31-05-2025
‘More natural, harmonious and effortlessly laid-back than any British country hotel I've stayed in'
Most often when I review places for this column, I'm on my own. But to test a hotel to its limits, taking along my grandchildren does the trick.
Max (aged three) is my secret weapon. When I popped in to see them at home recently, Max was absent. 'I'm afraid, Gran Gran,' said his sister Olive (five, but beyond her years), 'he's in thinking time again.' Thinking time is the family euphemism for 'he's been sent to his room for biting the au pair on the leg'.
Biting au pairs is to be frowned on, but frankly, I don't blame Max for his very public tantrum – more a sit-in protest I like to think – at the previous 'family friendly' hotel we went to together. Our accommodation was like a barracks: we had to pay extra to use the pool (a nasty habit creeping onto the hotel scene), with highly restricted children's swim times; and the general atmosphere was as warm as dried toast. Louma, by contrast, felt like walking through the pearly gates into hotel heaven.
Where is this paradise? On Dorset's Jurassic Coast, in a rebuilt south-facing farmhouse and barns set in 100 acres of vineyards and farmland, with a mesmerising and truly sensational view across rolling fields to the sea at Charmouth.
The description is accurate – a happy combination of lavish (£30 million) if unshowy spending on the project and its gentle evolution. The owners are Louis and Emma (hence Louma) Steyn – he, the son of the late South African insurance tycoon, philanthropist and friend of Nelson Mandela Douw Steyn; she from the English countryside.
When Louis and Emma found this lovely fold of Marshwood Vale in 2019, they bought it for themselves and their three children. Gradually, however, and with a close-knit team, they devised a way of sharing it more widely – first as a private retreat, latterly as a hotel open to all. The result is a place that feels more natural, harmonious and effortlessly laid-back than any British country hotel I have ever stayed in. It has echoes of Soho Farmhouse and The Newt (in Somerset), but those places feel like constructs set in unreal bubbles compared with Louma, which feels part of life.
They do things differently here. Rates are for two nights minimum and full board, and before your stay, someone (in our case, Laura) will contact you to arrange your bespoke itinerary.
Itinerary? Is this place regimented? No; I told you, it's heaven. Our schedule included blissful bespoke massages from spa director Björn and his small team; yoga and craniosacral treatments on the upper floor of a remote, sea-facing barn; riding (the on-site stables with 20 horses are run by the delightful Sandford family); mini Land Rovers for the kids; wine tasting; and complimentary vineyard and farmyard tours. We also swam in the indoor and outdoor pools, took saunas, used the gym and playground and strolled on the enchanting, hand-built elevated wooden Woodland Walk above carpets of bluebells.
Ask Olive and Max what they loved most about Louma and they would tell you it was the tadpoles in the pretty pond, temporarily forgetting about meeting all the farm animals or their first horse ride. Story and puzzle books for them to keep were set out on their bunkbeds; they could swim at any time; run down to see the lambs; drag their grandmother to the swings and slide; and play with toys and other children while the grown-ups sipped Louma sparkling rosé and Special Cuvée.
They were gloriously happy – and so was I, revelling in the harmonious good looks and stretch-out comfort of the spacious public areas and bedrooms (including two charming shepherd huts); the friendliness of the local staff; and not least, the delicate and prettily presented food, classic with a twist. Menus are short, so a couple of dinners here is about right before the desire to eat elsewhere sets in.
As for Max: at his cheeky, happy, imaginative best, the only hint of thinking time was when he was told he was leaving. Like me, he had fallen under the spell of this intuitive, uplifting, kind and restorative retreat.
Doubles from £650, including breakfast, lunch and dinner; Champenhayes Lane, Wootton Fitzpaine, Bridport, Dorset DT6 6DF (01308 800298)
