We talk to Fiona, who manages Hedgerows Estate, about the property, how guests spend their time there, and its location on the edge of the New Forest National Park.

For someone who has never stayed at Hedgerows Estate before, how would you describe it?

I always say it is where rustic luxury meets New Forest charm. Hedgerows is a private country estate just outside Ringwood, on the Hampshire and Dorset border, so you get wild ponies grazing in ancient woodland on one side and the Dorset coast a short drive away on the other.

There are two places to stay. Hedgerows House is a beautifully designed family home over three floors with six bedrooms, generous living spaces, a baby grand piano in the sitting room and an AGA in the kitchen. The Lodge is a cosy, boutique-style retreat with its own kitchen and a private hot tub opening straight off the decking. Across the grounds you have a tennis court, a gym, a sauna, a games room with a pool table and plenty of space to simply wander.

What guests tend to remember, though, is the feeling of it. Everything has been chosen with care, from the bed linen to the light fittings, and I like to greet people with fresh flowers, milk in the fridge and something nice to eat. It is luxurious, but it is not stuffy. It feels like coming home to a very good friend's house.

You offer great facilities for a corporate break, and a chance to escape a busy and sometimes hectic working environment. Why might a company from London, for instance, choose Hedgerows for its next escape?

Because it is close enough to be easy and far enough to feel like a proper break. We are under two hours from London by road and the trains to Bournemouth or Salisbury are straightforward, so a team can leave the office on a Thursday afternoon and be sitting by the hot tub before dark.

Once you are here, you have the whole estate to yourselves. There is room to work properly, with the big kitchen table and the sitting rooms doubling up as meeting spaces, and then room to switch off, whether that means a game of tennis, a session in the gym, a sauna or an evening around the fire pit.

We can bring in a private chef so nobody is thinking about dinner, arrange yoga or a mindfulness session on the lawn in the morning, or set up a wine tasting for the evening.

And with Experience Hampshire we can now offer a really memorable day out as part of the stay, whether that is a private boat across the Solent, a convoy of classic cars through the Forest or afternoon tea aboard HMS Victory. It is the kind of trip people talk about for months afterwards, which is rather the point of a team getaway.

For those coming to stay at Hedgerows, are you able to help with food? Can guests have groceries delivered, for example?

Yes, very easily. All the big supermarkets deliver to us, so guests can pre-order a shop from Ocado, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury's or Morrisons for the day they arrive, and if it turns up before they do we will put it away for them.

We also have lovely local hampers available, so there is something good to eat and drink from the moment you walk in.

And private chefs?

This is one of my favourite things to arrange. We work with some wonderful private chefs across Hampshire, Dorset and the New Forest who come to the house, cook, serve each course and then leave the kitchen spotless.

Gary is a multi-award-winning chef who does everything from fully staffed dinner parties and tasting menus to drop-off seafood platters and gourmet picnics, and Sophie cooks beautiful Mediterranean-inspired food with organic, seasonal ingredients that works wonderfully for a long sharing table outside in summer. Both are brilliant with dietary requirements.

For a big family weekend or a team dinner, having a chef in means everyone gets to be a guest at their own party, and nobody has to drive.

Is it possible to walk out from the property into the New Forest?

It is. We sit right on the edge of the National Park at Poulner Hill, so you can leave the car where it is and be out on the open Forest within a few minutes, with the heath and woodland stretching away in front of you. Guests love that first morning walk when the mist is still sitting on the heather and the ponies are grazing. Dogs are very welcome at Hedgerows too, and they tend to think it is the best holiday they have ever had.

Are you able to recommend activities close to the property?

There is far more than you could fit into one stay. Within the Forest itself there is walking, cycling, horse riding and wildlife watching on the doorstep, and Burley, Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst are all close for pubs and a wander.

Bournemouth's beaches and the Jurassic Coast are an easy drive, and Salisbury and Winchester make lovely days out.

For golfers, there are several excellent courses within half an hour. For something really special, we have teamed up with Experience Hampshire, who put together private, fully tailored days with chauffeur-driven transport from our door. Guests can take a private motorboat from Old Portsmouth to the Needles with Hampshire sparkling wine on board, spend a day driving classic cars through the Forest, pick flowers near Stockbridge before a vineyard tasting, or take afternoon tea in Nelson's cabin on HMS Victory.

We can also bring experiences to the house, from massage therapists and yoga instructors to a sommelier for a private tasting evening.

Would Hedgerows be suitable for a multi-generational family group?

It is made for it. Between the House and the Lodge we can comfortably sleep a large family party, with enough bedrooms and bathrooms that nobody feels on top of anyone else, and the Lodge works beautifully as a quieter base for grandparents or a couple with a baby.

We have had three generations here for big birthdays, family reunions and wedding weekends, and the thing I hear most is that everyone found their own corner. The teenagers head for the pool table, the active ones book the tennis court, somebody always claims the hot tub, and the kitchen with the AGA becomes the heart of the house. We provide cots and high chairs, and we can help arrange babysitters so the grown-ups can enjoy a chef's dinner in peace.

It is the kind of place where you can all be together without having to be together every minute, which, in my experience, is the secret to a happy family holiday.

For more information about Hedgerows, click here