Old Thorns Golf Resort and Hotel is located near Liphook in Hampshire, and offers a great location for exploring the region. It is almost it’s own little village because of the facilities and amenities that it offers guests and families.
“It’s like a village here really, Mum“
Our KiddyChart’s kids!
Located relatively close to the A3, Old Thorns is set in 400 acres of gorgeous golf course, and grounds. The golf course is a championship 18-hole course, and the patron used to be Peter Alliss, before he sadly passed away in December 2020. It is worth visiting the location, even if you aren’t staying, as there are some wonderful walks to do straight from the driveway.
Those at reception can provide you with a walking guide – if they aren’t too busy fussing the local cat, Rufus, who seems to have it sussed here. Well, apart from not being allowed into the breakfast room of course 😉 🙀.
What is the accommodation like at Old Thorns hotel?
There are 51 self-contained apartments located within the resort, which all appear to be set up to the highest standards. They are minimalist in decor, which does mean that the neutral colours will relax, rather than offend. 😂
There are 37 two bedroom apartments, and 17 penthouse suits located in the hotel. These sleep four and six respectively, so are ideal for families. The hotel also has Eco Pods and standard hotel rooms available as well.
Prices for rooms start at c. £250+, and hotel apartments are c. £425+, depending on the time of year, and the size of the apartment. The hotels and rooms are available at room only bed and breakfast, and half board rates.
We were lucky enough to stay in a two bedroom apartment. These are beautifully presented, with a gorgeous view.
Apartments and the overall hotel was finished throughout to an good standard. With two teenagers in tow, the best thing about this accommodation is that there is plenty of room. The apartments have ample space, so you never feel you are on top of each other. This is always an important consideration as a family.
The rooms are well laid out, with simple, but effective decor, and well equipped for guests too. There is WiFi included within the price of the room; which is a must for any family with kids these days.
The only comment we’d have about improving the accommodation is having a coat and shoe rack, and enough crockery for the number of people within the apartment. There really wasn’t anything else we could fault about it. Relaxing, welcoming and great for both big and little kids. Bedrooms were comfortable too, which is ideal for having a more relaxing time with the kids, particularly teens, as they do need a bolt hole…
Just remember to bring board games in case the weather isn’t great, and you are sorted.
What is the food like at Old Thorns golf and hotel resort?
One of the most important considerations when choosing a family hotel is the quality of the food, but also the variety. Will it cater for the kids fussy tendencies, as well as the adventurous spirit of some of the parents? There are three places to eat within Old Thorns hotel, and thankfully they help with all the tastes that you are likely to encounter within a family.
The Kings Restaurant
This restaurant looks out over the fabulous golf course, and has a wonderful carvery available daily, alongside more traditional chef’s speciality dishes including:
- Chicken and Bacon pie,
- Lasagne,
- Mediterranean vegetable pasta, and
- Spaghetti with meat balls.
It is a buffet style restaurant, with drinks, starters and desserts brought to the table as required. Do remember that if you are staying with half board, that you need to pay for the drinks as these are not included within the prices for the rooms or apartments.
Breakfast begins nice and early, which really helps with little ones, but does continue until 10am. The spread is plentiful, including all the traditional English breakfast requirements, with continental tastes available alongside.
Dinner starts at 6pm, and finishes at 9pm. Prices are set depending on the number of courses required:
- Main course: £16.95,
- 2 course: £22.95, and
- 3 course: £28.95.
These are all excellent value given the quality of the food. The desserts even included a gorgeous vegan chocolate tart, which was a delight to see given that we have lactose intolerance within our family.
We did notice that allergies were something that the hotel tried to focus on, with gluten free bread available for toast in the morning. However, it perhaps is something that they could work on, as there didn’t seem to be gluten free sausages available. It can be harder to cater for allergies within buffet restaurants though.
The Sports Bar
The Sports Bar within Old Thorns is has more of a pub set up; offering traditional pub fare, with the added bonus of facilities to watch the sport. A great location for a sports-mad family like us, but the bar is beautifully spacious, so even if you aren’t a big sports fan, there are plenty of places to go that aren’t so on top of the screens and the fans.
It does have nine sports screen though, so you do need to bear in mind that this is the focus for this bar. If you want a bit of peace and quiet, you are better off in the Champagne Bar.
The bar is open 12 noon to midnight, and serves food until 9pm, so plenty of time to get your drinks and your meals in, whatever you are up to. The bar offers a takeaway service to rooms, which if you can’t be bothered to go out (those teens again 😉 ), can be a big help.
Food on the menu includes everything that caters for kids tastes including burgers, fries, and scampi. There are plenty of firm family favourites on the menu.
Oties
This was the restaurant that created the most excitement within the household when we decided that we were going to visit, and is a relatively new addition onsite.
Oties is a waffle, ice cream and sandwich cafe, located near the gold driving range on the site. It is bright, colourful, and a fabulous addition to the resort.
It is almost the icing on the cake in a stunning, quirky resort, that does its best to set itself apart from the more traditional, stuffy places you might expect would have this standard of accommodation and service.
It makes the place have an even more fun, and vibrant feel, helping to enable the families coming to feel welcome and catered for.
Just imagine how much fun you can have in a waffle and an ice-cream cafe if you are a kid, right?!? Enough to make anyone’s holiday you would imagine?
Family holidays are all about the experiences, and making those special memories, and what kid won’t remember visiting a place like this for a few years to come?
When my son saw the details of Oties on the Old Thorns Golf Resort and Hotel website, he said:
“Can we go there now, mum?”
Son, 14
That kind of sums up the place really – don’t even have to set foot in it, to be excited by it! 😂
Once you are in Oties though, the decor is vintage, and delightful. from Flamingos to pink camper vans….
Overall, the three restaurants were one of the highlights of the accommodation for our family. Great service, including kind and attentive waiters, alongside quality, varied food, but with a chilled out feel to it. Even the restaurant that we expected to be slightly more up-market were relaxed, and offered quality service. Our favourite was the carvery, which had meats with all the trimmings, and the BEST Yorkshires we have had outside of the house:
The quality of a Yorkshire here in the UK says a lot about the restaurants serving it.
Gold star from this family to the Yorkshires, and Roasts on offer here.
There is also a champagne bar within the hotel too, as well as a takeaway service. This means that if you do fancy a treat as a parents, then there is somewhere you can go onsite too.
What is Old Thorns Golf Resort and Hotel like overall for families?
We always like to take a look at the locations. we stay at in terms of how good they are for families – so we’ve picked 6 of the reasons why we think that Old Thorns works for family stays.
6 reasons why Old Thorns Golf Resort is great for family stays in Hampshire
- Plenty of food choices: the restaurants provide the right balance for all types of food fussiness, and the buffet is actually a wonderful experience for kids. They’ll love it.
- Loads of space in the accommodation: when you stay anywhere as a family, you don’t want to be under each others feet. The size of the accommodation at Old Thorns means that you won’t be.
- Treat-tastic: the Oties waffle and ice-cream shop means that there is somewhere within easy distance that will enable you to make the best memories with the kids
- Located near some of the wonderful places to visit in Hampshire: There are loads of great attractions for you to visit near-by, including some fabulous gardens, Birdworld and beyond. You don’t have to venture far to entertain,
- Walking right from your doorstep: Because the resort is located within 400 acres of an area of outstanding national beauty, there is plenty to do right from your room. Sometimes it is nice not to have to get into the car and drive to have fun – easily done from here, and
- Great additional facilities for parents and kids, including swimming for families in a 20m pool, golf, a gym, and a health spa and suite as well. Something to treat the mums and dads, and to entertain the kids as well.
The hotel has some lovely fun touches throughout, as you can already see from the decor and photos we have provided, making it even more interesting for the kids. There was even an old red phone box there, which children will love.
We hope that you have found this summary of the Old Thorns golf resort and hotel useful – we can recommend it for high quality accommodation for the family. It IS a four star location, so in the higher price bracket, but it is well worth it, and you’ll be making memories forever if you visit.
If you are interested in any of the other UK-based articles that we have on the site, do check these out as well. A popular one with our readers is our UK City Farm ideas.
UK holiday breaks and ideas
Here are some more UK accommodation ideas for families.
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See you soon,
Helen
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!