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Review of Pre-Cruise Stay at Chewton Glen 10.12.08. We were very fortunate to start our holidays with a one night pre-cruise stay at the Chewton Glen Hotel and Spa in Hampshire, England (wish it had been longer). The service, accommodation, facilities and ambience at Chewton was absolutely faultless, fantastic and utterly indulgent. The ambience was further enhanced by a large number of traditionally decorated real fir trees scattered about the grounds and the interior and gave the whole place a âChristmassyâ feel. The trees where complimented by tasteful Christmas decorations in the grand entrance hall and lounges. The overall effect is of a grand mansion with a contemporary country feel about it. As we drove up the sweeping drive to the entrance/reception a gentleman and a lady came out to greet us at the car; the gentleman took care of parking the car and seeing to our luggage whilst the lady escorted us inside.
As our room was not quite ready we were escorted to the Gentlemanâs bar where there was a real flame fire in a grand open fireplace â¦.. Cruising the Caribbean couldnât have been further from our minds. Just to sit and allow oneself to be enveloped with the warmth of the fire and the coolness of a glass of Gossett Champagne was utterly heavenly. My husband said it was the quickest route to complete relaxation he has ever had after a hectic year at work!!
As we had been travelling for many hours we were quite ravenous so we partook in Afternoon Tea (well, we thought we would get some practice in for the White Star Service on board ship). This was absolutely delicious; freshly brewed tea, dainty sandwiches, fondant fancies, mince pies, Christmas cake and chocolates.
Further surprises were in store when we arrived in our room. It was absolutely huge, with a king size bed (heavenly), state of the art Bang & Olufson CD Player and a TV. The bathroom had a bath, double shower, large fluffy towels and a selection of Molton Brown toiletries (very nice). The facilities were further enhanced by a large dressing room.
In the late afternoon we enjoyed a couple of hours in the Spa, which was definitely an enjoyable and relaxing experience. So much so that my husband declared that once on board the Queen Victoria he wished to purchase a spa pass (and he did, times two!!). I also visited the beauty salon and had a wonderful manicure by an attentive nail technician named Claire (Claire also gave me a bottle of polish to take away with me for touch ups, which was thoughtful).
We had a pre-booked dinner reservation for 8.30pm and yet again we found the unobtrusive service, fine food and beverages of the highest standard and quality and we would say the restaurant is well worth a visit for couples as well as groups.
We awoke on embarkation day to a bright, sunny and frosty morning. The grounds looked so neat, clean and crisp in the morning frost and we enjoyed a leaisurley walk after breakfast. Chewton even provide racing green wellington boots for the guests to use if their own footwear doesnât fit the bill!!
Also included in the price was parking for our car for the duration of the cruise and transfers to and from the port. The transfer was provided by a chauffeur driven Mercedes (John was our driver, who again provided a service that was unobtrusive yet attentive) along a scenic route through the New Forest (saw many wild horses and deer). All in all, a fantastic start to our holiday and we utterly recommend it.
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