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Combe House Devon
Gittisham, Honiton, Devon, Southwest
FIRST PUBLISHED
Article published in The Sunday Times
on 08 February 2009
Written by Doll Makin
SO WHO LETS THE DOGS IN?
Combe House
Tommy Wax bedroom
Delicious dining
Doll Makin finds a stylish West Country hotel that welcomes pets in Devon.
Combe House is an Elizabethan manor house run by Ruth and Ken Hunt. My friend Gail and I arrived in the early afternoon and immediately took Hebe, my yellow Labrador, for a walk around the estate. The hotel’s rooms have sumptuous beds, a large sofa to sprawl on and a bathroom with a gigantic tub. There was even a doggy welcome pack for Hebe.
Combe House is an Elizabethan manor house run by Ruth and Ken Hunt. My friend Gail and I arrived in the early afternoon and immediately took Hebe, my yellow Labrador, for a walk around the estate. The hotel’s rooms have sumptuous beds, a large sofa to sprawl on and a bathroom with a gigantic tub. There was even a doggy welcome pack for Hebe.
We went to the bar for a G&T and then ate in the candlelit dining room. The food was out of this world. Gail’s ravings about the parfait with chocolate mousse and peanut brittle went on until late into the evening.
If you are looking for the glitzy, gold-tapped, personal butler kind of luxury that a hotel in Dubai offers, then this unpretentious English country house is not the place for you. However, if you want to kick back, relax in the countryside, read the papers and enjoy fabulous good, then book a room now. The Hunts have created a thoroughly easy-going atmosphere in the hotel, making you feel more like a member of a house party than a paying guest. Taking your mutt with you is obviously optional. .
Combe House, Gittisham, near Honiton, Devon EX14 3AD has 15 rooms and one cottage in the grounds.
If you are looking for the glitzy, gold-tapped, personal butler kind of luxury that a hotel in Dubai offers, then this unpretentious English country house is not the place for you. However, if you want to kick back, relax in the countryside, read the papers and enjoy fabulous good, then book a room now. The Hunts have created a thoroughly easy-going atmosphere in the hotel, making you feel more like a member of a house party than a paying guest. Taking your mutt with you is obviously optional. .
Combe House, Gittisham, near Honiton, Devon EX14 3AD has 15 rooms and one cottage in the grounds.
And Now...
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Combe House has won the coveted Condé Nast Johansens UK and Ireland 2010 ‘Most Excellent Innovation in Sustainable Hospitality’ award for the hotel’s focus on sustainable projects over the past ten years.
The awards are based on responses from guest nomination forms and survey reports, plus the judgement of Johansens’ regional inspectors who visit the hotels featured in their most recent guides. They were presented at a glittering dinner on 9 November at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in Knightsbridge, London.
In making their assessment Johansens’ judges described the Grade I Elizabethan Manor as being in a beautiful, natural setting with great food and being ‘green’. “Over the past two years the owners, in addition to creating a bat habitat, have restored the extensive Victorian kitchen gardens, greenhouses and potting sheds to the highest standards,” commented the judges. “This home grown produce ensures that their two Master Chefs of Great Britain talk in food metres rather than food kilometres.”
Hidden in a secluded valley surrounded by a 3,500 acre wooded estate, Combe was acquired and refurbished by Ruth and Ken Hunt some ten years ago. The Johansens commendation follows the hotel’s recent Green Tourism Business Scheme silver award.
Highlights of other ‘green’ projects recently undertaken at Combe House include the creation of the Thatched Bath House alongside the House for Thinking, a thatched folly in the woodland gardens, and re-introducing Tom Putt’s cider (circa 1757) using apples from the hotel’s ancient orchards. Work is also continuing with the restoration of the Victorian Potting Sheds, Georgian Orangery and another large Victorian walled kitchen garden; around fifty free range chickens are to be introduced into the apple orchards.
Delighted with their award, Ken Hunt said, “Restoring Combe House and its grounds has been a labour of love shared with our team, local artisans and, of course, Charlie the gardener. Their enthusiasm to restore it to its rightful place for all to appreciate has given Combe a very strong foundation from which to grow naturally.”
Accommodation at Combe is in fifteen luxurious bedrooms and suites plus a beautifully restored cottage for two with its own walled garden at the entrance to the mile-long drive.
Press Contact
WEDDING DATES - AVAILABILITY FOR 2010 and 2011
Combe House is renowned for hosting truly romantic house party style weddings... on an 'exclusive use' basis for between 50 - 150 guests.
We are pleased to be able to offer a small amount of availability for Weddings, Receptions and Intimate Ceremonies & Celebration Meals during the remainder of 2010. A variety of dates for Exclusive Use up to 150 guests as well as Non-Exclusive Midweek Use for 2-45 guests is available throughout 2011.
If you would like to find out more about the style and options Combe can provide, please contact Fiona Lovell on 01404 540400 who can discuss details and arrange a convenient time for you to visit Combe House. All proposals tailored to your individual preference and budget.
COMBE HOUSE DEVON WINS JOHANSENS NATIONAL 2010 AWARD FOR:-
‘MOST EXCELLENT INNOVATION IN SUSTAINABLE HOSPITALITY’
‘MOST EXCELLENT INNOVATION IN SUSTAINABLE HOSPITALITY’
Combe House has won the coveted Condé Nast Johansens UK and Ireland 2010 ‘Most Excellent Innovation in Sustainable Hospitality’ award for the hotel’s focus on sustainable projects over the past ten years.
The awards are based on responses from guest nomination forms and survey reports, plus the judgement of Johansens’ regional inspectors who visit the hotels featured in their most recent guides. They were presented at a glittering dinner on 9 November at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in Knightsbridge, London.
In making their assessment Johansens’ judges described the Grade I Elizabethan Manor as being in a beautiful, natural setting with great food and being ‘green’. “Over the past two years the owners, in addition to creating a bat habitat, have restored the extensive Victorian kitchen gardens, greenhouses and potting sheds to the highest standards,” commented the judges. “This home grown produce ensures that their two Master Chefs of Great Britain talk in food metres rather than food kilometres.”
Hidden in a secluded valley surrounded by a 3,500 acre wooded estate, Combe was acquired and refurbished by Ruth and Ken Hunt some ten years ago. The Johansens commendation follows the hotel’s recent Green Tourism Business Scheme silver award.
Highlights of other ‘green’ projects recently undertaken at Combe House include the creation of the Thatched Bath House alongside the House for Thinking, a thatched folly in the woodland gardens, and re-introducing Tom Putt’s cider (circa 1757) using apples from the hotel’s ancient orchards. Work is also continuing with the restoration of the Victorian Potting Sheds, Georgian Orangery and another large Victorian walled kitchen garden; around fifty free range chickens are to be introduced into the apple orchards.
Delighted with their award, Ken Hunt said, “Restoring Combe House and its grounds has been a labour of love shared with our team, local artisans and, of course, Charlie the gardener. Their enthusiasm to restore it to its rightful place for all to appreciate has given Combe a very strong foundation from which to grow naturally.”
Accommodation at Combe is in fifteen luxurious bedrooms and suites plus a beautifully restored cottage for two with its own walled garden at the entrance to the mile-long drive.
Press Contact
WEDDING DATES - AVAILABILITY FOR 2010 and 2011
Combe House is renowned for hosting truly romantic house party style weddings... on an 'exclusive use' basis for between 50 - 150 guests.
We are pleased to be able to offer a small amount of availability for Weddings, Receptions and Intimate Ceremonies & Celebration Meals during the remainder of 2010. A variety of dates for Exclusive Use up to 150 guests as well as Non-Exclusive Midweek Use for 2-45 guests is available throughout 2011.
If you would like to find out more about the style and options Combe can provide, please contact Fiona Lovell on 01404 540400 who can discuss details and arrange a convenient time for you to visit Combe House. All proposals tailored to your individual preference and budget.
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