About Us
A Short History 
F.A.Q.s How To Find Us
Our hotel was built in 1920 on the site of two cottages, one of which served the village as an off licence prior to the Hurtwood's construction.
Drawing it's name from the delicious whortleberries or 'hurts' which grow on the slopes of nearby Pitch Hill, the Hurtwood was originally the brain child of a group of local residents including a magistrate and local landowner Mr. Justice Bray, who when hearing that the cottages were to be sold at auction and fearing there would be nowhere for locals to purchase beer, petitioned Surrey Public Trust House Co. Ltd. To make an application for a full licence for premises to be built on the site.
The company subsequently acquired the premises in 1914, paying £1250 for both the licence and the land, but due to the almost immediate outbreak of World War 1, building work on the new premises didn’t commence until 1920. Architect Alfred Houston of high Holborn was appointed, and produced plans providing a lounge hall, workmen’s lunch room, 16 bedrooms and a large coffee room, together with a large motor shed.
Always popular with locals and people visiting the area on walking holidays, the Hurtwood remained in the hands of the Surrey Trust Public House Company Ltd through it's incorporation into Trust Houses Limited in 1948, and Trust Houses' subsequent sale to become Trust House Forte. One of Forte's smallest hotels, the Hurtwood, was incorporated into the group's Heritage Brand and used for many years as a training hotel. Never really fitting in with the rest of the Forte group’s portfolio, in 1992 the Hurtwood was sold, in a sadly neglected state, to local couple Mr & Mrs Ian Best. The Bests immediately set about restoring the hotel to its former glory, in the process establishing it firmly on the road to future success, culminating in the South East Tourist Board’s Millennium Tourism Awards, where the Hurtwood Inn won ‘Best Small Hotel (under 50 bedrooms) Of The Year’ award for 2000.
Further extensive renovations were made in 2002/03, leaving the hotel with a new kitchen, public toilets, additional accommodation and increased conference and dining facilities. Further work was carried out in January and February of 2009 on the bar and restaurant, resulting in excellent new facilities for both our residents and the local community to enjoy.
