Lainston House

We recently did a ‘Meze and Tapas’ cookery course at the Seasons cookery school, part of the Lainston House hotel. Chefs Tom and Kieran were excellent at teaching the course, they were really helpful, entertaining and knowledgable. We cooked several dishes including tortilla, flatbread, patatas bravas, and chicken shawarma. The Seasons cookery school is a great facility, purpose built next to the charming Wellhouse restaurant. Overall, it was a fun and highly memorable experience that we would definitely recommend to friends and family.

Great hotel. Staff are very attentive and the food is excellent! Have done chefs table before too which was incredible. The food was catered to out different dietary requirements and the wine paring was spot on. If you want to feel like a VIP - this is the place to visit.

Lovely scenery looking down the avenue while we had lunch in the cedar bar. Food was amazing. I had the sea bream which I would recommend. The hotel is very dog friendly with nature trails and inside the bar where my little chihuahuas loved it. Calm and cozy our lunch experience was which is just what we needed after exploring Winchester town. While looking around the hotel we poked our head in to look at the chefs table and were greeted by some of the chefs in the kitchen. Thank you lainston staff for looking after us well.

Our two night stay was booked to celebrate my husband’s 60th Birthday. We turned in through the brick red gate posts and up the sweeping drive way to see the beautiful elegant hotel set in interesting gardens at the end of the drive. There is a kitchen garden where the produce is used in a lot of their dishes. We arrived to a very friendly reception from Maddy and the team and shown to a sumptuous room with a table with some lovely Birthday treats from the hotel which we thought was such a nice touch. The first night, our meal took place in the wood panelled Avenue restaurant - it was delicious and beautifully presented - Chloe and Nick were personable and very attentive and there was a lovely atmosphere with the cordless lamps glowing red on the tables. We must have chosen the wettest windiest day to try archery organised by the hotel! As it turned out it was a real highlight despite the appalling weather! Fred our teacher greeted us and had a marquee in place in an attempt to keep us dry - the whole experience was wonderful and Fred is a great teacher and we would highly recommend this activity as it was a fun and memorable experience. Lainston House is such a lovely old hotel set in beautiful grounds with a very long avenue of lime trees which is a really pleasant walk to take to work up an appetite! Lainston is very conveniently situated to visit Winchester, Stockbridge and Salisbury. The second evening we ate at the Well smoke house just a short walk from the main building. After, what was an extremely tasty meal we had a chat with Dan, Nick and Chloe and were shown the ovens and saw where they held the cookery school. Our room was beautiful, the bed was so comfortable and it was very quiet. The bathroom had everything including a tv in the bath! The staff were all wonderful including the unsung heroes who keep the rooms and the whole of the hotel pristine We shall definitely be returning - perhaps to do a cookery class or just to relax for some milestone event as this hotel is a very special place. Thank you to all who made our stay so enjoyable.

We were guests at our friend’s wedding and the whole day was perfect! From Ben literally getting on his hands and knees to make sure that the bride’s dress looked perfect behind her as she walked down the isle, to the barman overhearing my drink order and it magically appearing in front of me - the service was first class. We stayed overnight and had a beautiful room. Breakfast the next morning has the most stunning view. We were lucky enough to have stayed at Lainston before the wedding so were already big fans, but our last stay reminded us why we fell in love with it all over again! Make sure you explore the grounds, check out the kitchen garden, and go for a walk in the surrounding area.

We stayed in the dragonfly suite which was beautiful! Enjoyed all the drinks both in the bar & also in the well house restaurant - staff were all attentive and lovely! The steak and wine were delicious but the mussel starter by far the best I’ve ever had!

We were looking forward to a return visit after a lovely stay and meal a year ago. Firstly all the staff were wonderful and very helpful. This time we were disappointed, the first room we were shown had a strange smell, not pleasant so we were shown another room which had an even stronger smell due to a new carpet. The third room was lovely and if we'd been shown that one first we would have been very happy. We ate in the Avenue and although it was nice it just wasn't as good as last time. Our food wasn't hot enough for us and no-one came to check. We had to ask for water a few times and felt that the table with the tasting menu had a lot more attention than us. In summary it was a nice stay and a nice meal but didn't live up to our expectations.

Had a lovely stay here. Would deffo recommend and will be returning - the lovely Maddy and Kamil were very smiley and welcoming, nothing was any trouble for them. Also had a delicious meal with even nicer drinks🤪the wine menu was also delightful.