The Forest Park Hotel, Brockenhurst, New Forest

Despite being a roadside hotel, Rhinefield Road is just a slither of tarmac between the hotel and a seemingly endless expanse of forest (you can walk all the way to Lyndhurst without crossing another road), so walks are possible straight from the front door. The town of Brockenhurst is a few minutes' drive away. The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu is a 15-minute drive away, as is the Georgian sailing town of Lymington.

By car: London is around 2 hours 30 minutes away and Southampton around 30 minutes. Free parking at the hotel for guests.

By train: The journey from London Waterloo to Brockenhurst takes 1 hour 40 minutes and just over 2 hours from Oxford. The station is a five-minute taxi ride from the hotel. Book trains to Brockenhurst.

The hotel occupies an impressive gabled building that dates back to the 19th century when it was built as a vicarage. It retains many period features, which have been sympathetically incorporated into the contemporary styling: stags heads and gilt-framed paintings hang on fashionable floral wallpaper.

The staff led by in-house manager Kevin Wood are infectiously enthusiastic and want everything to be perfect. Dinner tribute shows are popular in winter, while pop-up champagne bars make the most of the garden in summer. Pick up a walking map from reception and don a pair of wellies (various sizes are available).

• Restaurant
• Family rooms
• Free breakfast
• Room service
• Large hotel garden

• Free parking

• Free Wi-Fi

Rooms are fresh and contemporary with feature floral wallpaper on the downstairs garden rooms and more sedate silver, sage and taupe painted walls in the upper rooms. Bathrooms have large walk-in showers or tubs (one has an in-room bath, if that entices). Bath products are in eco-friendly pouches.

Room types: Cosy Double, Superking, Deluxe, Superior, Suites

Key amenities: ensuite bathroom with eco toiletries, tea and coffee-making facilities, hairdryer, TV

Choose between the laid-back Inn or a more formal restaurant. The Inn serves classic dishes such as fish pie, burgers and bowls of mussels, alongside international flavours such as falafel and spinach burgers or sweet potato and chickpea curry. In the restaurant, it's more celebratory with lobster, Chateaubriand and coq au vin for two.

The Acorn Room: formal fine dining, locally sourced. Open daily for breakfast lunch and dinner. Mains start at £13.90

The Inn at Forest Park: refined pub-style dining, relaxed atmosphere. Open daily for breakfast lunch and dinner. Mains start at £13.90