Personal

Lymington

When I was awarded a Red Letter Day voucher at work Em worried that we'd have to do something dynamic with it like tank racing or white-water rafting. As it happened, there was a good choice of hotel breaks so we opted for a stay here at the Stanwell House hotel in Lymington over the Valentine's Day weekend.

When I walked into Lymington on the coastwalk the town turned out to be three miles further away than I thought. Back on the sea-wall yesterday afternoon with Emma it was clear why: the town looks just like Woodbridge with its tidal river, its marina, sailing club and footpath by the marsh downstream. But everything's scaled up a notch or two, so instead of the half mile walk from Kyson Point into Woodbridge it's three or four from Keyhaven to Lymington.

It's a lovely town to spend a few days in though, and you could do a lot worse than Stanwell House. The hotel's a warren of corridors and staircases and rooms with uneven floors. All rather indulgent.

Two days is never long enough, especially when you subtract the time taken to drive down and back but this has been just the break we needed. Today's quick boat trip to the Isle of Wight followed by meandering through the lanes of the New Forest on the way home was the perfect tonic.