Lawyer Monthly Magazine - October 2019 Edition

93 OCT 2019 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM Legal Lifestyle Great Fosters: A Treasure in the Heart of England Written By Richard Rossington We were invited to stay a weekend in August and found Great Fosters to be full of life, stories and wonders all-round. Situated near Windsor, Great Fosters is one of the finest relics of antiquity in the local parish and just looking at the building itself you can identify the hundreds of years of arts and culture exuding from the architecture. In fact, it becomes obvious once you step inside that throughout its hundreds of years, Great Fosters has been home to numerous noble families of England, carrying with it a very real history and local heritage. When we arrived, we were promptly shown to our room and invited to dine in the evening. But first, we took a rain scattered dip in the heated outdoor pool, which even in the humble rain of sunny England sat at just the right temperature. On top, it’s accompanying 1930s bathing boxes were a surprising eccentric feature. Once we’d made ourselves presentable, we made our way to the inhouse two AA Rosette award winning restaurant, only to be escorted to the bar for pre-drinks, but this wasn’t a bad thing… The hotel manager was out to make us comfortable and welcome, and he succeeded. On top of this, the bar staff knew their stuff and then some. Our bar waiter put his heart and soul into crafting the perfect cocktail for our taste, and in no time, we were ordering a second each. Great Fosters’ elegant barn style restaurant actually felt like an independent restaurant, as opposed to a hotel’s restaurant. It was a luxurious dining experience topped with a knowledgeable Italian sommelier and the finest cuisine we could have hoped for. The treasure was real. I tucked into some extravagant tagliatelle and mushrooms, while my wife enjoyed the salmon. We’re also told many of the vegetables, herbs, salad and fruits the restaurant uses are from the hotel’s very own glasshouse and kitchen garden. After roamingaround the hotel’s beautiful hallways, we settled down in our cosy room for two. The atmosphere was peaceful and quiet; just what we needed at the end of a busy week. We slept so well we almost missed breakfast in the morning, which again, left us amazed at the service and hospitable ethic of the hotel staff. Before we left, we picked up a couple of the hotel’s very own umbrellas and took a stroll round the hotel grounds – a massive 50 acres of stunning gardens and parkland, complete with well-maintained hedges, a grass amphitheatre, lake and moat style walkways. In my opinion this extravagant location is part of England’s real hidden treasure, and as mentioned, there’s so much more to discover once you actually speak to the ‘residents’. Highly recommended and not too far from central London, Great Fosters is a grand accomplishment and a sight to behold.