Hotel and Restaurant Reviews: Foxhills Country Club and Resort

For this month’s review – and the final one of the year – we have a real treat for you. After last month’s focus on health and wellbeing at South Lodge, this month we look at corporate away days and an opportunity for colleagues to get away for some R&R whilst either team building or building relationships with clients. What better way to do this than on the golf course? 

Therefore, three business associates and I headed to Chertsey in the heart of Surrey to the fantastic Foxhills Country Club and Resort. Voted by The Independent as ‘One of the best resorts in Britain’, it certainly lived up to expectations.  

As we arrived and drove up the long impressive path to the entrance, the grounds are extremely well kept and quite palatial. We got there reasonably early on a Sunday morning as we were due to tee off at midday. Greeted at reception by Lauren, she welcomed us and informed us that our rooms would be ready after our round and said we could leave any luggage in the storage facility. As we still had an hour before teeing off, she pointed us in the direction of Nineteen, where we grabbed a quick bite from the brasserie-style menu that is located near the shared 18th green.  Three of us decided to go for the bacon brioche bap, which was lovely, but I did have a slight bit of food envy as my colleague had ordered the Spiced Skillet – eggs, with chorizo, spring onions, tomatoes and flat mushrooms. He didn’t rub it in much but informed me it tasted as good as it looked. After a coffee and light brunch, we checked in at the pro shop before heading for a quick practice putt.  

Our first round of our break away was on the Longcross Golf Course. It is surrounded by scots pine, beech and silver birch trees and is one of Surrey’s top tree lined courses and has been named in the Top 100 golf courses in England by Golf World since 2015. There are some real highlights on this tricky tree lined course, not to mention  the 1st which is a 408–yard par 4. With it being a busy Sunday on the course we still teed off bang on time, but did have one or two watching us that may have added to the pressure, as we hit a couple of wild drives and didn’t quite make it between the funnel of trees.  

Despite playing at the end of October, we had truly lucked out with the weather as there was not a breeze in the air and the sun was shining. The few days prior to our visit the weather had been pretty horrendous, but the course was in immaculate condition and the greens beautifully maintained.  

My colleagues’, as well as my own golf, was certainly not as first class as the course we were playing that day, although I did hit a cracking drive on the much talked about 14th hole that was voted by BBC Radio 5 Live as the greatest hole ever played. As you stand on an elevated tee as you look down the 507—yard hole, it truly is quite spectacular.  

The round finishes on the impressive 18th as you hit a drive—up hill, with a large tree narrowing the fairway for your second shot, where you play a partially blind approach shot to the shared green.  

After 4 and half hours, we finished a most enjoyable round and headed back to Nineteen for a well–earned beer. We had timed the round to perfection as we entered the bar the football was just about to start on the many TV screens around. We found a table situated in good view of the screen and with waiter service we were settled for the next couple of hours having a couple of Peroni’s, watching the football and discussing our not so impressive golf. Nineteen is very relaxed and on a Sunday afternoon provided a great atmosphere to settle down, it was the perfect way to the finish the round.  

Once the football had finished, we returned to reception to pick up our bags and check into our rooms to freshen up prior to dinner. The rooms are ultra–modern and extremely spacious. We had a large lounge area with a sofa, equipped with a desk are perfect for a business traveller. The large bathroom with rain shower really added to the relaxation and a felt fuller refreshed and revitalised ready to head down to dinner. 

We were booked into the Fox dining room for 8pm. This stunning new restaurant located in the 19th century manor house was not what I was expecting from a golf break. As you know from my monthly restaurant reviews, I am somewhat of a foodie and the high–quality dishes served were certainly on par with some of London’s and Sussex’s top restaurants that I have been fortunate enough to dine at.

The menu was packed with some mouth–watering choices and to start I went for soft shell crab as did one of my colleagues, served with coriander, lime caviar and crab mayonnaise. The dishes were presented as I have indicated from what you would expect from a fine dinning restaurant and tasted as amazing as it looked. To follow, I was truly torn but went for the Venison Loin with pithivier, sesame turnip and cabbage puree. The meat was cooked to perfection, succulent, tender and almost melted in my mouth. Between us we had a selection of delicious sides such as cauliflower cheese, creamed potato with grated Truffle (wow) and creamed cabbage and pancetta.  

To accompany the fine cuisine, there is an impressive wine list. Fortunately, one of my colleagues is somewhat of a connoisseur and chose a lovely deep ruby red, a Chateau Gachon, from Montagne St Emilion, which is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon and complimented our food perfectly. 

Finally, we had all left a little room for dessert, (we had worked up quite an appetite walking round the course that day)  a couple of colleagues opted for the Salted Carmel set cream with passion fruit curd, hazelnuts, praline ice cream. Cheese is my biggest vice, as most of you know from previous reviews, and I find it extremely hard not to choose this, so I did and was not disappointed, with a lovely selection.  

After what can only be described as a truly amazing dinning experience with fantastic food and service, we retired to the bar area sitting by the open fire and finished off the evening with a warm brandy. Served with the brandy glass resting on a glass of boiling water to warm the beverage it was the perfect end to a perfect day.  

Returning to our rooms feeling pleasantly full, I had a great night’s sleep in my large comfortable bed ready for what the next day had in store. 

My colleague and I rose early as I was keen to try at the luxurious spa facilities before breakfast and round two of golf. I started with a run in the state–of–the–art gym before having a swim. Although it was a brisk winter’s morning, my colleague and I ventured to the outside hot tub in the spa gardens, and as per one of my previous statements WOW. The sun had just come up and, similar to the previous day, not a breeze in the air. The sun shone through the surrounding trees and I struggle to think of time this year when I have felt so relaxed. I could have stayed there all day. Knowing we had another round of golf to play, and maybe slightly regretting the second brandy the previous night, I had a quick dip in the ice cold outside pool that is one of England’s first natural swimming pools, chemical–free water purified by plants and minerals. This certainly helped to refresh me. The spa also boasts a steam room, hydro pool with massage jets, relaxation room, two Finnish saunas and, of course, the beautiful spa garden. I challenge anyone to visit the spa and not coming out feeling a million dollars.  

Feeling refreshed and raring to go, and after a lovely breakfast of smoked mackerel with poached eggs in the Manor Lounge, we headed off to the Bernard Hunt course for round number two.  

This course is named after the club’s first professional and former Ryder Cup Captain. Although longer than the Longcross, it is designed to be slightly forgiving off the tee, which is certainly good for me after my previous day’s golf. Despite its length, it still embraces the natural beauty of raised trees and meandering fairways through picturesque parkland. There are again many highlights of this course. We were blessed with good weather and had quite the view of the course on the 6th hole, which is a par 4 playing 431 yards. On the elevated tee the fairway descends into a narrowing cauldron before rising up over a series of well-positioned bunkers into the green, that is surrounded by pine trees. 

Similar to the Longcross the day before, the course and greens were in immaculate condition, especially considering the time of year.  

After teeing off earlier the second day we came in just after lunch and once again headed to Nineteen where our attentive waiter, Malik, served us each with a club sandwich and a coffee.  

From our arrival early on the Sunday to our departure Monday afternoon I am struggling to find any fault with this fantastic resort. Every member of staff from the reception, spa, restaurant, pro shop, golf course was delightful, helpful and could not do enough for us. This was present throughout our stay.  

The facilities are top class and I can echo my initial quote from the independent that this truly is one of the best resorts in Britain. It simply caters for such a wide range of needs. From a business point of view, it’s a very impressive place to entertain clients or take staff on an away day/retreat. As a busy business owner, it is so important to take that time out and this is the perfect place to do so, whether with family or friends. Great golf, fantastic food and wine, amazing spa facilities it really has got it all. The hour or so commute from Brighton maybe slightly excessive for me to become a member but it was that good I would consider it. I urge our readers if you have not yet been the please do so, you will not be disappointed. 

Quote – Mark Woolnough, Founder Logistically  

‘From the moment turning into Foxhills I could tell we was in for a quality break, and that quality persisted through every interaction, whether the staff in the pro shop, restaurant or spa and particularly the golf courses themselves – can’t wait to visit again’  

 For more information, visit the website.