The Spread Eagle Hotel & Spa – Midhurst – Working Lunch

A Fine Spread at The Spread Eagle Hotel & Spa in Midhurst.

This historic coaching inn still provides a welcome sight for weary travellers. As the famous travel writer E.V. Lucus said in 1910: “If we are to begin our travels in Sussex then Midhurst is the starting point as no other spot has so much to offer: A quaint country town gabbled and vulnerable unmodernised and un-ambitious, with a river, a Tudor ruin, a park of Deer, heather commons, immense woods and the Downs, Sussex has no more a contented town.”

Whilst you can now traverse Sussex in a mere matter of hours – or, at least, you could before the most recent bout of flooding – our beautiful county does still have its coaching inns, as quaint a charm as they may be. The Spread Eagle Hotel can trace its origins back to 1430, when its medieval foundations were laid and the original timber frame structure was erected. In 1650, this already historic building had a new part added on in red brick, which is now painted white. Its styling has been kept in keeping with the building’s history where possible, and it still provides a welcome sight for weary travellers today.

We were certainly pleased when our battle through neverending drizzle brought us to the hotel, where we were immediately welcomed with teas and coffees before a quick tour. I was, initially, a little surprised that such a picturesque… dare I even say romantic… retreat would be fully prepared for corporate entertaining, but despite their Jacobean panelling, the meeting rooms are extremely well equipped and I could see how they’d make an ideal setting for many a kind of gathering. The Spread Eagle’s infamous afternoon tea is certainly an added draw.

The bedrooms are furnished in a traditional manner in keeping with the building’s Tudor style, with all the mod cons subtly tucked in so as to be on hand without spoiling the aesthetic. I doubt the fresh tea and cookies waiting for us on arrival are historically accurate, but I didn’t mind a bit.

The award winning two AA rosette restaurant offers fi ne dinning with modern classics supplied by Head Chef Nathan Marshall and his team, utilising fresh local seasonal produce complimented by an extensive wine list. It’s situated in a large historic dinning room with huge oak beams and a beautiful oak fi res which are kept burning all winter, with two feature windows which date back to 1612 that make a great built-in conversation piece. When we dined there, we started by sharing a whole baked Camembert with toasted bread fingers and confit of garlic before an extensive menu of partridge, pheasant, fish, and cheese souffle all vied for our attention. I settled on the hake fillet wrapped in parma ham, rosemary scallop kebab and tapenade, followed by lemon crème brulee with a lime sorbet. The meals were every bit deserving of those AA rosettes and worth the trip out to the Spread Eagle just for dinner.

For corporate entertaining, you’d struggle to be in better hands. The staff are incredibly keen to work with Sussex businesses on their events – so much so that they recently redressed a 15 foot Christmas tree and accompanying decorations to better compliment the corporate colours of the company that had hired the room.

The hotel has a range of private rooms to accommodate anywhere up to ninety guests, so whether you’d like everyone to be able to stay over after a corporate party or just feel justified in booking yourself a relaxing overnight reward after meeting with someone important, the Spread Eagle has the room, the food and the staff for the job.

If an added lure is needed, another string to the Spread Eagle’s bow is The Aqualia Club and Spa with its 14 metre indoor swimming pool, spa bath, sauna, gym, and three treatment rooms with fully qualified therapists on hand to offer advice on beauty and relaxation treatments. The spa champions Sussex products, making it the perfect relaxing oasis that doesn’t invoke the tired cliché of escaping your real surroundings so much as completely immersing you in its beauty; in the quintessential Sussexness that is the Spread Eagle. We enjoyed it immensely, and we’re sure you will too.