As you may be aware, I have recently been away on a glamping staycation. I had the most amazing time and loved every second of the holiday. The accommodation was truly perfect, so I wanted to share a little review and recommendation, in case anyone is interested.
I ended up staying at Garthside Farm Holidays. It is described as providing "luxury glamping at a peaceful countryside retreat in an extraordinary Cumbrian setting". Each pod contains a double bed, an en-suite shower room, a fully equipped kitchenette, a lounge area with TV, indoor deck area with table and chairs and outdoor area with picnic table, BBQ and a private hot tub. It had everything that was needed, from towels, to bedding, to kitchen items and more. The spacious kitchen comes complete with a sink, hob, fridge and small freezer as well.
We were initially looking for accommodation in the Lake District, but being a somewhat last minute holiday, I was personally more so looking for the right place, rather than the right location. It ended up being just on the outskirts of the Lake District, on the northern border, near Carlisle. There is a lot of major tourist attractions and things to do near by including, Hadrian's Wall, Lanercost Priory, Birdoswald Roman Fort and more. Of course, it's also within short driving distance from Carlisle and the Lake District too.
I genuinely think we had the best pod. We ended up selecting Sycamore, which is one of seven pods that the farm has, the furthest one on the right at the back. I loved the location as I felt very much private, whereas you could somewhat overlook the other pods a little when walking around. It was also surround by a beautiful wildflower garden. In fact, so many flowers were growing they were starting to overgrow into the path! The whole area overlooks fields upon fields and it was so peaceful and quiet. We had cows to our right whilst we were there, but no sheep. It was pure bliss and just the tranquil escape I needed.
The inside of the lodge was ideal. There was plenty of storage space throughout, which allowed us to keep the smaller space neat and tidy. In the indoor/outdoor seating area or entrance hall, there were two large bench storage boxes which were ideal for shoes, bags and swimming attire. The bed lifted up to use as a wardrobe space and to store suitcases. I was quite surprised that they managed to fit a small side table in as well. In the bathroom, the shower was really quite spacious, but they had a large under sink cupboard as well. In here, they did store spare supplies of bin bags, toilet paper and kitchen role, but there was also plenty of spare space too. In the kitchen, there was plenty of worktop space and further shelving for food storage. There was also a bar stool, which I ended up using as more of a dressing area which was nice.
As with every experience, there are usually some downsides. Given that the hot tub was log fired, plus the barbeque fire pits, it does get quite smokey and with that a lot of flies come in too. I think this is a recurrent issue because they provided a fly squat to zap them, and also two sticky fly catchers. We caught so many when we put these up! The first night we left the doors open, but then we kept them closed because of this. However, this was the better of two evils because the room was quite hot in general. They did thankfully provide a plug in fan which did just the job. On a similar wavelength, the plug sockets were plentiful and they each had two USB charging ports as well, which are always useful. They did have a poster up asking us to limit electricity use, but we never had a problem with that whilst we were there. The only thing we did notice running out is that they had limited hot water. I would have a shower in the morning which was perfect and then after the hot tub I would want to wash my hair, but it was usually a little cool. We did notice that on the night when there was just us there, there was no issue, so I assume it just takes a little bit of time to heat up more.
Overall, I had the absolute most amazing time. The customer service was amazing both before the after arrival. No question was too annoying and both Jono and Caz went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. The area is truly gorgeous and just what we wanted, and of course, the hot tub was a firm favourite. It was easy to use and maintain, whilst still feeling like a holiday. We did buy 3 nights worth of logs as an add on extra, but I would personally recommend just 2 crates for 3 nights, as we had quite a lot leftover. They defintely provide plenty! I would 100% recommend to anyone and if you end up booking, do let me know!
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