Heckfield Place releases more details on its long-awaited opening

The 400-acre estate, owned by the Chan family, will see Olivia Richli take the role of general manager and Skye Gyngell oversee the food offering as culinary director of the estate.

Heckfield Place is the first major solo commission for interior designer Ben Thompson, and will feature natural tones, salvaged stone and walnut floors.

The rooms – of which there will be 46 - will be positioned to follow the trajectory of the sun.

The main house will comprise a morning room; a drawing room; the ‘Moon Bar’; the Marle restaurant; the Hearth restaurant, which will serve a changing menu of dishes cooked over fire; a 67-cover cinema with a bar; a wine cellar; the Little Bothy spa; and assembly rooms for private gatherings.

In the grounds there will be a two-bedroom cottage; walled gardens; the Sun House, which will be available for private dining hire; the hotel’s Home Farm; a kitchen garden; greenhouses; an orchard; woodlands; two lakes; and a biomass energy centre.

“A group of uniquely talented people has come together over time to build a place of intrinsic beauty where extraordinary things can happen,” says Richli. “The House and grounds will offer an antidote to the modern world, where guests can connect with each other and to nature.”

The luxury country house hotel was granted planning permission for refurbishment in 2009, and was expected to open in time for the 2012 Olympics.

The six-year delay in opening is said to come as a result of continual changes to the original plans.

In the six years of development, a revolving door of chefs and managers have come and gone, including executive chefs Chris Staines and Barnaby Jones; and general managers Charles Oak from the Mayfair Hotel, and Henry Gray, who now manages Six Senses in Bangkok.

Bookings for the hotel, which launches on 1 September, opened on 8 May.