The Blonde Hedgehog is a classy boutique lodge within the coronary heart of Alderney’s Saint Anne. With considerate design, heat service and island appeal, it’s the right base to discover the island. Add in a serendipitous backstory and standout meals, and it’s properly definitely worth the journey to get right here.
The Blonde Hedgehog suits completely into Alderney’s quiet appeal – modest, superbly designed, and filled with character. Set within the coronary heart of the island’s most important city Saint Anne, this boutique lodge brings a contact of understated luxurious to one of the crucial distant and intriguing locations simply 45 minutes from Southampton Airport.
The (quick) historical past of The Blonde Hedgehog
What makes The Blonde Hedgehog much more particular is the story behind it.
The proprietor and founder Julie-Anne hadn’t even deliberate to return to Alderney. She was headed for Cornwall in a non-public aircraft, however fog meant she needed to land on the island as a substitute. She ended up falling for Alderney and purchased the adjoining buildings on the market, creating The Blonde Hedgehog because the consequence.
Opened in September 2019, The Blonde Hedgehog has since grow to be a cornerstone of Alderney’s hospitality scene. However constructing a lodge on a distant island isn’t straightforward. From transporting furnishings and fittings, to discovering expert workmen keen (and ready) to cross the water, each component was a problem.
And naturally, there was the lockdowns of 2020-22 to maintain lodge life spicy.
The tumultuous begin was value it although. The result’s a classy and cosy place to remain and eat on the island, and an actual spot for celebration for locals and holidaymakers.
My room at The Blonde Hedgehog
The lodge affords a mixture of rooms and suites in its most important Georgian townhouse, plus a superbly restored cottage throughout the road. Suppose: stripped-back picket flooring, marshmallow-soft beds, classic lamps, and freestanding tubs. It’s luxurious, however unfussy.
The room smelt wonderful once I walked in, a hazy wall of untamed fig and saffron from the Plum & Ashby merchandise. In all my travels I don’t suppose I’ve ever had a room with a radio – the Roberts radio tuned into BBC Radio Jersey was a terrific contact to stimulate all of the senses.
My mattress was large, filled with cushions. It was a splendidly heat weekend on my go to so I didn’t use the massive freestanding tub, however the spacious bathe was a pleasure – particularly with these fancy merchandise to pattern.
The restaurant at The Blonde Hedgehog
The Blonde Hedgehog’s restaurant is one more reason to e-book your keep right here. The menu celebrates native produce – recent fish, seasonal veg, and the form of sourdough you’d queue for in London.
I used to be fortunate sufficient to have two breakfasts (smoked salmon and eggs after which a sausage and bacon muffin), a lunch and two dinners at The Blonde Hedgehog – together with this unbelievable tasting menu.
Squid ink risotto with crab creme fraiche
Ricotta ravioli with parmesan and lemon
Tuna tataki, ponzu, Vietnamese pickles, coriander
Alderney pork cheek, miso lobster, fondant potato, yellow beets, asparagus
Chocolate mousse cake, apricot daquiri, raspberry sorbet
It’s exhausting to decide on a favorite dish to be sincere, you’re simply going to need to go for the complete menu.
I had this Korean hen salad on the primary day which was fairly particular too. Simply the right quantity of hen to salad, with some tremendous yellow Alderney butter on the facet for my sourdough too.
All loved within the stunning restaurant with the solar flowing in by way of the open bi-folding doorways.
There felt like a powerful neighborhood really feel among the many workers on the lodge: the workforce contains workers from Kenya who have been actually pleasant and attentive. I chatted to 1 workforce member, Mary, who described the tradition shock of returning to Nairobi after two years on the island. She stated her sister needed to remind her to not have her telephone in her again pocket and take care of her purse. She cherished working on the lodge.
Issues to do close to The Blonde Hedgehog
Staying at The Blonde Hedgehog offers you the right base for exploring Alderney’s wild, great magnificence. You’re solely a 10-minute stroll downhill from the seashore to look at sundown, and also you’re proper in the course of city for the opposite bars, eating places (not that you just want them) and outlets.
You possibly can lease an electrical bike from Cycle and Surf like I did, and take a gradual loop across the coast, stopping off at golden seashores and windswept cliffs.
You possibly can additionally e-book a wild sauna and yoga session close by, and you need to exit one night time to see the native blonde hedgehogs that gave the lodge its title. E-book in with Roland on the Alderney Wildlife Belief for a hedgehog and bat stroll.
The Blonde Hedgehog Resort Evaluation
There are solely a few lodges on Alderney, and The Blonde Hedgehog is undoubtedly essentially the most design-forward.
A room prices from £190 per night time to remain at The Blonde Hedgehog, which incorporates breakfast. It’s lower than 5 minutes from Alderney airport and is a good lodge for {couples} and households. There are stairs and no raise, so simply bear that in thoughts if accessibility is a matter for you.
Whether or not you’re after a comfortable weekend away or a base to discover Alderney, The Blonde Hedgehog is an excellent alternative. It’s fashionable with out being overdone, the meals’s glorious, and the workers make you are feeling proper at house. It’s a terrific little spot on a really particular island.
I used to be invited to remain at The Blonde Hedgehog in return for my ideas on this publish.