The Latest Trend in Hotels….Add Experiential Accommodation In the Grounds
Main Photo: The Shepherd Huts at Another Place in the UK’s Lake District
Date: November 2021
Name: Many…Outside Rooms
Location: Across the Globe…this report Ullswater, Lake District, England, UK – opening summer 2022
Number of Keys: Adding from Five to Twenty-Five additional rooms to an existing hotel
Owner: Will Ashworth, CEO The Lake/Another Place
Between a desire to make every sq foot/metre of the hotelier’s land pay for itself, to provide an enhanced service to meet the customer’s demand for experiential experiences and green-eco-sustainable development rising to the fore, we are seeing a new trend in hotel management, across the world. Here in the UK we look at Another Place’s initiative in the UK’s beautiful Lake District.
Another Place, The Lake launches its new Outside rooms and spaces to bring guests closer to the wild, while enjoying the inspired design and interior comforts the hotel is known for. A large, secluded, contemporary treehouse with floor-to-ceiling views to the lake. Six beautifully handcrafted oak shepherd huts with stargazing roofs over freestanding double beds. A Victorian-style glasshouse hosting everything from wood-fired feasts to garden yoga sessions. And a rebuilt ‘Sheep Shed’ lakeside cabin, for warm year-round changing, showers and wetsuit drying post-swim, paddleboard, kayak, and everything else that beckons on Britain’s second largest lake.
The highlight is a 70 sqm architect designed treehouse, in a secluded setting with striking views, and accessed by a bridge. Its three different sections – two double bedrooms and a bathroom – are connected by glazed walkways. Surrounded by oak, ash and yew trees on two sides, the other two sides have unbroken views across the lake and fells. A large outdoor deck houses a freestanding bath, while the inside features a log burner, sofa area, reclaimed oak floors and an interior design approach inspired by the hotel’s rooms and the acclaimed beach lofts at Watergate Bay in Cornwall.
“The treehouse will be one of a kind, and the biggest accommodation on offer in any of our locations,” says Another Place, The Lake’s CEO Will Ashworth. “But the whole set – the treehouse, shepherd huts, Glasshouse and Sheep Shed – will bring a new energy and buzz. We’re blending great hospitality and novel experiences with a sublime natural environment.”
The 14m x 5m Glasshouse, created by Hartley Botanic, will sit in the gardens – the closest building to the lake shore – as a focal point for all hotel guests. It will also be next to the kitchen garden, which will supply produce for Glasshouse chefs, and grow some edible plants inside – from tomato vines to fresh herbs. Guests can have breakfast, coffees, lunch, woodfired pizzas and feast nights around a long wooden table – or do yoga and creative workshops in this flexible space. There will be a small terrace outside, for making the most of the lake and mountain views in fine weather.
For the three family and three couples’ shepherd huts, Will and his team have collaborated with the Blackdown Shepherd Hut company. With its workshop of expert joiners and craftspeople in Ilminster, Somerset, Blackdown is one of the UK’s leaders in creating high specification contemporary shepherd hut experiences.
Each unit will comprise of a ‘brace’ of two shepherd huts, joined with a glass walkway. One side houses a double bed with stargazing roof and solid copper bath in a big double window; the other a lounge area, log burner and pantry (or an extra bunk room instead of the copper bath for the family huts). The three couples’ huts have lake views and are secluded by rhododendrons – but all of them have their own landscaped areas (designed by landscape architect Laurel Truscott) with a morning terrace decking, swing sofas or rocking chairs, and bean bags for taking in the fresh air and big skies.
Price: Undisclosed
THPT Comment: We have a host of similar projects to write-up…to include safari-style, luxury glamping, iO House, creating a house that has the look and feel of a luxury super yacht (in the USA)…..making a lodging space immediately accessible to guests creates an opportunity to increase revenue and overall attendance to the destination. Another good example of the “lodging as an amenity” concept is the Napa Valley area of California and all the vineyards that have beautiful and luxurious hotels on site for their visitors.
First Seen: Initially Another Place press release
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