SUMMER LODGE LAUNCHES NEW FOSSIL AND FORAGE EXPERIENCE UPON REOPENING

New family offering makes luxury Dorset hotel the perfect break when we can travel again

The award-winning, Grade II Listed Summer Lodge Country House Hotel & Spa, located in the enchanting Dorset village of Evershot, will reopen on July 4, and has launched a NEW Fossil and Forage experience for families, starting this autumn – the ultimate luxury staycation for dinosaur enthusiasts and foodies of all ages. 

The idyllic Relais & Chateaux property sits within the heart of the glorious countryside that inspired Thomas Hardy and, at just a 25 minute drive from the world-famous Jurassic coastline, Summer Lodge is the perfect base for budding palaeontologists to explore from. The Fossil and Forage package includes a private, 3-hour family fossil hunting trip with a guide, plus tickets to Dorchester’s Dinosaur Museum, where families can learn all about the area’s “terrible lizards” from the exhibited skeletons, life-size reconstructions and hands-on interactive displays. 

Summer Lodge is renowned for its internationally-acclaimed dining, with innovative menus to rival the best in the world. To enhance the dining experience still further, the family package includes a special foraging activity in the hotel’s beautiful and expansive four acre garden, led by Head Gardener, Michael Francis, who is himself a very keen forager, as well as the proud overseer of the comprehensive Summer Lodge kitchen garden. The ingredients will then be used within a beautiful included family dinner, or a private picnic set up in the gardens, depending on the guests’ choice. 

The Fossil and Forage package starts from £1,000 for two nights, based on a family of four sharing a family suite and full inclusions are as follows: 

• A two night stay in one of Summer Lodge’s individually designed and elegantly comfortable family suites
• A private family fossil hunting trip to the Jurassic Coast to find fossils with a guide (3 hours)
• Tickets to The Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester
• A special foraging experience in the hotel’s kitchen gardens, led by Head Gardener Michael Francis, to gather the ingredients for a family dinner / picnic
• A family dinner on one night of the stay, or a private family picnic in Summer Lodge’s stunning and extensive gardens
• A map-led, family treasure hunt in Summer Lodge’s gardens
• Use of Summer Lodge’s NEW secret play house for children
• Use of the swimming pool (available to kids under 12 before 10.30am and after 4.30pm)*, tennis courts and bikes 

For all additional dining at Summer Lodge, kids aged 12 and under will eat free at Summer Lodge when dining with a paying adult. The hotel is dog friendly too, so four-legged family members are equally welcome.

The health, safety and wellbeing of guests and staff and Summer Lodge and its Red Carnation Hotel Collection sister properties are of the utmost priority and each hotel has always employed stringent safety and sanitation protocols. Summer Lodge and Red Carnation will continue to do so, with special measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

For guests seeking additional seclusion, Summer Lodge’s private cottages offer the perfect accommodations to get away from it all, with the added benefit 24-hour room service. The beautifully appointed Ivy Cottage has two master bedrooms and a private garden with outdoor hot-tub, and offers peaceful privacy with all the benefits of a five star hotel.

For more information please visit www.summerlodgehotel.co.uk.