The Blonde Hedgehog is a classy boutique lodge within the coronary heart of Alderney’s Saint Anne. With considerate design, heat service and island allure, it’s the proper base to discover the island. Add in a serendipitous backstory and standout meals, and it’s properly well worth the journey to get right here.
The Blonde Hedgehog matches completely into Alderney’s quiet allure – modest, fantastically designed, and stuffed with character. Set within the coronary heart of the island’s primary city Saint Anne, this boutique lodge brings a contact of understated luxurious to some of the 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 aircraft, however fog meant she needed to land on the island as an alternative. She ended up falling for Alderney and acquired the adjoining buildings on the market, creating The Blonde Hedgehog because the outcome.
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 simple. From transporting furnishings and fittings, to discovering expert workmen prepared (and in a position) to cross the water, each aspect was a problem.
And naturally, there was the lockdowns of 2020-22 to maintain lodge life spicy.
The tumultuous begin was price 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 presents a mixture of rooms and suites in its primary Georgian townhouse, plus a fantastically 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 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 incredible contact to stimulate all of the senses.
My mattress was enormous, stuffed 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 another excuse to e book your keep right here. The menu celebrates native produce – recent fish, seasonal veg, and the type 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 trustworthy, you’re simply going to should 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 workers on the lodge: the crew contains workers 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 stated her sister needed to remind her to not have her telephone in her again pocket and take care of her purse. She beloved working on the lodge.
Issues to do close to The Blonde Hedgehog
Staying at The Blonde Hedgehog offers 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 just want them) and retailers.
You may hire an electrical bike from Cycle and Surf like I did, and take a sluggish loop across the coast, stopping off at golden seashores and windswept cliffs.
You may 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. Guide in with Roland on the Alderney Wildlife Belief for a hedgehog and bat stroll.
The Blonde Hedgehog Lodge Evaluate
There are solely a few inns on Alderney, and The Blonde Hedgehog is undoubtedly probably 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 superb 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 workers make you are feeling proper at dwelling. It’s an incredible 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.