Meet the Hoteliers

Sara Curran and Peter Sussman – Foresters Hall

By James Rayner Photos by Julian Winslow & Kira Turnball

Today, we’re amongst the colourful cottages and shiny brass door knockers of Cowes, weaving our way through the winding streets of the oldest part of town. Our destination is Foresters Hall, an impressive pair of white-washed buildings, perched at the top of Sun Hill.

Heading through the front door, down the corridor and out into the brick-paved courtyard we find owners, Dublin-born Sara Curran and Toronto native Peter Sussman, soaking up the sun and sipping a mid-morning tea.

Formerly known as North House, the couple took over the historic premises in April 2022, later renaming it Foresters Hall in a nod to its past use as a meeting hall for the Ancient Order of Foresters (one the UK’s oldest friendly societies). Now, following the rebrand, an interior spruce up and the opening of an exciting in-house Mediterranean inspired restaurant (in partnership with The Smoking Lobster Group), it’s fast becoming a must-visit Isle of Wight destination. Pretty impressive, considering neither have a hospitality background, instead building successful careers in TV, film, and talent management.

Sitting down alongside them, as an extra Earl Grey is kindly brought forward, we ask Sara about how she and Peter first crossed paths. “Actually, we met in Melbourne. Peter was over there for the annual gathering of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) and I was in town visiting my sister. Peter’s company had already financed a few films in the UK that I’d worked on, so we’d already been on a few group emails and conference calls together but never had the chance to meet in person. I reached out to the head of Peter’s office in London and we managed to pin down a 30-minute slot we were both free. Now we’ve been together for ten years.”

Originally the pair were crisscrossing the world, moving from one film project to the next, spending up to 200 nights a year in hotel rooms as they travelled between Toronto, L.A., London, and Dublin. However, in 2020, as the pandemic began to emerge, plans changed and the couple eventually chose to make Sara’s home — the Isle of Wight — their permanent base. “I moved here fifteen years ago,” Sara tells us. “Originally, I was looking at Hampshire but the estate agent there asked if I’d ever thought about the Isle of Wight. It reminded me of some good memories I’d had on the Island over the years, including a weekend sailing course at Cowes and a chance to drive a reproduction Austin Healy Sprite car around the Island’s undulating country roads back in 1995. I’d just fallen in love with the place and was so happy to be able to move into our new home in Fishbourne.”

Just as the first lockdown was announced, Sara and Peter relocated to a pink-painted four-storey Georgian townhouse on The Parade at Cowes. It was from here (through the open window) that they met the locals, walking up and down the seafront, taking their daily dose of permitted exercise. As things began to open up, they got to know the town’s businesses too — including North House which soon became a frequent haunt, with Peter’s son even doing his hotel quarantine in Room Number 6.

“In October 2021 we suddenly found out that North House had closed,” Sara explains, “and all the staff let go. Whilst a mystery to begin with, we later bumped into a former staff member who told us it was going on the market with interest already to convert it into residential use. We thought it would be such a shame for the local community to lose this fantastic place, so with just a bit of bravery, we made a deal with the owners to take it over, finally getting the keys on April Fool’s Day 2022.”

Within twenty-eight days, Sara and Peter had ticked off all the most urgent things from their hotel to-do list, assembled a team, and opened the doors to the freshly rebranded Foresters Hall. Today, it’s a restful and stylish destination, with newly painted rooms, recently reupholstered armchairs (all twenty-four of them), and a tasteful collection of artworks hanging from the walls — including a piece from the recently opened Cowes Gallery.

In the background, we can hear the gentle clink of cutlery emanating from The Sun Room, which prompts us to ask about Foresters Hall’s latest development. Since the 7th of April, the hotel’s kitchens have been taken over by local pan-Asian restauranteurs Smoking Lobster.

However, this time they’re drawing on the Italian side of the family’s ancestry to offer a Mediterranean inspired menu to guests and Islanders alike. Known as The Brasserie, the menu features seasonal products and freshly made pasta, including fish (five days a week) caught on head chef GC Giancovich’s very own commercial fishing boat.

As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also an impressively long and well-curated wine list, thanks to Sara — “the best amateur sommelier I’ve ever met” — Peter tells us. Through an exclusive arrangement with Cowes-based specialists Wine Therapy, Foresters Hall can offer a unique selection of wines from across the globe, twenty-four of which are available by the glass — thanks to the hotel’s new state-of-the-art Bermar Wine Preservation System. “We don’t want guests to stick to the safe option of their usual Chardonnay because they’re nervous about opening a whole new bottle of wine. Instead, by the glass, we can help them find their new favourite wines or wine-growing regions, and try something new like our wonderful Hungarian Tokaji Dry

Furmint.” With that thought, and lunch service imminent, we take our leave of Sara and Peter, feeling pretty sure we’ll be heading back through their door again sometime very soon.

A Style of Wight review

Welcome to Chewton Glen

An idyllic, Five-Star, New Forest escape

Are you ready to feel wholly indulged? Then let us introduce to you Chewton Glen, our personal recommendation for a five-star weekend escape on the edge of the enchanting New Forest.

This 18th Century, 5-star Relais & Châteaux hotel and spa is a luxurious country house hotel just a very short distance from our Isle of Wight doorstep! Hop on the car ferry From Yarmouth to Lymington and after a fifteen-minute drive, you’ll be entering the gates of the Chewton Glen estate.

As staff swiftly greeted us on arrival to carry luggage, ensure a smooth check-in and give a hotel tour… we knew we were going to be very well looked after. With our bags heading up to the room we took the opportunity to lose ourselves in the surroundings of the Hotel and beyond. A twenty-minute stroll through the hotel’s gardens, nine-hole golf course, pretty stream, and ancient woodland, takes you to Highcliffe beach, where you can take in the glorious views of the Island with the Needles rising from the sea.

Back at the main house, we made our way to the Masterman Suite – one of three individually designed, beautifully appointed master suites. It offered an artful combination of antique and contemporary furniture and our very own sun deck (imagine enjoying an aperitif as dusk falls over the panoramic views of the impressive estate grounds).

With an afternoon at our leisure, we adorned our fluffy, soft white robes and headed for the award-winning world-class spa for the ultimate in relaxation and unwinding. The Chewton Glen Health Spa features a 17m indoor swimming pool, a large hydrotherapy spa pool, outdoor whirlpool, aromatherapy sauna, and crystal steam room. When you’re ready for refreshments, there’s even a spa café to enjoy that glass of champagne as well as a selection of healthy buffet options where you can eat in your robe and slippers.

Feeling truly relaxed and rejuvenated, we opted for dinner reservations at The Kitchen, being chauffeur-driven in the Chewton Glen white buggies through the grounds straight to the Kitchen’s front doors (and collected again afterward).

The Kitchen is a relaxed, open-plan, informal dining experience offering you the ability to watch the masters at work. Headed-up by James Martin and his brigade of talented chefs, you’ll find a carefully curated seasonal menu featuring seafood and fish dishes, wood-fired pizzas, gourmet burgers, superfood salads and — to finish — desserts selected by the man himself. Set within the hotel grounds, surrounded by raised beds and a greenhouse where herbs and vegetables are grown all year round, the Kitchen also features a glass wall separating diners from the cookery school – which guests can also book into.

Following on from a dreamy night’s sleep in our master suite and a delicious, cooked breakfast, we were looking forward to our final reservations before checking out; an estate lunch in the dining room curated by Executive Head Chef, Luke Matthews. The estate lunch menu offers finely crafted, deliciously wholesome dishes with a simple focus on fresh, locally sourced produce (lots of which is straight from the hotel’s Kitchen Garden). A particular highlight for us was the Iced Chewton Glen Honeycomb Parfait — we were delighted to hear the honey came straight from the hotel’s own bee colony which was introduced in 2007. There are more than 50 working beehives (of very well-behaved bees), overseen by Estate Manager Darren Venables. The bonus is they pollinate the beautiful wildflowers and blossom surrounding the house – the honey they produce is exceptional; used in the hotel and sold in the boutique.

Chewton Glen

We’ve enjoyed one of the best country-house hotels in the world – how could we not share the experience with you, our readers?

To book a stay at Chewton Glen for yourselves visit chewtonglen.com, call 01425 282212, or email reservations@chewtonglen.com.

We are a family-run store in Shanklin, specialising in Eastern European produce. Through our newly-opened bakery, we supply our store with traditional Polish sourdough breads, Polish doughnuts, cakes and more.