Food, Days Out and Travel stories from Brighton, London and the Rest of the World

Wednesday

Days Away - A Mercure Summer Stay at the Burford Bridge hotel in Surrey

I knew Box Hill and the Burford Bridge hotel from my teenage years when I used to skirt past it on my way to friends' houses. While my school girl head was full of poems by John Keats and stories from Jane Austen, I'd be driving past the Burford Bridge not knowing its literary connections. 


A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

Keats completed Endymion here, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote parts of the Arabian Nights at this hotel, while Richard Sheridan, William Wordsworth and Jane Austen are reputed to have connections with the place too.


What I also discovered was an outdoor pool in the most beautiful setting, as well as great British food and really lovely service.


A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

We had come to the Burford Bridge Hotel at Box Hill in Surrey to discover Mercure's summer offer of a stay and picnic.


Primed in advance that there was a pool I'd brought my bikini with fingers crossed I'd have weather for outdoor swimming. For the moment, that had to wait as we had arrived late and we were a little hungry. We ordered at the bar where the former sommelier of a Mayfair Michelin starred restaurant suggested wine for us to try.


We ordered a sandwich of ham hock, swiss cheese and gherkin and a hay-smoked lamb shoulder shepherd’s pie with honey roasted root vegetables. 


A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey


Outside a flash of bright blue dazzled in the distance and I couldn't wait to go swimming the next day. We headed along corridors hung with eighteenth century pictures and I began to wonder if I should just move in.


Once our room had been reached we opened a glass door at the other end to reveal a secluded garden surrounded by trees that mirrored the canvas landscape above the bed.



A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey


The next morning we headed to the Emlyn restaurant for breakfast, which was superb. The fruit was plentiful and tasty, the freshly brewed coffee hot and strong and the cooked breakfast with locally sourced sausages and bacon. For this, I'd recommend booking on the basis of the breakfast alone.

A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

Breakfast completed, it was a challenge for me not to run at the pool and jump in, clothes and all. Luckily, I didn't. Instead I arrived at the pool like a normal person, signed in and asked the temperature of the pool. "Today it is 28 degrees" the helpful lady told me. Oh glory be, thought I and sank without shivering into the water.

A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey


Up and down I swam taking in the canopy of green that runs up Box Hill without interruption. I was a lone swimmer in this peaceful place and I beamed with delight. An older lady and gentleman arrived at the pool and I smiled delightedly. The lady smiled back in total agreement that really this is the way to enjoy a swim.

Flip flopping back with sodden hair and chlorine smelling skin, we soon vacated our room.

At reception our picnic was waiting for us in a mock picnic hamper replete with plastic glasses and cutlery and plates. It was better than I had expected. All prepared by the same kitchen that had served us the tasty bar food the night before, the amazing breakfast in the morning and now savoury and sweet treats and a bottle of Prosecco.

A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

It turns out I'm not the first one to admire the fine food produced by this kitchen. Run by Nick Sinclair, the Burford Bridge kitchen specialises in making food using locally sourced produce. Click here to go to the restaurant website, EmlynRestaurant.co.uk.


A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey


A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey


Mercure Box Hill Burford Bridge Hotel, Box Hill, Surrey RH5 6BX

With thanks to Mercure for the complimentary stay and picnic. The info is based on a stay in 2016.


A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

A Summer Stay at the Mercure Burford Bridge in Surrey

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