Luxury hotel rooms open at Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens

Visitors to the Grade I listed woodland estate and its Michelin-starred Restaurant Interlude can now enjoy an overnight stay.

The historic Leonardslee House, built in an Italianate style in 1855, now features 10 en-suite bedrooms, newly created on the first floor.

Each bespoke bedroom features the fabric and wallpaper style of a quintessential British interior design house, overseen by the Johnston Parke Interiors studio and architects Gould Baxter.

The rooms are priced from £350 to £550 per night.

Leonardslee estate owner Penny Streeter has focused with her design team on British-based suppliers, many of whom print their fabrics and wallpapers in the UK, with a strong focus on sustainable and artisan composition.

All the rooms feature views over Leonardslee’s extensive lawns, down to the 240-acre historic woodlands and across to the South Downs.

Penny said: “The new accommodation extends the range of visitors who can visit and now stay overnight, to enjoy the full Leonardslee experience - the beautiful gardens, classic afternoon tea, wine tastings and dinner at Michelin Star Restaurant Interlude.

“Perhaps too to take in a round of golf at our neighbouring property, Mannings Heath Golf and Wine Estate close by.”

Leonardslee executive chef Jean Delport, who recently won a Michelin Star for the second year running, says Restaurant Interlude’s multi-course tasting menu is inspired by the woodland gardens with ingredients foraged or grown on the Leonardslee estate, or sourced from selected local farms.

The restaurant also features award-winning wines from Penny Streeter’s South African vineyards at Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate.

In the daytime, guests can also enjoy wine tastings and tours of the Pinotage vineyard that was planted at Leonardslee in 2018, the first commercial planting of this varietal in the UK.

The 3.1-acre vineyard will produce 4,000 bottles in 2022.

Victorian plant collector Sir Edmund Loder first bought the Leonardslee estate in 1889 and planted the extensive gardens which are designed around seven interlaced lakes set in a steep valley, offering a variety of walks with stunning views.

A new sculpture park has recently been created around the lakes featuring the largest outdoor exhibition by one artist this year - Anton Smit.