Even the simplest holiday propositions are increasingly luxurious. Take, for example, the newest family-friendly farm stay in the English countryside, which mixes horse-riding, spa treatments and cocktail classes with lodgings in an 18th-century farmhouse and 40 rustic-chic cabins.
Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, set on a 40-hectare farm about 90 minutes’ drive from London, promises all the charms of country living – rolling green hills, crisp country air, rowboats on a lake – without sacrificing the comforts of city life.
The latest project by the prolific Soho House Group, which has 14 properties scattered from Manhattan to Mayfair, features a Cowshed Relax spa with sauna, steam and ice baths, nine treatment rooms, a mud room and hair stylists from Notting Hill salon Josh Wood.
Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens and Andy Cook oversee three restaurants – the Boathouse for pizza and grills, The Main Barn for all-day dining, and The Farmshack, with its wood grill and smoke cabin, for hearty stews, slow roasts and ribs. Much of the produce will be sourced from the farm’s gardens. There’s also a deli, cellar, pickling room and charcuterie cave for cottage cooking.
There’ll be scarcely a moment to spare, with tennis courts, a cinema, a football pitch, bicycles, winter ice rink, a heated lakeside pool and cooking school as diversions.
It wouldn’t be British if there wasn’t a local pub, and the dog-friendly Mill Room – the hotel group’s first pub – pours local ales and ciders. Just make sure you’re dressed for the occasion – this might be the country but the Soho House set is as fashionable at the farm as in the Meatpacking District.
Cabins from around $490 a night. Soho Farmhouse, Great Tew, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
