For Mother's Day last year, I booked a stay at Rushton Hall for a weekend of countryside walks, afternoon tea and spa time: also known as the perfect mother-daughter couple of days.
Whilst researching luxury spa hotels near London - a frequent lunch break pastime - I discovered a grand 15th century estate in Northamptonshire, with 25 acres of gardens and a lake, with a beautiful spa and a good restaurant, which fit the bill nicely. The decor is traditional with lots of original charm: a wood-panelled Great Hall with ornate furnishings and a huge fireplace, a smart library room, a bright and airy orangery, a modern spa and 51 bedrooms and suites featuring velvet furnishings, free-standing bath tubs and Penhaligon's toiletries.
After lunch on Saturday, we pulled on our muddy walking boots and hiked along nature trails in the the medieval Rockingham Forest to the reach National Trust property Lyveden New Bield, an Elizabethan lodge and moated garden left unfinished when work was abandoned in 1605. On the way back we visited the Grade I listed Rushton Triangular Lodge, a bizarre 16th century folly - I love a good folly - built as a symbolic monument to the Holy Trinity featuring three sides, three floors, three windows on each side and a triangular chimney, conveniently located in the hotel's grounds.
After a rainy, blustery couple of hours, we warmed up with hot baths before indulging in a classic afternoon tea: finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, little cakes, fresh pastries, a pot of Earl Grey tea and a glass of Laurent Perrier champagne.
That night, we went for dinner at the hotel's 3 AA Rosette restaurant, Tresham, led by Head Chef Adrian Coutlhard. After an amuse bouche, I chose the salmon cooked three ways: cured, poached and smoked, with lemon gel, cucumber and refreshing celery sorbet, and my mama ordered the smoked ham hock terrine, with chicken, foie gras, tangy pickled onion shells and potato crisps. For mains, I chose the 28 day Aberdeenshire beef fillet with braised shin, onion and spinach purée, and she went for the sea bass with mussels, wild herbs, parsley oil, and creamy potato dumplings. We shared the sizeable cheese board of five British artisan cheeses with grapes, celery and fruit loaf, and a pretty white chocolate concoction for dessert, before a nightcap by the fire.
The following day we chatted over a leisurely breakfast, walked around the grounds spotting pheasants and spring flowers, had a wonderful lunch in the orangery with all the other families celebrating Mother's Day, then spent the afternoon in the beautiful Stableyard Spa, relaxing by the pool and having blissful massages. What a lovely couple of days.
Rushton Hall Hotel and Spa, Desborough Rd, Rushton, Kettering NN14 1RR
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(I booked our stay with a media rate, but wasn't under any contractual obligation to write a review)
