Looking for luxury staycation ideas in the UK? Here are some of the trips we have planned.
As Coronavirus restrictions ease in the UK and the much awaited reopening of hotels, restaurants and pubs on 17 May went ahead, things are looking better. We have planned some UK staycations as they come with relative certainty, and I would like to share them with you, in case you fancy a little luxury weekend in old Blighty.
Do you fancy a city break? A countryside hotel? Or maybe hop on a plane and visit an island? Ok, how about a beach? I wanted them all – and turns out it was possible to find it with a bit of help from professionals. I want my UK staycations to be as great as possible.
I cannot wait to sleep in a bed that is not mine, and not knowing what I will be eating the following day. And being fully vaccinated, we are ready to go.
Without further ado, here are some luxury UK staycation ideas which we are very much looking forward to.
University Arms, Cambridge
I have never been to Cambridge in my life and 2021 will be the year that this was all meant to happen. We are going away for 2 nights and obviously punting on the River Cam.
The University Arms is bookable directly via Marriott (it is part of Autograph Collection) and you can use points to redeem, of course.
We booked with Sarah from Cartology Travel who scored us a guaranteed upgrade (and within our dates, it paid to pay), and quite a few other perks.
Room rates start at £185
Verdict: Not great sadly. Service was really quite uninterested and borderline arrogant. We were also given a cot bed which really wouldn’t be seen in a Romanian orphanage in current times (words of another hotelier). See more on Instagram.
The Wild Rabbit, Kingham
Our first outing in the Summer of 2020 was to one of the larger cottages by The Wild Rabbit, and we liked our experience so much, we wanted it to be the first one of 2021 too. But we booked for a date before the reopening so had to reschedule to later in the Summer (and that works a treat).
We look forward to some wonderful spa treatments and reformer pilates classes at the Bamford Haybarn Spa (a few miles away) and of course, all the Daylesford we can eat. There are also cottages to rent at the Daylesford Farm but we feel we prefer to spend the day there and then retreat to Kingham, which is literally 5 minutes away and enjoy dinner in “town”.
Room rates start at £225 (depending on size). Cottages from £500/night. I booked direct on this occasion.
Longueville Manor, Jersey
Again, a first for us – never been to Jersey before and we are very much looking forward to getting on a sparkly clean British Airways plane (from Heathrow) and enjoy 5 days of this little gem. I have been promised seafood, lovely beaches and of course, jersey royals.
We will be staying at Longueville Manor, the only 5-star in the island and a member of Relais & Chateau (but sadly not on the water – it was the compromise) – but we will have a car.
We booked this trip (and other subsequent trips) with Matt from Savile Row Travel, following an Instagram post. Who says social media does not sell? It does. He’s also done a brilliant job of organising all our trip.
Room rates start at £300.
Thyme, Cotswolds
More Cotswolds for us, which means a short drive. We meant to go to Thyme last Summer, but then the gates to Europe opened, we returned to Spain and Greece and the dates sadly coincided with the very limited hotel availability.
But some things are meant to be, and we hope to enjoy the pool and the wonderful countryside in 2021 and having visited for some meals, it is time to stay the night.
We booked with Matt from Savile Row Travel.
Room rates begin at £385.
I am now looking at a few more staycations in the UK – and actually venture outside England for once and explore a bit of Wales and Scotland. If you have any ideas (100% tried and tested), please let me know.
At the moment, we are looking at the following:
Other UK Staycation ideas:
The Newt in Somerset
Click here to visit the hotel website.
Harbour Beach Club, Salcombe
Click here to visit the hotel website.
And the one thing we are doing, is booking with professionals who have offered us very flexible cancellation policies and that will do their job very well in case anything needs to change or be rebooked on our upcoming UK staycations.
I don’t want to be calling call centres or waiting in lines, so I know I will not have to.
Here’s to a safe season for all hospitality operators in the UK and around the world.
xo
Mrs. O
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PS. I did a round up of hotels we intended to visit last Summer in the UK, all with outdoor swimming pools, which may come in handy if you are also looking for UK staycations.