So, why the title – voco Hotel and Spa Winchester? voco loosely interprets from the Latin for an invite and a coming collectively. And no, that isn’t a typo. voco, doesn’t need a capital letter. It’s as as a lot a way of thinking as a lodge. A singular modern title, freed from grammar protocols and stuffy pretension.
voco Hotel and Spa Winchester has location, location and extra location going for it. Set amongst the inexperienced hills of the South Down National Park, this 131-bedroom lodge is inside minutes of historic Winchester. Once the capital of Wessex after which England; instrumental within the beginning of a nation.
In October 2023, voco reopened after an eight month and £2m refurbishment. The Holiday Inn had a persona makeover and was reborn as voco Hotel and Spa, a trendy vacation spot for rest and me-time. Work too, if you happen to actually should.
The welcome
Two workers await at reception to shortly test us in. All they want is a surname to find our reserving and ensure our restaurant reserving. Then we’re on our approach and within the carry.
Entering our room, a welcoming message on the 50-inch tv encourages us, as if we’d like it, to loosen up.
The room
In maintaining with voco fashion, there’s a “come on in and feel at home” vibe to our Premium Room, which has calming gray/blue paintwork. Those gentle and soothing colors, with a sea-spray flourish of white, are picked up within the deep pile carpets. All cooled successfully, in humid mid-summer, by scrumptious air-conditioning.
It’s a spacious, enjoyable room with strategically positioned ceiling spotlights and a modernist commonplace lamp which aspires to angle-poise standing, all deferring to a king-size mattress. Thoughtful design offers a protracted desk for working with a big oval mirror in order that it multi-tasks as a dressing desk too. There is an intensive beverage tray, plus a Nespresso coffee-maker with a alternative of capsules.
There is an intensive beverage tray, plus a Nespresso coffee-maker with a alternative of capsules.
The rest room
A considerate design contact is that controls are positioned mid-bath so that you just set the appropriate temperature earlier than setting foot underneath the bathe. It’s additionally a deep tub for extra indulgent me-time. White towels and dressing robes are high-end, pristine and fluffy. Antipodes Fig and Feijoa toiletries present caressing pure, pure and vegan skincare.
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The amenities
Kitchen 21 is known as after the now legendary 21-inch pizzas which can be the signature dish of the open plan kitchens.
Wood texture partitions, terracotta planters, inexperienced banquettes and tan chairs mix to provide a reassuringly pure really feel to a light-weight restaurant the place tables are well-spaced.
As properly because the core menu of steaks, burgers, rooster and salads, a seasonal menu – suppose seabass, vegan Thai curry, garlic and lemon pork chop – brings selection for the massive numbers of standard diners staying on enterprise.
Amongst the starters, a watercress soup offers a nod to Britain’s watercress capital, that’s Alresford, which is a mere 10 minutes drive away. A black pudding scotch egg, yolk heat and runny, on a mattress of piccalilli with roquette, reveals spectacular creativity. As does a Colado Mess for pud, tropically changing conventional strawberries with pineapple and including coconut ice-cream. A dish that’s a metaphor for voco’s angle.
No shock then that breakfast is just about no matter you need it to be, grazing from the buffet or cooked to order.
There’s extra indulgence and me-time on the ANA Spa, the place it’s advisable to e-book prematurely. Along with a way of wellbeing and calm, the spa delivers a Himalayan Salt Sauna, Sensory Shower, Crystal Steam Room and Bubbly Foot Spa.
Treadmills, bikes, ergo, free-weights, medication balls and even house to unfold out the yoga mats – the exceptionally well-equipped fitness center has all of it.
The location
Minutes off the M3, heading south from London to Southampton, voco is inside hanging distance of the south coast, the New Forest and all of Winchester’s points of interest.
Take a strolling tour of Winchester to study concerning the energy of the Itchen as a working river, as soon as powering 22 native mills, and to be given the “Wayfarer’s Dole”, a tiny cup of ale and a morsel of bread on the charitable Hospital of St Cross.
Or comply with within the steps of poet John Keats whose stroll from Cathedral to river to College is claimed to have impressed his to “Autumn Ode”.
Steam-tinged reminiscences of The Railway Children are rekindled on the Alresford station on the Watercress Line. A railway that till its closure in 1973 was the primary leg of a journey that transported watercress to the nation. Now its cafe, platforms and the signalman’s vegetable patch nostalgically recall one other period.
The fairly city of Alresford with cafe and pub tables spilling onto the pavement, hanging baskets and a plethora of impartial store is probably one of the vital engaging of the market cities round Winchester.
Many occasions are main as much as the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s beginning on sixteenth December 2025. Literary pilgrims head to her headstone at Winchester Cathedral and the Jane Austen House Museum at Chawston.
Other good touches
Throughout, three birds deliver important art work to the decor. A chatty and pleasant welcome is proven by the finch. Quieter, calmer owls signify in/room down time and flamingos, in public areas, mirror visitors’ social instincts
LED lighting, timers for air-con and heating, and bedding created from 100% recycled supplies, all assist voco on its eco-friendly journey to sustainability.
Refreshed day by day, the mini-bar consists of cans of Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc, lager and Coca-Cola.
The price
From £250.00 per Premium room together with breakfast for 2 individuals sharing the room.
The greatest bit
The bar and lounge areas are trendy, refined, buzzy and welcoming; whether or not or not it’s for a morning latte or a night mojito, whether or not or not it’s for socialising across the comfortable sofas, studying in one of many secluded armchairs or working at a high-level desk.
Decor is intriguing, with native touches, and blends modern with cosy.
The remaining verdict
voco, nonetheless no capital letter, is “reliably different” as its credo guarantees. Upscale however not stuffy. Comfortable however stylish. Quality with out pretension. A comfortable sanctuary however sociable too.
voco is an irresistible idea not only for Winchester however one that’s spreading throughout continents from Ho Chi Minh City by means of Dubai to California.
Disclosure: Our keep was sponsored by voco Hotel and Spa Winchester.
Michael Edwards
Michael Edwards is a journey author from Oxfordshire, UK. Although Michael had his first journey items printed practically 4 many years in the past, he’s nonetheless discovering new luxurious locations to go to and write on.
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