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Brockenhurst – April, 30th, 2025 – Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards Winner for 2025 Cottage Lodge Hotel is pleased to announce today that it has been awarded the Tripadvisor’s® Travelers’ Choice® Awards 2025. This recognition places us among the top-rated hotels worldwide. Moreover, this is an outstanding recognition for us. It values our effort in creating the best experience and providing the best quality possible for our guests. What is the Travellers’ Choice Awards? The Travellers’ Choice awards are the highest honor TripAdvisor can bestow. In fact, these annual awards are uniquely based on millions of reviews from travellers worldwide. They reflect genuine opinions, not industry influence. As the world’s largest travel guidance platform, Tripadvisor has unparalleled authority with travelers and diners. This award reflects real reviews from community members who visited and shared their experiences on Tripadvisor.So, it represents a … Continue reading →

Birdsong, bluebells, blossoms and bees… ponies, cattle, donkeys, under canopies of trees. This is what to expect on Spring New Forest walks. Spring walks and cycles A walk in the New Forest National Park is a delight at anytime of the year! But in Spring, you are surrounded by an orchestra of nature. From the birdsong that accompanies you every moment, to the trees as they move in the breeze. A Spring New Forest walk is a riot of colour with bluebells, crocuses, primroses and tree blossom in the villages and hearty heather and gorse on the heathlands. Watch the bees as they search for pollen on yellow gorse flowers and heather. Admire the many shades of green you can see as the trees leaves make canopies of shade for warmer days. Bird watching The birds are busy making their … Continue reading →

Book your New Forest cycling holidays this Spring and stay at the Cottage Lodge. We have a wonderful bike hire centre in the village and we can even offer bespoke cycling tours to enhance your New Forest adventure. Why choose a cycling holiday? Cycling has become one of the main reasons for visiting the New Forest to explore the traffic-free waymarked trails. The Forestry Commission manage and maintain over 100 miles of tracks to provide a safe cycling network which balances the needs of recreation and conservation. You can enjoy safe cycling all year round and you will never feel like the tracks are overcrowded. Be Eco-Friendly Enjoy being car free… travel to us by train, we are on the main London Waterloo to Weymouth line and just a short stroll from the train station. The wonderful folk at Cycle … Continue reading →

We are passionate about the New Forest and supporting the local communities and authorities in their protection of this unique and beautiful area. At the Cottage Lodge we are committed to its conservation and encouraging eco friendly visitors following the New Forest Code. We pride ourselves on our local knowledge and as ambassadors for the New Forest we are keen to do our part and educate visitors in the New Forest Code. We make time to chat about the National Park with our guests, friends and followers. It’s easy to do when we have so much beauty to talk about, whether it be a lovely place to walk or cycle, or even an activity such as horse riding or geocaching We encourage all we speak to to do their bit and be New Forest friendly. Be New Forest Friendly We … Continue reading →

Get away from it all… It’s foal season here in the New Forest! Choose a calming break to refresh your mind, body and soul. Practise mindfulness and wander the timeless New Forest National park and absorb the wonders of the natural world at its finest and admire the gorgeous foals as they begin to appear. The New Forest comes alive when the new foals start gambling together over the open plains during the spring. The Forestry Commission prepare themselves for phone calls from anxious visitors reporting foals lying still (generally they are asleep), or ponies looking uncomfortable (in labour), or foals too close to road (they like the grass on the verges). Please remember that the foals are for looking at, not for touching. They are very much at home on the open forest, and they are accustomed to people, … Continue reading →

Later this spring, Forestry England and the New Forest National Park Authority will launch their annual campaign to support the ground nesting bird season here in the New Forest. The campaign which starts on the 1st of March aims to raise awareness of the critical importance of this habitat to many rare ground nesting birds, and highlight how the public can play their part in supporting them during this time aiding bird conservation in the New Forest. Ground nesting bird conservation in the New Forest Ground nesting birds such as the lapwing, nightjar and curlew at risk of completely disappearing from the UK as their numbers dwindle due to loss of habitat and disturbance. The New Forest is one of the last places in the UK where these birds can still be found and helping them to breed successfully is … Continue reading →

Are you planning an Isle of Wight visit during your stay with us? Here’s how to travel there when staying at the Cottage Lodge Hotel in the New Forest. Here’s the information that you will need to make the most of your day trip. Or if you’d like to plan a short stay with the hotel as your base. You can travel taking your car on the ferry, or as a foot passenger with public transport links. Either way, your journey begins at the Cottage Lodge hotel in beautiful Brockenhurst, the heart of the New Forest. Getting there from the hotel From Brockenhurst, the most convenient way to travel to the Isle of Wight is via the ferry. You can take the ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth. You can drive to Lymington in just under 15 minutes from the hotel. … Continue reading →

In our efforts to bring our guests local New Forest breakfasts. We sourced from our wonderful village right near the hotel for sustainable and ethically produced goods. We work alongside the wonderful local businesses here, in Brockenhurst village, New Forest National Park. Our traditional Village Butchers and award winning The Bakehouse bakery provide us with the granary & white bread and hand made sausages available for our local New Forest breakfasts. In times of mass produced, processed foods and of large chains taking away from the local businesses. Here, in Brockenhurst we are fortunate to have village suppliers, who are choosing traditional methods and using quality ingredients. About the locals Brockenhurst Villagers have been buying their butchery and bakery items from the master butchers and bakers on Brookley Road for many decades and there are often queues out the door … Continue reading →