moving on to staff, A waiter who had very poor english and couldn't understand our drinks order and failed four attempts to get it right. Eventually he invited one of our party behind the bar to do it ourselves. This was actually the best course of action he could have taken and secured him a good tip at the end of the weekend. The breakfast waitresses at the The Elmers Court Hotel were especially helpful to us and similarly deserve praise. However, someone lost points for room service when they interprested a resquest for toast as a request for one piece alone and that was burned.
Along side the main house the The Elmers Court Hotel boasts some rather attractive swiss chalet accomodation which looks terrrific from the outside. Once you get inside however, it is a different matter. The design of the interior is totally at odds with the building housing it. Its all heavy furniture, missmatched items, patterned fabrics and chintz in a setting that demands pure waxed white wood furniture and minimalist clean lines. The tv remote in rooom 15a didn't work either.
The Elmers court suffers from that design style that has come to be seen as the norm in English hotels. A victorian watercolor of a boat, swirly patterns below the dado rail. Something geometric above the rail and a feeling that you have been warped back in time to the mid 1980s.
The twenty first century might not be so bad, so why not go there on our
holidays instead of the darkest years of thatcherism? It's just a thought!
Macdonald
Elmers Court Hotel
Lymington
The New Forest,
SO41 5ZB
United Kingdom
