The Eastbury Hotel & Spa

Elegant escape in Sherborne

Dorset & Hampshire 89 For a charming getaway in Dorset, you’d be hard pushed to top a visit to The Eastbury Hotel with its opportunity to step back into a more glamorous age.

Start your evening with a Dorset Viper Gin in the cocktail bar with its retro pin‑up imagery and leopard‑print carpet. Then move through to the conservatory‑style Seasons Restaurant where, if you time it right, your supper may be accompanied by a pianist tickling the ivories.

However delightful the music, it’s got serious competition for diners’ attention from the excellent cooking by new head chef Henry Osmond. Everything’s crafted with confident elegance using locally grown and reared produce and herbs from the kitchen garden.

Feast from crowd‑pleasing seasonal menus that include starters such as asparagus with homemade honey‑roast ham, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, and mains of fresh local fish with purple sprouting broccoli, tagliatelle, brown shrimp and a lemon and white wine cream.

The pleasures extend beyond those of the edible variety: a flower‑filled walled garden, contemporary bedrooms and a woodland‑style boutique spa provide further reasons to prolong your stay.