Time for Tea....Limewood Hotel

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends. Last weekend Alex and I visited the Limewood Hotel in the New Forest for a spot of afternoon tea.

Limewood is a boutique country house hotel, set in the heart of the New Forest National Park, 1.5 miles from the small town of Lyndhurst. However, this is no ordinary country house hotel as it manages to combine the beautiful country house setting with a contemporary twist, giving guests a beautiful, modern setting to enjoy.

Afternoon tea is served in the courtyard, which is a beautiful indoor space, full of light due to a beautiful glass ceiling.......

Limewood Hotel, New Forest

The setting is elegant and comfortable, with discreet staff who leave you in peace to enjoy your afternoon tea and a good natter, but reappear when you need another pot of tea. 

We began our afternoon tea adventure with a rather lovely complimentary glass of bubbles, which we enjoyed as we picked our teas from the good selection on offer.

Afternoon tea - Limewood

Afternoon tea is served between 3-5pm everyday, and you can pick from a full afternoon tea experience or a cream tea. We of course went for the full afternoon tea adventure, which to our delight was served on cute little individual cake stands. 

The afternoon tea is served on a mix of plain white Wedgewood and pretty blue and white patterned Portmeirion china.......

Afternoon tea is served!
Limewood Hotel

We began our afternoon tea with the middle tier of the cute little stands, the sandwiches....

Afternoon tea sandwiches - Limewood Hotel

We were initially presented with four perfect finger sandwiches, with no crusts in sight! 

The selection included ham and piccalilli (I'm not a fan myself, but it wasn't too bad!), a salmon on brown, a cheese and pickle and an egg mayonnaise (although Alex was sure it was made with salad cream!). The sandwiches were fresh and the bread was soft, more sandwiches were brought out when requested (yes we requested more!).

Once we'd devoured the sandwiches we moved onto the scones which were served with strawberry preserve and clotted cream....

Afternoon tea scones - Limewood Hotel

We had one plain and one fruited scone each, both were rather scrummy and not at all claggy. The scones were a good size and I really enjoyed the strawberry preserve.

Finally we made it to that wonderful top tier....

Afternoon tea cakes - Limewood Hotel

We each had four beautiful sweets, the selection included a welly boot biscuit, a white chocolate dome with seasonal fruit filling, a delightful carrot cake and a scrummy flower pot of chocolate and caramel. Each sweet treat was perfectly executed and a good size. We weren't offered anymore sweets, but to be honest we didn't need anymore as these four were the perfect end to the afternoon tea experience.

I really enjoyed the pot, which had layers of chocolate and caramel inside. The carrot cake was also really good - light and moist, with the right amount of topping.

This afternoon tea experience costs £23.00 per person, and you can add a glass of bubbles for an additional £11.50 each. I think this is excellent value for the quality of the food on offer. The tea menu is also extensive and has something for everyone.

If you fancy a little luxury that won't have your bank manager wondering what you've been up to and happen to be in the New Forest area then I'd definitely recommend a trip to the Limewood. For more information visit their website.

Do you know of a hidden gem that we should know about? Somewhere hidden away that gives a wonderful afternoon tea experience? Please get in touch, we'd love to hear about your afternoon tea adventures!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel