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our Press Articles:
Consider yourself one of the family
Wolsey Lodges invite you to stay in posh private homes from as
little as £30 a night. We enjoyed a warm and very British welcome
at the Old Rectory in Suffolk
The article on the Guardian website
(Filed:
08/12/2007)
Home and garden ... Sarah
and Bobby Llewellyn at the Old Rectory
When Cardinal Wolsey toured the realm in
the 16th century, he expected to receive generous hospitality at any
suitable country house along his way. I'm in my mum's Vauxhall, slightly
lost on a Suffolk B-road, expecting the very same. I'm looking for The
Old Rectory, Hopton, one of 169 private houses around Britain whose
raison d'être is inspired by the Cardinal's gap year. Not quite country
house hotels, and certainly not B&Bs (although they offer both) ...
these have a designation of their own. This, my dears, is a Wolsey Lodge
- a private home offering high-quality, usually luxurious accommodation
with an emphasis on personal hospitality.
When I arrive, I am ushered down the
pebbled drive by my host, Bobby Llewellyn. Sarah, his wife, appears from
the front door of a large Georgian facade, and shoves a tiny border
terrier into my arms. In hindsight, I realise that this was a
tone-setter. Beyond the architectural splendour and pastoral settings,
Wolsey Lodges are intended to be an experience. When one visits, the
point is to join in with the family for a few days, dining with them,
taking tea with them, and being licked by their dogs.
But this isn't just a posh-themed
holiday. Within Wolsey Lodges' number are mansions of the nobility,
grand farmhouses set within hefty acreage, listed Elizabethan manor
houses ... I could go on. Most surprisingly, you will rarely pay more
than £50 per person for a bed for the night. Up the road from The Old
Rectory is Morston Hall country house hotel, it costs three times as
much.
And at Morston Hall you don't get Sarah
and Bobby. Bobby's dad was a Sir, uncle Harry won Gold at the 1952
Helsinki Olympics for something horse related, mum knitted a handful of
the kneelers in the church next door, and the bookcase in the snug is
coated with Wisden cricket almanacs. This is probably the most "English"
family I have ever met. It makes me feel like a tourist, something that
has never before happened to me in East Anglia.
Looking out over apple, pear and damson
trees from their lounge, definitely not slurping my cuppa, Bobby tries
to explain the Wolsey Lodge thing. "Some people don't get it, and start
ordering us around like bellboys ... of course we have to grin and bear
it. But generally the relationship tends to flow easily. The idea is
simply that people are staying in our house, we just happen to exchange
bits of paper at the end of it." And it does flow easily. I can be a
rather horrible inverse snob sometimes, but Bobby and Sarah do high
English in the delightfully quaint, ooh'er hospitable way. I don't feel
uncomfortable.
I'm shown to my room. There is no boutique
furnishing or fancy toiletries; the look - green carpets, pinkish
wallpapers, mahogany cabinets lined with china trinkets and wedding
photos - makes me feel like I'm staying in the spare room of a rich
uncle, whose fashion sense comfortably retired in the late 80s. Wolsey
Lodges don't do modish pandering, you see. That's the whole point: this
isn't a hotel, it's a home.I
head down for pre-dinner drinks in the large double-aspect sitting room,
with a grand half-rotunda built by the resident vicar in 1810. The
Llewellyns are the second family to live here since the church sold it
in 1972. The core of the house is timber-framed, built in the 14th
century, then Georgianised later. I've scrubbed up, wearing polished
black shoes and a shirt-and-jumper combo. I'm getting into it.
We are joined by two couples from
Bedfordshire, who are "doing Suffolk houses". The imminent meal is the
centrepiece of the Wolsey Lodge experience - an impromptu dinner party
thrown by the hosts, something of a blind date composed of whoever is in
the house at any one time. In this case it's me and six people all of
who are double, maybe three times my age. Astonishingly, it doesn't feel
weird. This is partly down to the fact that they are all lovely, and
partly because I'm getting drunk. I'm swiftly reminded that most posh
people are surreptitious winos. Marvellous.
Dinner reveals that although Bobby is
the face of the operation, Sarah is the mastermind. First up is smoked
salmon from a local supplier that flies it in daily from the Shetland
Islands, accompanied by wine. Then a butterfly leg of lamb from renowned
butchers in East Harling. More wine. Then comes Sarah's party piece -
honeycomb ice cream with raspberries. I've had lots more wine by this
stage, but I'm fairly sure this is the best desert I have ever tasted.
Finally, biscuits padded with Suffolk Gold and Binham Blue, with port
and, er, more wine. Bed.
There's a number of reasons I shouldn't
have enjoyed my Wolsey Lodge experience. I was a city boy in the
countryside surrounded by well-to-do types, and the haughty,
ever-so-English process whereby food is "taken" in "rooms" with epithets
is a very foreign one for me. But I had a great time, and not just
because I ended up trollied. There was almost certainly an element of
role-play involved on my part - I was in a Jane Austen novel for the
evening - but I didn't have to pretend that much. Over dinner, we talked
about all sorts; politics, dogs, the internet (I dominated that bit),
all wrapped up in the cosy, best of British hospitality provided by
Bobby and Sarah. Cardinal Wolsey would have been most satisfied.
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At home, at ease
Wolsey Lodges offer no ordinary bed and breakfast. As
members celebrate 25 years of welcoming guests, Mark Palmer selects 10
places to visit.
The article on the Telegraph website
(Filed: 28/01/2006)
There are bed and breakfasts - and then
there are Wolsey Lodges. It's no good pretending otherwise: the 169 houses
belonging to this venerable organisation are universally posh and many of
them very grand. But that is not all they have in common. A shared love of
entertaining is what the owners of Wolsey Lodges must possess before being
considered for membership of such a small but perfectly formed
association.
"The golden rule is that guests should be
treated as family and friends. It's the welcome they get that is so
important," says Bobby Llewellyn, the Wolsey Lodges' chairman, who began
offering b&b at his house in Suffolk when life got tough as a Lloyd's
broker. "Many of us struggle to maintain our homes and this is one way of
dealing with some of those bills, while meeting some fascinating people,"
he says.
Wolsey Lodges is about to celebrate its
silver jubilee. And the message it wants to get across after 25 years is
that it's not an organisation made up only of the retired middle classes.
Mr Llewellyn might be in his fifties and an old Etonian, but many of his
members are much younger and from far less privileged backgrounds.
"It's really not so much what the house
looks like, but the warmth and atmosphere created by the owners," he says.
"But there are certain rules - such as, each room must either have an
en-suite bathroom or access to its own private bathroom. There is no
sharing of the loo with other guests."
The name Wolsey Lodge derives from Henry
VIII's Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, who toured the realm in the 16th
century and found that, wherever he stayed, he was received in regal style
and offered generous hospitality. A few centuries later Wolsey Lodges was
founded in East Anglia when the owners of 13 grand houses wrote a letter
to the then head of the East Anglia Tourist Board, Proctor Naylor,
complaining that not enough was being done to publicise their unique style
of lodgings. Mr Naylor got the message and later became the first chairman
of Wolsey Lodges.
Today, owners pay between £650 and £850 a
year for membership and must agree to being inspected once every two
years. There are 12 overseas properties in the Wolsey Lodges collection,
of which 10 are in France, one in Italy and another in southern Spain.
"We would like to expand the overseas
section because we feel that traditional British hospitality is something
people would appreciate in continental Europe," Mr Llewellyn says. "It
used to be the case that overseas members had to be expatriates, but now
all that's required is for them to be fluent in English."
Good food and wine goes hand in hand with
a lot of the better b&b establishments today. Most owners of Wolsey Lodges
don't just offer dinner, but invite guests to sit down and dine with them.
A couple of the properties featured offer dinner by arrangement, which
might need to be booked (see individual websites for details.) You can
either supply your own wine or ask your hosts for something from their
cellars. The aim is to create a "relaxed dinner-party atmosphere",
according to the organisation's guidebook.
Telegraph website
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Debbie Noye and her husband find a cosy retreat in north Suffolk |
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About Wolsey Lodges |
Wolsey Lodges is a collection of friendly and individual private
homes in the United Kingdom and Europe.
From Elizabethan
elegance to Georgian grandeur to Victorian splendour the
company’s country estates, farmhouses, barns, mills, villas and
even a Scottish castle, offer the opportunity to share luxury
living with engaging hosts.
Most Wolsey
Lodges welcome children although some state a minimum age. In
some cases dogs are permitted too.
The name Wolsey
Lodge recalls Henry
VIII ’s lord chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey who, when he toured the
realm in the 16th century, expected to receive generous
hospitality at suitable country houses along his way. |
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VER one to pass up the
chance of a night away from the normal routine I jumped at the
opportunity to stay in a Wolsey Lodge in the beautiful |
Following afternoon tea a stroll round the
village was next on the agenda.
Hopton is only a small Suffolk hamlet but it still has a local pub,
village store, bowls club and even a fish and chip shop.
Returning to our luxury B&B we took time to study the Old Rectory
which is a listed building dating from the 16th century and has a
Georgian façade. The house stands in the middle of mainly walled
gardens which extend to over an acre, and All Saints Church is
accessible through a gate in the wall.
The decoration inside the house is exceptional and as far away from a
standard hotel as you could imagine, from the cricket themed drapes in
the cloakroom to the numerous frogs dotted around the house.
Part of the Wolsey Lodge way is that most hosts would love you to dine
in with them at least once during your stay.
Bobby and Sarah were no exception and given we were only staying the
Friday night dinner was set for 8pm. Returning to our room we
showered, admiring the quirky elephant tiles adorning the bathroom
walls, and changed for dinner.
Drinks in the drawing room, with its unique rotunda, were served by
Bobby while Sarah was preparing dinner in the kitchen, though she did
break off to join us, whilst the aromas of the evening meal wafted
through the room.
Moving through to the superbly |
appointed dining room we admired the many
paintings on show and
the beautiful place settings.
Sarah, a trained cook, had worked her
magic in the kitchen and a fantastic three course meal; well four if
you count the cheese and biscuits, was faultless. The home-made
honeycomb ice cream was to die for and the evening flashed past.
This was truly a unique evening with
Bobby and Sarah entertaining us to the
full with lively conversation and topical
debate. Bobby a keen lover of sport,
particularly cricket and horse racing,
kept everything going, including the
wine! While Sarah worked tirelessly to
make sure we had everything we needed.
Retiring to the drawing room for coffee
and then up to bed Sarah asked us what
time we would like breakfast and took
our order.
Following a hearty breakfast we reflected on our stay and indeed the
whole Wolsey Lodge concept. For something slightly different we rather
liked it! We really did feel part of the Llewellyn family and were
quite sad to depart.
To find out more Bobby &Sarah
Llewellyn can be contacted on 01953
688135 or www.theoldrectoryhopton.com
The Old Rectory has one double room and
one twin room, both ensuite. For further
details on Wolsey Lodges telephone 01473
822058,email:info@wolseylodges.com or
go to www.wolseylodges.com |
Suffolk countryside. Our destination was
the Old Rectory, Hopton, Suffolk, which is located 12 miles from Bury
St Edmunds and only 8 miles from Diss on the B1111 between Stanton and
Garboldisham.
After a leisurely lunch and retail therapy in Bury, we arrived
mid-afternoon to be greeted by our charming hosts Bobby and Sarah
Llewellyn and their pet Labrador Amber. After unpacking in our stylish
bedroom we headed back downstairs for refreshment.
First success of the trip -afternoon tea
"'Indian or China?" Sarah enquired as
we settled into comfortable armchairs in the snug. Pots of tea were
produced
accompanied by a slice of home-made fruit cake and, more tea, well
rude not to really. Our hosts chatted to us and explained the concept
of Wolsey Lodges in more detail.
Wolsey Lodges is a collection of friendly, fascinating and uniquely
individual private homes in some of the finest locations across the UK
and Europe.
Each lodge is unique and to the host and hostess, running a bed and
breakfast service of this calibre is not simply a way of working, it
is a way of life. This is their home and they are committed to making
you feel part of the family in every way possible. |
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DAY IN THE LIFE
Perfect country hosts
Bobby Llewellyn is chairman
of Hadleigh based bed and breakfast organisation Wolsey Lodges
and, with his wife Sarah, runs a five diamond-rated bed and
breakfast in Hopton. Bobby, who used to work in the financial
services sector in the City, and Sarah made the move from London
seven years ago having lived in the capital for nearly 30 years |
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"W |
E made the decision to change our
lifestyles and move to the country. Sarah has |
Country converts
...bed and breakfast
owners Bobby and
Sarah Llewellyn
guests, I undertake
the task of shopping
for dinner. |
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Bury St
Edmunds or Diss provide most of our requirements as there are
extremely good markets at both which are visited by excellent
fishmongers and have good cheese and fresh vegetable stalls.
We try and buy as much local produce as possible to support
the local economy. In this regard we feel we are incredibly
lucky to still have a village shop that has a Post Office
within it and we will often use this facility to pay in
visitors’ cheques and cash. Our guests enjoy taking dinner
with us and the task of preparing four courses can take much
of the day. We take pride in adapting menus to suit our
guests’ requirements.
The Old Rectory is home to a fine cellar of wines and I like
to find just the right selection to accompany dinner. In
between all of these activities, telephone calls and e-mails
for bookings have to be read and replied to. There is nothing
worse than being tardy with a potential guest’s enquiry. In my
capacity as chairman of Wolsey Lodges, I’m in regular contact
with the head office in Hadleigh. We have built the
organisation to now include nearly two hundred unique
properties, mainly in the UK, offering a totally different bed
and breakfast experience. Each Wolsey Lodge is different as it
is someone’s home but all have to meet rigorously enforced
high standards.
We employ three very experienced inspectors who not only visit
and check out new applicants but also see all existing members
each year. New guests or those who have been out for the day
normally arrive any time after four thirty.
We are very lucky to be placed on the Suffolk/Norfolk border
so that Norwich, |
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Ipswich and Cambridge are
within easy driving distance providing many attractions for our
visitors. Also close by is Newmarket and as horse racing is a
passion of ours, this is a particularly popular excursion for us
as well as our guests. Our busy season is between May and October
although we take bookings nearly all year round. Once new guests
have been shown their rooms afternoon tea is served to them in the
snug. Sarah’s biscuits and cakes are not to be missed. Shortly
after seven o’clock guests meet in the drawing room for pre-dinner
drinks. This is a really beautiful room with the added feature of
a rotunda that was added by a rich vicar in 1810, so everyone has
the benefit of seeing all aspects of the restored garden, which we
embarked on as a "ten year project after the purchase of the
house." My grandmother was lucky enough to have a garden designed
by Gertrude Jekyll and green fingers run in the family as Roddy
Llewellyn, the garden designer, is a close cousin. The house is
set in a conservation area and the garden is beautifully
maintained with many mature trees, roses andshrubbery.
Maintaining the garden is a labour of love for Sarah and I.
Over pre-dinner drinks there are often discussion about what
guests have been doing for the day and what they plan to do next
and Sarah’s local knowledge is particularly helpful in ensuring
guests make the most of their stay. After dinner coffee is served
in the drawing room where the conversations continue between
guests while we turn down beds and clear the dining room ready for
the next morning. Suitably relaxed and replete, guests retire to
their rooms for a good night’s sleep while we put the finishing
touches to the clearing and tidying up. Amber is taken for a final
walk around the grounds providing she hasn’t taken a particular
shine to one of the guests and retired with them! The final duty
of the evening is for me to return to my computer to check for
messages and prepare the final bill for departing guests. We have
been lucky to have been given some lovely presents whether for a
birthday or anniversary or just as a ‘thank you’. These have
varied from roses on our anniversary to a figure of a Lorelei
mermaid from the bi-ennial visit of our Danish bikers, whose Honda
Blackbirds purr up the drive.
For further information on The Old Rectory Hopton please ring
01953 688135 or visit the website at
www.theoldrectoryhopton.com For information on visiting a
Wolsey Lodge call 01473 822058 or visit the website
www.wolseylodges.com |
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family
connections in East Anglia so she took on the task of finding a
new home for us, whilst I joined her at weekends to view the short
list.
We first looked at another house in Hopton one bitter February
whilst it was snowing and during that visit spotted a very pretty
house mainly hidden by the church. By sheer coincidence we saw
what turned out to be the same house advertised in Country Life
several months later. Buying the house was a remarkably simple
affair as we viewed it in the May and moved in during July. We are
only the second family to live in this house since it was sold by
the church in the early 1970’s, and it has become a wonderful home
for us.
Life since taking on the Old Rectory couldn’t be further removed
from our previous life. In many ways our day is very typical of
most others, the only difference being is that we have guests to
stay most of the time and we always make a tremendous effort to
ensure their complete comfort from the moment they walk in our
door.
Our typical day starts about an hour and a half before our guests
wish to have breakfast which can vary from half past seven in the
morning for the travelling businessman to quite a bit later for
the parties who have been to weddings who need their sleep having
danced into the wee hours.
Preparing breakfast is very much Sarah’s domain, whilst I attend
to opening the house up and looking after the other important
guest in the house, our young yellow labrador, Amber.
Guests’ breakfasts are individually prepared by Sarah and can vary
from continental style to full blown English, preceded by freshly
made porridge which has been cooked overnight in the Aga. Guests
at the Old Rectory have always appreciated the special quality of
the ingredients we use here – our eggs usually come from an
extremely free range source in the village whilst the bacon and
sausages come from a well known local butcher.
Our own breakfast can be a hit or miss affair as our main priority
is always the guests, but the house is usually empty by half past
ten so that is then our time to have a quick cup of coffee before
embarking on the task of cleaning the rooms and preparing them for
the next arrivals. Whilst the house readies itself for returning
or new |
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Suffolk October 2005 |
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