This English Countryside Estate Is the Hottest New Weekend Getaway From London — Here's What It's Like

Many of us dream of splitting time between a big cosmopolitan city and a quiet lake or beach town nearby. Some Londonites have been doing just that at The Lakes by Yoo, a community of luxury vacation homes in the Cotswolds, for years. Luckily for the rest of us, the pastoral estate is now welcoming short-term rentals for trips as brief as a weekend getaway.

That means if you’re like me, and you’re not quite at the point of being able to afford a city flat and a lake house, you can still live out the fantasy for a few nights, which is exactly what I did on a recent trip to The Lakes.

When we arrived at the property, an easy two-hour drive from London, we gladly traded the city’s posh boutiques and cafes for wild, overgrown meadows and ponds. However, seeing as though the estate’s new short-term rental cabins are the work of designer Philippe Starck’s YOO Studio, the interiors are as sophisticated as any you would find in the city.

Checking into our two-bedroom lakeside cabin felt like stepping into a high-end furniture catalog. Sunlight flooded the main room, giving the oversized beige sofa and Cotswold stone accent wall an amber glow. We slid open the floor-to-ceiling glass doors, seamlessly turning the cabin into an indoor-outdoor living space. Just off the deck, swans bathed in the glimmering water of the pond, which grows wild with no human intervention.

We could have spent the entire trip lounging in the beauty of our cabin, but the many activities The Lakes has to offer were far too tempting. First, we checked out the indoor swimming pool and spa, where I treated myself to a full-body massage (my preferred way to kick off a vacation). Then, it was off to a paddleboarding lesson, followed by a picnic on the shores of the pond. Finally, we braved the climbing wall, racing to the top and trying to beat our own personal records.

After squeezing as many activities as we possibly could into one day, we headed back to the cabin and settled in with a glass of wine. We debated whether we should cook dinner or eat at Elsa’s, the property’s rustic cafe, which sits under a canvas tent. Fortunately, we were staying two nights, so we had time to do both.

Elsa’s serves dishes like classic fish and chips, oven-roasted chicken and potatoes, and more — exactly the type of fare you want to eat while cozied up by the water on a crisp night. Though I must admit, there’s something special about cooking in your cabin. That’s partly because you can request your kitchenette be stocked with fresh produce and other ingredients, but more than that, you can really step into the fantasy of this being your home away from home.

We poured a glass of red, turned on some jazz, put pasta on the stove, and danced around the kitchen, pretending like the day we could afford a lake house escape wasn’t so far off after all.