Luxury hotel in Lymington, England
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
We have a very 'green' ethos at The Mill and have been lucky enough to win a number of awards recognising our efforts. Some of our projects include a heat exchange unit in the base of the river which generates 80% of our hot water and central heating. Lots of recycling, cutting down on wastage and packaging. Our eco-friendly bio-tank. Also recycled art work in our gardens and for the centre pieces on our tables in the restauarnt. We are also fully committed to locally sourced and organic produce and even have our own kitchen garden where we grown some of our own herbs and vegetables. All these points are explained in a little more detail below:
We have a heat exchange unit which lies on the river bed and uses the kinetic energy from the water to power our existing central heating and hot water system-very green!!- it provides us with almost 80% of our hot water and central heating!
We have tried to reinstate the Mill wheel to generate our electricity. It has taken over 8 years to get to this stage, working closely with Southampton University who have been heavily involved with the design. We have had support and partial funding from the New Forest National Park Authority's Sustainable Development Fund but we still have a long way to go but we haven't given up yet! It is beset with all sorts of practical and ' red tape' problems but hopefully one day we will generate our own electricity!
We do our very best to reuse and recycle as much as possible. We have installed 'Hippo' bags in all the loos to reduce water consumption and almost all the lights are energy efficient bulbs. We have phased out wasteful individually packaged shampoos and soaps and instead have opted for refillable dispensers in all of the rooms and guest toilets to reduce wastage.
We are half way through planting our raised vegetable beds, we have used old railway sleepers and we were given most of the top soil. We will now supply the kitchen with a continuing source of fresh herbs, courgettes, carrots and artichokes.
We have also been awarded the New Forest Marque which is a great accolade and shows our commitment to local produce and doing our bit for the environment. We try to source as much as we can locally not only to reduce our carbon footprint, but also because the quality on offer in the New Forest and surrounding areas is simply exceptional - the majority of our local suppliers have also been awarded the New Forest Marque themselves!
Community
We have a pet duck 'Crispie'!! My manageress Teri rescued her when she was only a few hours old- took her home in a little box, not expecting her to survive. But almost 5 years on she did survive! Teri brings her to work in a cat basket in the front of her sports car!! She is really adorable, you can pick her up and stroke her, I don't think she really realises she is a duck! We have had calendars produced and these have been sold in the past to raise funds for a local special needs playgroup. Also my daughter illustrated 'The First Years' , Crispie's true story and we sell these as children's story books, some of the proceeds go to The Piam Browns children's cancer ward in Southampton. She has been in the local paper and even on local television! I never expected to be famous for a duck!!
Our passion is to support our local community and with this in mind we buy as much as we possibly can within 20 miles of the hotel. All our pork, lamb, game, fish, eggs and dairy are all sourced within the Forest. Cheese, local ales, wild mushrooms, flour and organic vegetables also. We have a hand drawn map on the back of our menu showing where we get our goods from with the name and address of suppliers.
We are also very committed to staff training - many of our younger members have taken there NVQ qualifications in hospitality and in catering. We sent our young waiter to Australia for 3 months to work in a Vineyard- he gained a huge amount of knowledge and experience and is so enthusiastic about wine now he has seen for himself how it is produced.
Art is really important at The Mill. We are very proud of our beautiful grounds and have recently expanded them to include a traditional knot garden and Victorian swimming pool (used as a decorative pond) complete with decked area and copper tree fountain made by family friend Julian Bailey.
We wanted to make the gardens interesting and unique so we contacted some local sculptors to see if they would be interested in exhibiting some pieces in our gorgeous grounds.
It has been the most fantastic success and now our 'Garden Art Walk' is a permanent feature. We have even produced a map for guests which describes all the different exhibits and their artists as well as detailed information on each exhibitor, how to contact them and possible commissions.
We have commissioned recycled sculptures from Michael Turner for all our tables. They are absolutely gorgeous - mayflies, dragonflies, lilies and fish and are made from knives, forks, sieves etc. Not only do they make a fantastic talking point and support one of our favourite local artists, but they have also saved a tremendous amount of money and wastage on cut flowers which have a massive impact on the environment as more often than not these would have been imported from overseas
Landscape
The New Forest is so unique and beautiful and we are so lucky to have it on our doorstep. We encourage people to explore by our printed ' local walks' all written by members of staff explaining there own favourite walks. We also have a printed sheet of our favourite local pubs, cafes and restaurants.
My best asset is my staff- most of them local so they can share there enthusiasm for this beautiful area. We all have our favourite spots and are very happy to guide and direct our visitors to explore this wonderful and diverse area.
We are lucky enough to have one of the very few riverside restaurants in the area, a truly magical place to sit along the riverbank in the summer months - to explore our wonderful 'Artwalk' garden whilst enjoying gorgeous homemade food, sustainably sourced and served with local passion.
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