The Blonde Hedgehog is a trendy boutique lodge within the coronary heart of Alderney’s Saint Anne. With considerate design, heat service and island attraction, it’s the proper base to discover the island. Add in a serendipitous backstory and standout meals, and it’s nicely value the journey to get right here.
The Blonde Hedgehog matches completely into Alderney’s quiet attraction – modest, fantastically designed, and stuffed with character. Set within the coronary heart of the island’s important city Saint Anne, this boutique lodge brings a contact of understated luxurious to one of the vital 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 come back to Alderney. She was headed for Cornwall in a personal airplane, however fog meant she needed to land on the island as an alternative. She ended up falling for Alderney and purchased the adjoining buildings on the market, creating The Blonde Hedgehog because the outcome.
Opened in September 2019, The Blonde Hedgehog has since turn into 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 trendy 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 gives a mixture of rooms and suites in its important Georgian townhouse, plus a fantastically restored cottage throughout the road. Assume: stripped-back wood flooring, marshmallow-soft beds, classic lamps, and freestanding tubs. It’s luxurious, however unfussy.
The room smelt superb after I walked in, a hazy wall of untamed fig and saffron from the Plum & Ashby merchandise. In all my travels I don’t assume I’ve ever had a room with a radio – the Roberts radio tuned into BBC Radio Jersey was an excellent contact to stimulate all of the senses.
My mattress was large, stuffed with cushions. It was a splendidly heat weekend on my go to so I didn’t use the big 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 sort 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 onerous to decide on a favorite dish to be trustworthy, you’re simply going to need to go for the total menu.
I had this Korean hen salad on the primary day which was fairly particular too. Simply the proper quantity of hen to salad, with some tremendous yellow Alderney butter on the facet for my sourdough too.
All loved within the lovely restaurant with the solar flowing in by way of the open bi-folding doorways.
There felt like a robust group really feel among the many employees on the lodge: the crew contains employees from Kenya who have been actually pleasant and attentive. I chatted to at least one crew member, Mary, who described the tradition shock of returning to Nairobi after two years on the island. She mentioned her sister needed to remind her to not have her telephone in her again pocket and take care of her purse. She liked working on the lodge.
Issues to do close to The Blonde Hedgehog
Staying at The Blonde Hedgehog provides you the proper base for exploring Alderney’s wild, fantastic magnificence. You’re solely a 10-minute stroll downhill from the seaside to observe sundown, and also you’re proper in the course of city for the opposite bars, eating places (not that you simply want them) and outlets.
You 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 can additionally e-book a wild sauna and yoga session close by, and it’s important to exit one night time to see the native blonde hedgehogs that gave the lodge its identify. E book in with Roland on the Alderney Wildlife Belief for a hedgehog and bat stroll.
The Blonde Hedgehog Lodge Evaluation
There are solely a few motels 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 carry, 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 trendy with out being overdone, the meals’s wonderful, and the employees make you are feeling proper at house. It’s an excellent 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.
