Best for: a chic cottage stay for the whole crew
The newest addition to The Wild Rabbit stable, hot on the heels of the much-lauded pub with rooms The Fox at Oddington, Daylesford is a hamlet of 15 Tudor-Gothicstyle Cotswold cottages tucked into the 2,500-acre Daylesford Estate. It can be rented in its glorious rusticity as an entire village or as individual cottages. The Old School House, which sleeps eight and includes an accessible bedroom on the ground floor, is the largest house; Wisteria, which sleeps two, is the dinkiest. Each cottage comes with an Aga, private garden, crackling fire, Bamford products, weighty bed linen and preternaturally fluffy towels – all very adult, but laid-back enough not to inhibit boisterous youngsters and dogs. Daylesford Organic Farm is a Cotswolds stone’s throw away and offers cookery sessions (which, miraculously, gratify all three generations of my family), floristry workshops, wine-tasting and access to the Bamford Wellness Spa, one of the most soul-soothing places on earth. Our tour of the farm (wellies were essential) with Henry Unwin, director of sustainability, was eye-opening. Owner Carole Bamford, who has farmed organically for decades, ensures that her pioneering approach to sustainability remains at the heart of everything Daylesford does. The farm shop bustles with Barbourclad guests and visitors from nearby villages, filling baskets with colourful, seasonal produce and chatting animatedly over steaming cups of organic coffee. Louisa Parker Bowles
Address: Daylesford near Kingham, Cotswolds, GL56 0YG
Price: Cottages from £350 per night