I’m surrounded by pigs lately. Last week, I also made a discovery of a hotel named The Pig – I kid you not. This new country house hotel, located 90 minutes from London in Hampshire’s 1,000 year old New Forest Park, is getting a lot of buzz lately including a mention on the 2012 It List in the Travel & Leisure Hotels Issue currently out on news stands. And it looks incredible!
First, I investigated the unique world of truffle hunting with pigs (and dogs – who don’t have the same appetite as pigs for eating truffles that they find) in my recent post.
Then a visit to Fairview Farm this weekend, at the end of our street in Bridgehampton, where I went to meet the new Spring piglets. Each spring, one of the two Sows living on the property gives birth to a few piglets (10 this time). Unfortunately, these cuties have a short lifespan as they end up on someone’s dinner plate in the Fall.
Last week, I also made a discovery of a hotel named The Pig – I kid you not. This new country house hotel, located 90 minutes from London in Hampshire’s 1,000 year old New Forest Park, is getting a lot of buzz lately including a mention on the 2012 It List in the Travel & Leisure Hotels Issue currently out on news stands. And it looks incredible!
An English country/shabby chic design style prevails in this 26-bedroom hotel (16 in the main house and 10 in the stable yard – converted barns with original fittings with apt names like Pig Hut, Pig Shed and Hen House). It came as no surprise to me to learn that The Pig is a baby sister to the glamourous 5-star hotel Lime Wood down the road, which I wrote a post about not too long ago.
While the accommodations are equipped with all the modern comforts you could ask for, the restaurant is the real draw here – Overseen by talented Head Chef James Golding (formerly of The Savoy Hotel, Soho House and The Ivy), this is a contemporary country restaurant where the menu changes by the minute depending on what the culinary team or Head Gardner forages- all the ingredients are fresh and sourced locally whenever possible.
The Pig is all about relaxing and enjoying nature’s pleasures (a great diversion from London for a weekend!) with still plenty to do – hiking in forest, playing tennis on the property, taking in the spa at Limewood (there is none at The Pig) or checking out Beaulieu Abbey or the National Motor Museum nearby.
Since we are on the holy subject of pigs, I’d like to give an honorable mention to a cool travel company I recently came across with the ingenious name…you got it – Trufflepig. I can’t think of a more fitting name to give to a travel planning company – after all, a truffle pig’s job is to sniff, search and unearth. Based out of Toronto with an outpost in Paris (they call themselves “a tiny travel company with a great big nose”), Trufflepig is a small company with a TON of personality and expertise (they only focus on destinations they know well) that creates and delivers unique custom trips for travelers. Definitely worth checking out and digging in…
It is time to cut out bacon from my cuisine. Long live the pigs!
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